The Hispanic March had been attacked in 985 by the Muslim general al-Mansur, who managed to take Barcelona, which was pillaged and sacked, with many citizens taken prisoner by the Muslim forces.

Borrell had sent a request for help to King Lothar III of the Western Franks, but although documents of Borrell's refer to royal orders that must have come from this embassy, actual military assistance was beyond Lothar's power.

What appears to have been a similar plea to Hugh Capet resulted in a letter from Hugh to Borrell promising aid for vassalage, but in any event Hugh could not persuade his nobles to support a southern expedition.

No answer to Hugh's letter is known from Borrell, and the connection between the March and France was effectively broken.

Catalan historians now consider this the point at which their nation became a sovereign power, and the millennium of their independence will be celebrated in 1987 with conferences and numerous publications; however it appears that Catalan counties other than Borrell's retained links with the Frankish crown for a little longer.

Borrell's sons Ramon Borrell and Ermengol appear from 988 as rulers in a divided territory, with Ramon Borrell being count of Barcelona, Girona, and Osona and …