In the eighth century the Pyrenees were densely populated due to the migration brought about by the crisis in the late Roman Empire, the Germanic invasions and the Muslim conquest. When the Pyrenean valleys reached their population peak, a marked migration towards the lowlands began.

Many peasant families settled in the depopulated areas and converted the wilderness into productive land with their labour. These unknown peasants were the true heroes of the conquest and colonisation of Old Catalonia.