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165-574: Club Bàsquet Femení Universitari de Barcelona–FC Barcelona was a Spanish Catalan women's basketball team. Initially named CBF Universitari de Barcelona , belonging just to the Universitat de Barcelona , it later became part of the FC Barcelona family. They used to have four base teams: junior, cadet, infantil and infantil'91. UB-Barça was one of the most successful teams in the Spanish League in

330-460: A Pisan chronicle (written between 1117 and 1125) of the conquest of Majorca by a joint force of Northern Italians, Catalans , and Occitans . At the time, Catalonia did not yet exist as a political entity, though the use of this term seems to acknowledge Catalonia as a cultural or geographical entity. The counties that eventually made up the Principality of Catalonia were gradually unified under

495-594: A buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania , made up of locally administered separate counties which served as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Kingdom . A distinctive Catalan culture started to develop in the Middle Ages stemming from a number of these small counties throughout the northernmost part of Catalonia. The counts of Barcelona were Frankish vassals nominated by

660-723: A thalassocracy across the Mediterranean. The crisis of the 14th century , the end of the rule of House of Barcelona (1410) and a civil war (1462–1472) weakened the role of the Principality in Crown and international affairs. The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in 1469 laid the foundations of the monarchy of Spain . In 1492 the Spanish colonization of the Americas began, and political power began to shift away towards Castile . Tensions between Catalan institutions and

825-837: A burdensome presence of the royal army, being briefly established as a republic under French protection. By the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), the northern parts of Catalonia , mostly the Roussillon , were ceded to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V of Spain , but after the Peace of Utrecht (1713) the Catalans were defeated with

990-454: A center-right Catalan nationalist electoral coalition, with Pujol re-elected until 2003. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the institutions of Catalan autonomy were deployed, among them an autonomous police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra , in 1983, and the broadcasting network Televisió de Catalunya and its first channel TV3 , created in 1983. An extensive program of normalization of Catalan language

1155-572: A major tourist destination. During the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), the Generalitat was reestablished and Catalonia regained self-government , remaining one of the most economically dynamic communities in Spain. In the 2010s, there was growing support for Catalan independence . On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament unilaterally declared independence following a referendum that

1320-587: A modernizing and progressive social agenda, despite the internal difficulties. This period was marked by political unrest, the effects of the economic crisis and their social repercussions. The Statute of Autonomy was suspended in 1934, due to the Events of 6 October in Barcelona, as a response to the accession of right-wing Spanish nationalist party CEDA to the government of the Republic, considered close to fascism . After

1485-458: A mostly Mediterranean climate ( Köppen Csa ). The Pyrenean peaks have a continental ( Köppen D ) or even Alpine climate ( Köppen ET ) at the highest summits, while the valleys have a maritime or oceanic climate sub-type ( Köppen Cfb ). Principality of Catalonia The first reference to Catalonia and the Catalans appears in the Liber maiolichinus de gestis Pisanorum illustribus ,

1650-538: A nation. This decision was severely contested by large sectors of Catalan society, which increased the demands of independence. A controversial independence referendum was held in Catalonia on 1 October 2017, using a disputed voting process. It was declared illegal and suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain , because it breached the 1978 Constitution . Subsequent developments saw, on 27 October 2017,

1815-557: A payment. The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (1469) unified two of the three major Christian kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula, while the Kingdom of Navarre was incorporated later following Ferdinand II's 1512 invasion of the Basque kingdom . This resulted in the reinforcement of the concept of Spain, which was already present in the mind of these kings, made up by

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1980-663: A province of the Umayyad Caliphate . From the conquest of Roussillon in 760, to the conquest of Barcelona in 801, the Frankish empire took control of the area between Septimania and the Llobregat river from the Muslims and created heavily militarised, self-governing counties . These counties formed part of the historiographically known as the Gothic and Hispanic Marches, a buffer zone in

2145-707: A successful process of economic growth and proto-industrialization , reinforced in the late quarter of the century when Castile's trade monopoly with American colonies ended. After the War of the Spanish Succession , the assimilation of the Crown of Aragon by the Castilian Crown through the Nueva Planta Decrees was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation state . These nationalist policies, sometimes very aggressive, and still in force, have been and are

2310-976: A symbolic declaration of independence by the Parliament of Catalonia, the enforcement of direct rule by the Spanish government through the use of Article 155 of the Constitution, the dismissal of the Executive Council and the dissolution of the Parliament, with a snap regional election called for 21 December 2017, which ended with a victory of pro-independence parties. Former President Carles Puigdemont and five former cabinet ministers fled Spain and took refuge in other European countries (such as Belgium , in Puigdemont's case), whereas nine other cabinet members, including vice-president Oriol Junqueras , were sentenced to prison under various charges of rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds. Quim Torra became

2475-471: A syndicate against seignorial pressures, seeking protection from the monarch. Alfonso's brother, John II ("the Unreliable"), was a deeply hated regent and ruler, both in the Basque kingdom of Navarre and in Catalonia. The opposition of the institutions of Catalonia to the policies of John II resulted in their support to the son of John, Charles, Prince of Viana over his denied dynastic rights. In response of

2640-606: Is Cataluña ( [kataˈluɲa] ), and the Aranese name is Catalonha ( [kataˈluɲa] ). The first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic . The oldest known trace of human occupation is a mandible found in Banyoles , described by some sources as pre- Neanderthal , that is, some 200,000 years old; other sources suggest it to be only about one third that old. From

2805-594: Is an autonomous community of Spain , designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy . Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran ) is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula , to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight vegueries (regions), which are in turn divided into 42 comarques . The capital and largest city, Barcelona ,

2970-499: Is historically related to the monarchy. Neither the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia , Spanish Constitution nor French Constitution , mention this denomination, but, despite most of them being republican, it is moderately popular among Catalan nationalists and independentists . The political system of the Principality of Catalonia and the other realms of the Crown of Aragon has been defined by historiography as "pactism". It designate

3135-521: Is the second-most populous municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union . Modern-day Catalonia comprises most of the medieval and early modern Principality of Catalonia (with the remainder northern area now part of France's Pyrénées-Orientales ). It is bordered by France ( Occitanie ) and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and

3300-900: The 131st President of the Government of Catalonia on 17 May 2018, after the Spanish courts blocked three other candidates. In 2018, the Assemblea Nacional Catalana joined the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) on behalf of Catalonia. On 14 October 2019, the Spanish Supreme court sentenced several Catalan political leaders , involved in organizing a referendum on Catalonia's independence from Spain, and convicted them on charges ranging from sedition to misuse of public funds , with sentences ranging from 9 to 13 years in prison. This decision sparked demonstrations around Catalonia. They were later pardoned by

3465-602: The 1929 International Exposition . After the fall of the dictatorship and a brief proclamation of the Catalan Republic , during the events of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic (14–17   April   1931), Catalonia received, in 1932, its first Statute of Autonomy from the Spanish Republic's Parliament, granting it a considerable degree of self-government, establishing an autonomous body,

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3630-633: The Consell de Cent ) and legislation ( constitutions , derived from the Usages of Barcelona ) which largely limited the royal power and secured the political model of pactism . Catalonia contributed to further develop the Crown trade and military, most significantly their navy. The Catalan language flourished and expanded as more territories were added to the Crown, including Valencia , the Balearic Islands , Sardinia , Sicily , Naples , and Athens , constituting

3795-580: The County of Urgell , the name of Catalonia, which comprised several counties of different names including the County of Barcelona , was used for the whole. The terms Catalonia and Catalans were commonly used to refer to the territory in Northeastern Spain and western Mediterranean France, as well as its inhabitants, and not just the County of Barcelona, at least since the beginnings of the 12th century, as shown in

3960-563: The House of Aragon . The expansion was accompanied by a great development of the Catalan trade, creating an extensive trade network across the Mediterranean which competed with those of the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice . At the same time, the Principality of Catalonia developed a complex institutional and political system based in the concept of a pact between the estates of the realm and

4125-587: The Middle Ages , Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the local medley of Goths with Alans , initially constituting a Goth-Alania . Other theories suggest: In English, Catalonia is pronounced / k æ t ə ˈ l oʊ n i ə / . The native name, Catalunya , is pronounced [kətəˈluɲə] in Central Catalan , the most widely spoken variety, and [kataˈluɲa] in North-Western Catalan . The Spanish name

4290-510: The Napoleonic and Carlist Wars . In the second third of the century, it experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, it saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers' movements appeared. The establishment of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939) granted self-governance to Catalonia , being restored the Generalitat as

4455-604: The Reapers' War (1640–1652), which saw Catalonia rebel (briefly as a republic led by the president of the Generalitat, Pau Claris ) with French help against the Spanish Crown for overstepping Catalonia's rights during the Thirty Years' War . Within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia. Most of Catalonia was reconquered by the Spanish monarchy but Catalan rights were mostly recognised. Roussillon and half of Cerdanya

4620-694: The Revolt of the Barretines (1687–1689), the population increased to approximately 500.000 inhabitants and the Catalan economy improved. This economic growth was boosted by the export of wine to England and the Dutch Republic , as due to the trade war of French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert against the Dutch and later to the participation of these countries in the Nine Years' War against France were not able to trade with

4785-715: The Second Punic War and traded with the surrounding Iberian population . After the Carthaginian defeat by the Roman Republic , the north-east of Iberia became the first to come under Roman rule and became part of Hispania , the westernmost part of the Roman Empire . Tarraco (modern Tarragona ) was one of the most important Roman cities in Hispania and the capital of the province of Tarraconensis . Other important cities of

4950-522: The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC-PSOE), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV), and the socialist Pasqual Maragall was appointed president. The new government redacted a new version of the Statute of Autonomy , with the aim of consolidate and expand certain aspects of self-government. The new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, approved after a referendum in 2006,

5115-666: The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) which brought Francisco Franco to power. Public use of the Catalan language was again banned after a brief period of general recuperation. The Franco era ended with Franco's death in 1975; in the subsequent Spanish transition to democracy , Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy . It became one of the autonomous communities of Spain . In comparison, Northern Catalonia in France has no autonomy. The counts of Barcelona were commonly considered

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5280-591: The Treaty of Utrecht . Philip felt that he had been betrayed by the Catalan Courts, as it had initially sworn its loyalty to him when he had presided over it in 1701. In retaliation for the betrayal, and inspired by the French model, the first Bourbon king enacted the Nueva Planta decrees of 1707, 1715 and 1716, incorporating the realms of the Crown of Aragon, including the Principality of Catalonia in 1716, as provinces of

5445-430: The Treaty of the Pyrenees signed by Philip IV of Spain , the comarques (counties) of Roussillon , Conflent , Vallespir and part of la Cerdanya , now known as French Cerdagne , were ceded to France. The town of Llívia remained part of Spain, however, an isolated enclave a mile north of the new border. Catalan institutions were suppressed in this part of the territory and, in 1700, public use of Catalan language

5610-418: The capitulation of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 . Philip V subsequently imposed a unifying administration across Spain, enacting the Nueva Planta decrees which, like in the other realms of the Crown of Aragon, suppressed Catalan institutions and legislation. As a consequence, Catalan as a language of government and literature was eclipsed by Spanish. In the 19th century, Catalonia was severely affected by

5775-755: The conquest of Sardinia and in the War of the Sicilian Vespers . After the last one, most of the Almogavers (light infantry) became mercenaries of the Great Catalan Company created by Roger de Flor in 1303. Due to the outbreak of the Catalan Civil War (1462–1472), the Council of the Principality of Catalonia organised different military forces to fight against the King John II. The Civil War saw one of

5940-400: The conquest of Sicily and the successful defense against a French crusade ; his son and successor Alfonso III ("the Generous") conquered Menorca; and Peter's second son James II conquered Sardinia; Catalonia was the center of the empire, expanding and organizing it, establishing institutional systems similar to its own. Barcelona, then the most frequent royal residence, was consolidated as

6105-437: The maritime republics of Genoa and Venice . In this line, institutions were created that would give legal protection to merchants, such as the Consulate of the Sea and the Book of the Consulate of the Sea , one of the first compilations of maritime law . The second quarter of the 14th century saw crucial changes for Catalonia, marked by a succession of natural catastrophes, demographic crises, stagnation and decline in

6270-406: The princeps or primus inter pares ("the first among equals") by the other counts of the Spanish March , both because of their military and economic power, and the supremacy of Barcelona over other cities. Thus, the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer I , is called "Prince of Barcelona, Count of Girona and Marchis of Ausona" ( princeps Barchinonensis, comes Gerundensis, marchio Ausonensis ) in

6435-427: The 11th century, regulated the defense of the prince and the Principality, and became the basis of the organization of self-defense and paramilitary units throughout Catalan history, materialized in mutual-protection agreements known as Sagramental , while the militia corps was known as Sometent . The feudal system allowed to lordships, institutions and corporations to raise its own armies, as well as to be convened by

6600-415: The 13th century, was repeatedly mentioned the term "kingdom" as a medieval state, i.e. public domain political regime monarchist government. However, it consolidated this denomination officially, because, for various historical reasons, the rulers of the Kingdom of Aragon never used the title "King of Catalonia". This is where the use of the term "principality" comes in, since at least since the 12th century,

6765-460: The 16th and 18th centuries, the participation of the political community in the local and the general Catalan government grew (thus consolidating its constitutional system), while the kings remained absent, represented by a viceroy . Tensions between Catalan institutions and the monarchy began to arise. The large and burdensome presence of the Spanish royal army in the Principality due to the Franco-Spanish War led to an uprising of peasants, provoking

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6930-406: The 1960s was the second-fastest growing economy in the world in what became known as the Spanish miracle . During this period there was a spectacular growth of industry and tourism in Catalonia that drew large numbers of workers to the region from across Spain and made the area around Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas. After Franco's death in 1975, Catalonia voted for

7095-409: The 19th   century, Catalonia became an important industrial center, particularly focused on textiles . This process was a consequence of the conditions of proto-industrialisation of textile production in the prior two centuries, growing capital from wine and brandy export, and was later boosted by the government support for domestic manufacturing. In 1832, the Bonaplata Factory in Barcelona became

7260-414: The 19th century and the early 20th century, founding the CNT trade union in 1910 and achieving one of the first eight-hour workdays in Europe in 1919. Growing resentment of conscription and of the military culminated in the Tragic Week (Catalan: Setmana Tràgica ) in Barcelona in 1909. Under the hegemony of the Regionalist League , Catalonia gained a degree of administrative unity for the first time in

7425-478: The 4th   century. Although Hispania remained under Roman rule and did not fall under the rule of Vandals , Suebi and Alans in the 5th   century, the main cities suffered frequent sacking and some deurbanization . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the area was conquered by the Visigoths and was ruled as part of the Visigothic Kingdom for almost two and a half centuries. In 718, it came under Muslim control and became part of Al-Andalus ,

7590-411: The Act of Consecration of the Cathedral of Barcelona (1058). There are also several references to the Prince in different sections of the Usages of Barcelona , the collection of laws that ruled the county since the early 11th century. Usage #64 calls principatus the group of counties of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona, all of them under the authority of the count of Barcelona. The first reference to

7755-402: The Aragonese Crown's maritime forces, which spread the power of the Crown in the Mediterranean, turning Barcelona into a powerful and wealthy city. In the period of 1164–1410, new territories, the Kingdom of Valencia , the Kingdom of Majorca , the Kingdom of Sardinia , the Kingdom of Sicily , and, briefly, the Duchies of Athens and Neopatras , were incorporated into the dynastic domains of

7920-425: The Capetian crown whom they regarded as usurpers of the Carolingian Frankish realm. At the beginning of eleventh century the Catalan counties experienced an important process of feudalisation, however, the efforts of church's sponsored Peace and Truce Assemblies and the intervention of Ramon Berenguer I , count of Barcelona (1035–1076) in the negotiations with the rebel nobility resulted in the partial restoration of

8085-482: The Capitulation represented a culmination and consolidation of pactism and the constitutional system of Catalonia. However, the disagreement of King John, the death of Charles shortly after, and the Remença Uprising in 1462 led to the ten-year Catalan Civil War (1462–1472) that left the country exhausted. In 1472, the last separate ruler of Catalonia, King René of Anjou ("the Good"), lost the war against King John. John's son, Ferdinand II ("the Catholic"), recovered

8250-428: The Carolingian emperor, then the king of the Franks, to whom they were feudatories (801–988). In 878, Wilfred the Hairy , count of Urgell and Cerdanya, was appointed count of Barcelona, Girona and Osona. Since then, these last three counties were always ruled by the same person, becoming the political core of the future Principality of Catalonia. Upon his death in 897 Wilfred made their titles hereditaries and thus founded

8415-402: The Catalan counties, except the County of Foix , despite the opposition of king James. This treaty confirmed, from French point of view, the independence of the Catalan counties established and exercised during the previous three centuries, but also meant the irremediable separation between the geographical areas of Catalonia and Languedoc . As a coastal territory, Catalonia became the base of

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8580-402: The Catalan counties. This treaty confirmed, from French point of view, the independence of the Catalan counties established and exercised during the previous three centuries, but also meant the irremediable separation between the people of Catalonia and the Languedoc. As a coastal territory within the Crown of Aragon and with the increasing importance of the port of Barcelona, Catalonia became

8745-411: The Catalan economy, and the rise of social tensions. The year 1333 was known as Lo mal any primer (Catalan: "The first bad year") due to poor wheat harvest. The domains of the Aragonese Crown were affected severely by the Black Death pandemic and by later outbreaks of the plague. Between 1347 and 1497 Catalonia lost 37 percent of its population. In 1410, King Martin I , the last reigning monarch of

8910-403: The Company took revenge by sacking Byzantine territory, and they conquered the duchies of Athens and Neopatras in the name of the King of Aragon. Catalan rule over Greek lands lasted until 1390. This territorial expansion was accompanied by a great development of the Catalan trade, centered in Barcelona, creating an extensive trade network across the Mediterranean which competed with those of

9075-492: The County of Barcelona experienced a new phase of territorial expansion. This included a joint Catalan and Pisan Crusade against the Taifa of Majorca (1114) and the conquest of Tarragona (1116), restoring in the last one the archiepiscopal see of the city (1119), disbanded after the Muslim conquest. That meant the independence of the Catalan Church from the bishopric of Narbonne . In 1137 Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona married Queen Petronilla of Aragon , establishing

9240-433: The Crown of Aragon, rose up in support of the Austrian Habsburg pretender Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor , in his claim for the Spanish throne as Charles III of Spain. The fight between the houses of Bourbon and Habsburg for the Spanish Crown split Spain and Europe. The fall of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 to the Bourbon king Philip V militarily ended the Habsburg claim to the Spanish Crown, which became legal fact in

9405-412: The Crown of Castile, terminating their status as separate states along with their parliaments, institutions and public and administrative laws , as well as their pactist politics, within a French-style centralized and absolutist kingdom of Spain. In the second half of the 17th century and the 18th century (excluding the parentesis of the Succession War and the post-war inestability) Catalonia carried out

9570-590: The Crowns of Castile and Aragon maintained distinct territories, each keeping its own traditional institutions, parliaments, laws and currency. Castile commissioned expeditions to the Americas and benefited from the riches acquired in the Spanish colonisation of the Americas , but, in time, also carried the main burden of military expenses of the united Spanish kingdoms. After Isabella's death, Ferdinand II personally ruled both crowns. By virtue of descent from his maternal grandparents, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, in 1516 Charles I of Spain became

9735-408: The French model, imposed absolutism and a unifying administration across Spain, and enacted the Nueva Planta decrees for every realm of the Crown of Aragon, which suppressed the main Catalan, Aragonese, Valencian and Majorcan political institutions and rights and merged them into the Crown of Castile as provinces, ending their status as separate political entities. However, the territories, including

9900-426: The French. This new situation caused many Catalans to look to England and, especially, the Netherlands as political and economic models for Catalonia. At the dawn of the War of the Spanish Succession , the Bourbon Duke of Anjou claimed the throne of Spain as Philip V , and the Principality initially supported his claim. However, repressive mesures of the viceroy Francisco de Velasco and authoritarian decisions of

10065-427: The General (in Catalan: Diputació del General ) and later usually known as Generalitat , which gained considerable political power over the next centuries. The Principality saw a prosperous period during the 13th century and the first half of the 14th. The population increased; Catalan language and culture expanded into the islands of the Western Mediterranean. The reign of Peter III of Aragon ("the Great") included

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10230-431: The General Court of Catalonia, one of the first parliamentary bodies of Europe that banned the royal power to create legislation unilaterally, sharing it with the estates represented in the Court (since 1283). The first Catalan constitutions , derived from the Usages of Barcelona, are of the ones from the Catalan Courts ( Corts ) of Barcelona from 1283. The last ones were promulgated by the Courts of 1705–1706, presided by

10395-433: The Generalitat of Catalonia, which included a parliament , an executive and a court of cassation . The left-wing pro-independence leader Francesc Macià was appointed its first president. Under the Statute, Catalan became an official language. The governments of the Republican Generalitat , led by the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) leaders Francesc Macià (1931–1933) and Lluís Companys (1933–1940), sought to implement

10560-426: The House of Barcelona, died without surviving descendants. Under the Compromise of Caspe (1412), Ferdinand from the Castilian House of Trastámara received the Crown of Aragon as Ferdinand I of Aragon . Ferdinand's successor, Alfonso V ("the Magnanimous"), promoted a new stage of Catalan-Aragonese expansion, this time over the Kingdom of Naples , over which he eventually gained rule in 1443. However, he aggravated

10725-407: The Kingdom of Spain was transformed permanently, despite several Carlist Wars , into a liberal state in 1833, when Javier de Burgos eliminated the province of the Principality of Catalonia, dividing the territory into the existing four provinces. Thus, the term disappeared from the administrative and political reality of the country. In 1931, Republican movements favoured its abandonment because it

10890-448: The Modern era. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces were authorized to create a commonwealth (Catalan: Mancomunitat de Catalunya ), lacking any legislative power or specific political autonomy, which carried out an ambitious program of modernization, but it was disbanded in 1925 by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923–1930). During the final stage of the Dictatorship, with Spain beginning to suffer an economic crisis, Barcelona hosted

11055-399: The Principality led to the Catalan Civil War (1462–1472) and the War of the Remences (1462–1486) that left Catalonia exhausted. The Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe (1486) liberated the remença peasants from the feudal evil customs . In the later Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished in Catalonia proper and in the kingdoms of Majorca and Valencia, with such remarkable authors as

11220-445: The Principality of Catalonia, remained as administrative units until the establishment of the Spanish provincial division of 1833, which divided Catalonia into four provinces. Like much of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula , it was colonized by Ancient Greeks , who chose to settle in Roses . Both Greeks and Carthaginians interacted with the main Iberian population. After the Carthaginian defeat, it became, along with

11385-407: The Principality. However, over the next century, Catalonia was on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain. Tensions between the constitutional Catalan institutions and the gradually more centralized monarchy began to arise. In 1626 the Count-Duke of Olivares , minister of Philip IV , tried to establish the military contribution of the states of

11550-403: The Roman period are Ilerda (Lleida), Dertosa (Tortosa), Gerunda (Girona) as well as the ports of Empuriæ (former Emporion) and Barcino ( Barcelona ). As for the rest of Hispania, Latin law was granted to all cities under the reign of Vespasian (69–79   AD), while Roman citizenship was granted to all free men of the empire by the Edict of Caracalla in 212   AD (Tarraco, the capital,

11715-435: The Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. In addition to about 580 km of coastline, Catalonia also has major high landforms such as the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees , the Transversal Range (Serralada Transversal) or the Central Depression. The official languages are Catalan , Spanish and the Aranese dialect of Occitan . In the late 8th century, various counties across

11880-549: The Spanish government and left prison in June 2021. In the early-to-mid 2020s support for independence declined. The climate of Catalonia is diverse. The populated areas lying by the coast in Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona provinces feature a Hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen Csa ). The inland part (including the Lleida province and the inner part of Barcelona province) show

12045-632: The Spanish government in 2021. The name "Catalonia" ( Medieval Latin : Cathalaunia ), spelled Cathalonia , began to be used for the homeland of the Catalans ( Cathalanenses ) in the late 11th century and was probably used before as a territorial reference to the group of counties that comprised part of the March of Gothia and the March of Hispania under the control of the Count of Barcelona and his relatives. The origin of

12210-581: The abolition of the Catalan institutions, the Nueva Planta decrees ensured the imposition of the new absolutist system by reforming the Royal Audience of Catalonia, making it the highest governmental body of the Principality, absorbing many of the functions of the abolished institutions and becoming the instrument with which the Captain General of Catalonia , the supreme authority of the province (replacing

12375-629: The administrative center of the domains with the establishment of the Royal Archives in 1318. The Catalan Company , mercenaries led by Roger de Flor and formed by Almogavar veterans of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, were hired by the Byzantine Empire to fight the Turks, defeating them in several battles. After the assassination of Roger de Flor by orders of the emperor's son Michael Palaiologos (1305),

12540-427: The administrative unity in 1914, when the four Catalan provinces were authorized to create a commonwealth (Catalan: Mancomunitat ) and, after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, the Generalitat was restored as an institution of self-government, but as in most regions of Spain, Catalan autonomy and culture were crushed to an unprecedented degree after the defeat of the Second Spanish Republic in

12705-505: The adoption of a democratic Spanish Constitution in 1978, in which Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy, restoring the Generalitat (exiled since the end of the Civil War in 1939) in 1977 and adopting a new Statute of Autonomy in 1979, which defined Catalonia as a "nationality". The first elections to the Parliament of Catalonia under this Statute gave the Catalan presidency to Jordi Pujol , leader of Convergència i Unió (CiU),

12870-711: The ancient territories of Catalonia and the Languedoc. In the Treaty of Corbeil , 1258, James I of Aragon , descendant of Sunifred and Bello of Carcassonne and therefore heir of the House of Barcelona , relinquished his family rights and dominions in the Languedoc and recognized the Capetian king of France Louis IX as heir of the Carolingian dynasty . In return, the King of France formally renounced his claims of feudal lordship over all

13035-600: The authority of the Count of Barcelona, who was also the King of Aragon, as seen in the Actas de las cortes generales de la Corona de Aragón 1362–1363 . However, there is an older reference, in a more informal context, in Bernat Desclot 's chronicles, dating from the second half of the 13th century. As the Count of Barcelona and the Courts added more counties under his jurisdiction, such as

13200-502: The autonomous government. After the Spanish Civil War , the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan self-government and banning the official use of the Catalan language. After a period of autarky , from the late 1950s through to the 1970s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth , drawing many workers from across Spain, making Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and turning Catalonia into

13365-472: The base and promoter for the Crown's Mediterranean trade and expansionism. In the later Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished. In 1469, the monarchs of the crowns of Aragon and Castile were married and ruled their realms together, retaining all of their distinct institutions and legislation. During the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), the Principality of Catalonia revolted (1640–1652) against

13530-516: The beginning of the construction of copper objects. The Bronze Age occurred between 1800 and 700   BC. There are few remnants of this era, but there were some known settlements in the low Segre zone. The Bronze Age coincided with the arrival of the Indo-Europeans through the Urnfield Culture , whose successive waves of migration began around 1200   BC, and they were responsible for

13695-430: The capital of Catalonia and (as happened to the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia, also loyals to Charles) the king enacted the Nueva Planta decrees in 1716. The decrees abolished the main Catalan institutions and public laws (except the civil and mercantile laws ), establishing absolutism as the new political system, and imposed the administrative use of Spanish language, progressively displacing Catalan. Apart from

13860-580: The century onwards, the Renaixença , among both the working class and the bourgeoisie. Right after the fall of the First Spanish Republic (1873–1874) and the subsequent restoration of the Bourbon dynasty (1874), Catalan nationalism began to be organized politically under the leadership of the republican federalist Valentí Almirall . The anarchist movement had been active throughout the last quarter of

14025-425: The comital authority under the new feudal order. To fulfill that purpose, Ramon Berenguer began the modification of the legislation in the written Usages of Barcelona , being one of the first European compilations of feudal law. In 1137, Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona decided to accept King Ramiro II of Aragon 's proposal to receive the Kingdom of Aragon and to marry his daughter Petronila , establishing

14190-460: The countryside were in the hands of the Carlist faction ; the latter proposed to reestablish the institutional systems suppressed by the Nueva Planta decrees in the ancient realms of the Crown of Aragon. The consolidation of the liberal state saw a new provincial division of Spain, including Catalonia, which was divided into four provinces (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona). In the second third of

14355-462: The counts in the Marca Hispanica. The office of a vicar was a vicariate (Latin: vicariatus ) and his territory was a vicaria . All these Latin terms of Carolingian administration evolved in the Catalan language. The veguer was appointed by the king and was accountable to him. He was the military commander of his vegueria (and thus keeper of the publicly owned castles), the chief justice of

14520-469: The counts of Barcelona became the one hand, the majority of sovereigns Catalan Counties and the other hand kings of Aragon, which helped them prevail in the rest of autonomous Catalan counts ( Pallars , Urgell and Empúries ) if they were not in their feudal vassals, while also incorporated its extensive domain the Islamic territories of Tortosa and Lleida . The political entity resulting from this process since

14685-525: The counts of Barcelona often referred to themselves as princeps (prince), in order to show their preeminence over the other Catalan counts. During the 9th and 10th centuries, the counties increasingly became a society of aloers , peasant proprietors of small, family-based farms, who lived by subsistence agriculture and owed no formal feudal allegiance. At the start of the 11th century the Catalan Counties suffer an important process of feudalisation, as

14850-657: The creation of the first proto-urban settlements. Around the middle of the 7th century   BC, the Iron Age arrived in Catalonia. In pre-Roman times, the area that is now called Catalonia in the north-east of Iberian Peninsula – like the rest of the Mediterranean side of the peninsula – was populated by the Iberians . The Iberians of this area – the Ilergetes , Indigetes and Lacetani (Cerretains) – also maintained relations with

15015-612: The de facto power of the armed popular militias. Violent confrontations between the workers' parties ( CNT-FAI and POUM against the PSUC ) culminated in the defeat of the first ones in 1937. The situation resolved itself progressively in favor of the Generalitat, but at the same time the Generalitat lost most of its autonomous powers within Republican Spain. In 1938 Franco's troops broke the Republican territory in two, isolating Catalonia from

15180-509: The defeat of Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi 's troops at Tours in 732, the Franks gradually gained control of the former Visigoth territories north of the Pyrenees, which had been captured by the Muslims or had become allied with them, in what is today Catalonia. In 795, Charlemagne created what came to be known by historiography and some Frankish chronicles as the Marca Hispanica ,

15345-572: The defense of the Occitan territories, acquired from the times of Ramon Berenguer I onwards, from the Albigensian Crusade . The Battle of Muret (12 September 1213) and the unexpected defeat of King Peter and his vassals and allies, the counts of Toulouse, Comminges and Foix, against the French–Crusader armies, resulted in the fading of the strong human, cultural and economic ties existing between

15510-406: The detention of Charles by his father, the Generalitat established a political body, the Council of the Principality , with whom, under menace of a conflict, John was forced to negotiate. The Capitulation of Vilafranca (1461) forced to release Charles from prison and appoint him lieutenant of Catalonia, while the king would need permission of the Generalitat to enter the Principality. The content of

15675-612: The disputed Habsburg King Charles III . The compilations of the Constitutions and other rights of Catalonia followed the Roman tradition of the Codex. This constitutions developed a compilation of rights for the inhabitants of the Principality and limited the power of the kings. The General Court of Catalonia (or Catalan Courts), with roots dating from the 11th century, is one of the first parliamentary bodies of Europe that, since 1283, obtained

15840-424: The dynastic union of the County of Barcelona and its dominions with the Kingdom of Aragon , which was to create the Crown of Aragon . The reign of Ramon Berenguer IV saw the Catalan conquest of Lleida and Tortosa. Their son, Alfons , was the first king of Aragon who, in turn was the count of Barcelona, titles all the kings of the Crown of Aragon inherited from then on. During the reign of Alfons, in 1173, Catalonia

16005-526: The dynastic union of the County of Barcelona with Aragon, creating a composite monarchy later known as the Crown of Aragon and making the Catalan counties that were vassalized or merged with the County of Barcelona into a principality of the Aragonese Crown. During the reign of his son Alphons , in 1173, Catalonia was regarded as a legal entity for the first time, while the Usages of Barcelona were compiled in

16170-585: The dynasty of the House of Barcelona , which ruled Catalonia until the death of Martin I, its last ruling member, in 1410. Many abbeys were founded between the ninth century and the twelfth century while in the cities the episcopal seats were restored, forming important artistic and intellectual centers. These religious centers contribute to an important diffusion of the Romanesque art in Catalonia (monasteries of Santa Maria de Ripoll and Montserrat , collegiate church of Cardona, cathedral of Girona ...) as well as to

16335-565: The earliest recordings of these names in the Liber Maiolichinus (around 1117–1125). The name "Principality of Catalonia" is abundant in historical documentation that refers to Catalonia between the mid-14th century and early 19th century. According to research carried out in recent decades, is considered to be in the second half of the 12th century when the Catalan counties form a unified and cohesive political entity, –although jurisdictionally divided– called "Catalonia". This happens because

16500-540: The eastern Pyrenees were established by the Frankish kingdom as a defensive barrier against Muslim invasions. In the 10th century, the County of Barcelona became progressively independent. In 1137, Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united by marriage, resulting in a composite monarchy known as the Crown of Aragon . Within the Crown, the Catalan counties merged in to a polity, the Principality of Catalonia , developing its own institutional system, such as Catalan Courts , Generalitat and constitutions , becoming

16665-570: The electoral victory of the left wing Popular Front in February 1936, the Government of Catalonia was pardoned and the self-government was restored. The defeat of the military rebellion against the Republican government in Barcelona placed Catalonia firmly in the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War . During the war, there were two rival powers in Catalonia: the de jure power of the Generalitat and

16830-504: The end of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and the subsequent dismantling of the Catalan institutional system, the territory being annexed to Castile became a province of the new and more unified Kingdom of Bourbon Spain, but "principality" continued to be the definition of the territory, as witnessed in the Nueva Planta decrees created by the Royal Audience of the Principality of Catalonia in 1716. This situation remained until

16995-447: The end of the century from the beginning of open commerce to America and protectionist policies enacted by the Spanish government (although the policy of Spanish government during those times changed many times between free trade and protectionism), consolidating the new economic growth model that was taking place in Catalonia since the end of the 17th century, becoming a center of Spain's industrialization; to this day, it remains one of

17160-622: The end of the reign of Peter the Great (1285) there were 17, and by the time of James the Just, there were 21. After the French annexion of the vegueries of Perpignan and Vilafranca de Conflent in 1659, Catalonia retained a division of 15 vegueries, nine sotsvegueries and the special district of the Val d'Aran . These administrative divisions remained until 1716 when they were replaced by the Castilian corregimientos . The Usage Princeps namque , dating from

17325-467: The explicit or tacit pact between king and kingdom (in its organic and estamental representation), which decisively limited the royal power. The vegueria was a territorial organization of Catalonia headed by a veguer (Latin: vigerius ). The origins of the vegueria go back to the era of the Carolingian Empire, when vicars (Latin: vicarii , singular vicarius ) were installed beneath

17490-512: The first factory in the country to make use of the steam engine . The first railway on the Iberian Peninsula was built between Barcelona and Mataró in 1848. A policy to encourage company towns also saw the textile industry flourish in the countryside in the 1860s and 1870s. Although the policy of Spanish governments oscillated between free trade and protectionism, protectionist laws become more common. To this day Catalonia remains one of

17655-512: The first generalised use of firearms in a military conflict of Western Europe. In the Catalan Courts of 1493, King Ferdinand II confirmed the usage of Princeps namque . After the establishment of the monarchy of Spain in the 16th century, Catalans were found in Habsburg military, however, the Usage Princeps namque and the lack of a large Catalan manpower limited their presence in comparison to

17820-559: The first half of the 2000s, winning the championship in 2003 and 2005. However, in 2007 FC Barcelona retired its sponsorship, and the club, not being able to face its expenses, was relegated and disbanded. Notable former players include Marta Fernández , Helen Luz , Razija Mujanović and Érika de Souza . Catalonia Catalonia ( / ˌ k æ t ə ˈ l oʊ n i ə / ; Catalan : Catalunya [kətəˈluɲə] ; Spanish : Cataluña [kataˈluɲa] ; Occitan : Catalonha [kataˈluɲa] )

17985-516: The first king to rule the Crowns of Castile and Aragon simultaneously by his own right. Following the death of his paternal ( House of Habsburg ) grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , he was also elected Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , in 1519. Over the next few centuries, the Principality of Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to an increased centralization of power in Spain. Despite this fact, between

18150-466: The first king to rule the Crowns of Castile and Aragon simultaneously by his own right. Following the death of his paternal ( House of Habsburg ) grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , he was also elected Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , in 1519. The reign of Charles V was a relative harmonious period, during which Catalonia generally accepted the new structure of Spain, despite its own marginalization. For an extended period, Catalonia, as part of

18315-465: The first one protection to its institutions and liberties, entering in the pro-Habsburg Grand Alliance . The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) put end to the war, and the allied armies withdrew from Catalonia which, nonetheless, remained fighting with its own army by decision of the Junta de Braços until the capitulation of Barcelona after a long siege on 11 September 1714. The victorious army of Philip V occupied

18480-540: The former Crown of Aragon, Castile, and a Navarre annexed to Castile (1515). In 1492, the last remaining portion of Al-Andalus around Granada was conquered and the Spanish conquest of the Americas began. Political power began to shift away from Aragon toward Castile and, subsequently, from Castile to the Spanish Empire , which engaged in frequent warfare in Europe striving for world domination. In 1516 Charles I of Spain became

18645-587: The inhabitants of the Principality. In order to collect general taxes, the Catalan Courts of 1359 established a permanent representative body, known as the "Deputation of the General" or Generalitat , which gained considerable political power over the next centuries. The domains of the Aragonese Crown were severely affected by the Black Death pandemic and by later outbreaks of the plague . Between 1347 and 1497 Catalonia lost 37   percent of its population. In 1410,

18810-506: The king (some of them contrary to Catalan legislation), as well the economic policy and distrust to the French absolutism provoked that Catalonia to change sides in 1705, when Habsburg candidate, the Archduke Charles of Austria (as Charles III of Spain) landed in Barcelona. Previously, the same year, the Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of England signed the Pact of Genoa , receiving

18975-403: The king due to feudal agreements, alongside to the vassals and subjects of the other realms, however, there was no standing army . Catalan soldiers played an important role in the expansion of the Crown to Valencia, Majorca and the Mediterranean. The Catalan navy and its Catalan Galleys contributed to expand and secure the hegemony along the sea, while the army invested much of its resources in

19140-473: The king. The legislation of Catalonia had to be passed the Catalan Courts ( Corts Catalanes ), one of the first parliamentary bodies of Europe that, since 1283, obtained the power to legislate with the monarch. The Courts were composed of the three Estates organized into "arms" ( braços ), were presided over by the monarch, and approved the Catalan constitutions , which established a compilation of rights for

19305-596: The last reigning monarch of the House of Barcelona, King Martin I died without surviving descendants. Under the Compromise of Caspe (1412), the representatives of the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia and the Principality of Catalonia appointed Ferdinand from the Castilian House of Trastámara as King of the Crown of Aragon. During the reign of his son, John II , the persistent economic crisis and social and political tensions in

19470-414: The late Crown of Aragon , successfully retained its own institutional system and legislation against the trend observed in southern and central Europe throughout the early modern age, which eroded the importance of representative institutions, until they were finally suppressed as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession defeat at the beginning of the 18th century. Between the 16th and 18th centuries,

19635-479: The main centre of the Crown's maritime power, promoting and helping to expand its influence and power by conquest and trade into Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Sicily. At the same time, the Principality of Catalonia developed a complex institutional and political system based on the concept of pact between the estates of the realm and the monarch. The laws (called constitutions) had to be approved in

19800-551: The maintenance of rich libraries nourished by Classical, Visigothic and Arab works. The scholar and mathematician Gerbert d'Aurillac (future pope under the name of Sylvester II ) studied in Vic and Ripoll and knowledge of mathematics and astronomy were introduced from Arabic. In 988 Count Borrell II did not recognise the Frankish king Hugh Capet and his new dynasty, effectively taking Barcelona out of Frankish rule. From that point on,

19965-403: The miles formed links of vassalage over this previously independent peasantry. The middle years of the century were characterized by virulent class warfare. Seigniorial violence was unleashed against the peasants, utilizing new military tactics, based on contracting well armed mercenary soldiers mounted on horses. By the end of the century, most of the aloers had been converted into vassals. During

20130-503: The modern sense. However, a variety of royal and other symbols were used in order to identify the Principality and its institutions. Catalonia constitutes the original nucleus where Catalan is spoken. The Catalan language shares common traits with the Romance languages of Iberia and Gallo-Romance languages of southern France, it is regarded by a minority of linguists as being an Ibero-Romance language (the group that includes Spanish), and by

20295-478: The monarchy, alongside the peasants' revolts, provoked the Reapers' War (1640–1659), who saw the brief establishment of a Catalan Republic . By the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) the Roussillon was ceded to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the Crown of Aragon supported the Archduke Charles of Habsburg . After the surrender of Barcelona in 1714 , King Philip V of Bourbon , inspired by

20460-479: The monarchy, the Unión de Armas ( Union of Arms ), but the resistance of Catalonia to the project was strong. This events, alongside other factors such as the economic crisis, the continuous presence of royal soldiers and the peasants' revolts led to the Reapers' War (1640–1652), in the context of the Franco-Spanish War , in which Catalonia, governed by a Junta de Braços (revolutionary assembly or States-General) led by

20625-504: The more industrialized parts of Spain, along with Madrid and the Basque Country . In 1833, by decree of minister Javier de Burgos , all of Spain was organized into provinces, included Catalonia, which was divided in four provinces without a common administration: Barcelona , Girona , Lleida and Tarragona . On several occasions during the first third of the 20th century, Catalonia gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy, recovering

20790-399: The most industrialised areas of Spain. In the same period, Barcelona was the focus of industrial conflict and revolutionary uprisings known as "bullangues". In Catalonia, a republican current began to develop among the progressives, attrackting many Catalans who favored the federalisation of Spain. Meanwhile, the Catalan language saw a Romantic cultural renaissance from the second third of

20955-498: The name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. One theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the name Gothia (or Gauthia ) Launia ("Land of the Goths "), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, known as Gothia , whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Cathalaunia > Catalonia theoretically derived. During

21120-562: The name " Catalonia " for these counties dates to 1117. At the end of the 9th   century, the Count of Barcelona Wilfred the Hairy (878–897) made his titles hereditaries and thus founded the dynasty of the House of Barcelona , which reigned in Catalonia until 1410. In 988 Borrell II , Count of Barcelona, did not recognise the new French king Hugh Capet as his king, evidencing the loss of dependency from Frankish rule and confirming his successors (from Ramon Borrell I onwards) as independent of

21285-416: The next period, publishing in Catalan continued throughout his rule. The years after the war were extremely hard. Catalonia, like many other parts of Spain, had been devastated by the war. Recovery from the war damage was slow and made more difficult by the international trade embargo and the autarkic politics of Franco's regime. By the late 1950s, the region had recovered its pre-war economic levels and in

21450-601: The next prehistoric era, the Epipalaeolithic or Mesolithic , important remains survive, the greater part dated between 8000 and 5000   BC, such as those of Sant Gregori ( Falset ) and el Filador ( Margalef de Montsant). The most important sites from these eras, all excavated in the region of Moianès , are the Balma del Gai (Epipaleolithic) and the Balma de l'Espluga (late Epipaleolithic and Early Neolithic). The Neolithic era began in Catalonia around 5000   BC, although

21615-480: The northern Catalan counties (1493), occupied during the conflict, and profoundly reformed Catalan institutions. The Constitució de l'Observança (1481) was approved, establishing the submission of royal power to the laws approved in the Catalan Courts. After decades of conflict, the remença peasants were liberated from most of feudal abuses by the Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe (1486), in exchange for

21780-554: The other polities of the Empire. Some cities like Barcelona gained recognition of self-defense and established urban militias, known as the Coronela . While the military conflicts with France arose, many Catalan militias took part in the fight alongside the regular army, as at the siege of Salses , in 1639. As a state under royal sovereignty, Catalonia, like the other political entities of the period, did not have its own flag or coat of arms in

21945-508: The peoples of the Mediterranean. Some urban agglomerations became relevant, including Ilerda ( Lleida ) inland, Hibera (perhaps Amposta or Tortosa ) or Indika ( Ullastret ). Coastal trading colonies were established by the ancient Greeks , who settled around the Gulf of Roses , in Emporion ( Empúries ) and Roses in the 8th century BC . The Carthaginians briefly ruled the territory in the course of

22110-549: The philosopher Ramon Llull , the Valencian poet Ausiàs March , and Joanot Martorell , author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch , published in 1490. Ferdinand II of Aragon , the grandson of Ferdinand I, and Queen Isabella I of Castile were married in 1469, later taking the title the Catholic Monarchs ; subsequently, this event was seen by historiographers as the dawn of a unified Spain. At this time, though united by marriage,

22275-426: The population was slower to develop fixed settlements than in other places, thanks to the abundance of woods, which allowed the continuation of a fundamentally hunter-gatherer culture. An example of such settlements would be La Draga at Banyoles, an "early Neolithic village which dates from the end of the 6th millennium   BC." The Chalcolithic period developed in Catalonia between 2500 and 1800   BC, with

22440-436: The power to create legislation with the monarch. The Courts were composed of the three Estates organized in to "arms" (braços), were presided over by the monarch as count of Barcelona. The current Parliament of Catalonia is considered the symbolic and historic successor of this institution. In order to recapt the "tax of the General", the Courts of 1359 established a permanent representation of deputies, called Deputation of

22605-486: The president of the Generalitat, Pau Claris , broke with the Spanish king and briefly established itself as an independent republic under French protection in 1641, and later entered in a personal union with the Kingdom of France, appointing French king Louis XIII as count of Barcelona, but, after the first military successes, Catalans were finally defeated and reincorporated into the Crown of Spain in 1652. In 1659, after

22770-538: The process to turn them into the law and custom of Catalonia ( Consuetudinem Cathalonie ), being considered one of the "milestones of Catalan political identity". In 1258, by means of the Treaty of Corbeil , James I of Aragon King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona , king of Mallorca and of Valencia, renounced his family rights and dominions in Occitania , while the king of France, Louis IX , formally relinquished to any historical claim of feudal lordship he might have over

22935-468: The publication of books on those subjects or simply discussion of them in open meetings, was banned. Franco's regime banned the use of Catalan in government-run institutions and during public events, and the Catalan institutions of self-government were abolished. The pro-Republic of Spain president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys , was taken to Spain from his exile in the German-occupied France and

23100-475: The regency of countess Ermesinde of Carcassonne (1017–1057), which received the government of Barcelona after the death of her husband the count Ramon Borrell , the disintegration of central power was evident. The response of the Catholic Church to the feudal violence was the establishment of the sagreres around churches and the movement of Peace and Truce of God . The first assembly of Peace and Truce

23265-514: The rest of Hispania , a part of the Roman Empire , Tarraco being one of the main Roman posts in the Iberian Peninsula and the capital of the province of Tarraconensis . The Visigoths ruled after the Western Roman Empire 's collapse near the end of the 5th century. Moorish Al-Andalus gained control in the early 8th century, after conquering the Visigothic kingdom in 711–718. After

23430-612: The rest of the Republican territory. The defeat of the Republican army in the Battle of the Ebro led in 1938 and 1939 to the occupation of Catalonia by Franco's forces. The defeat of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War brought to power the dictatorship of Francisco Franco , whose first ten-year rule was particularly violent, autocratic, and repressive both in a political, cultural, social, and economical sense. In Catalonia, any kind of public activities associated with Catalan nationalism , republicanism , anarchism , socialism , liberalism , democracy or communism , including

23595-409: The role of the political community in local affairs and the general government of the country was increased, while the royal powers remained relatively restricted, which was attested after the two last Courts (1701–1702 and 1705–1706). The prolonged absence of the monarchs, who resided most of the time in Castile, led to the consolidation of the figure of the viceroy as the representative of the king in

23760-414: The rule of the count of Barcelona . In 1137, the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were unified under a single dynasty, creating what modern historians call the Crown of Aragon ; however, Aragon and Catalonia retained their own political structure and legal traditions, developing separate political communities along the next centuries. Under Alfons I the Troubador (reigned 1164–1196), Catalonia

23925-488: The same district, and the man in charge of the public finances (the fisc ) of the region entrusted to him. As time wore on, the functions of the veguer became more and more judicial in nature. He held a cort (court) del veguer or de la vegueria with its own seal. The cort had authority in all matter save those relating to the feudal aristocracy. It commonly heard pleas of the Crown, civil, and criminal cases. The veguer did, however, retain some military functions as well: he

24090-399: The seed of repeated territorial conflicts within the state. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic Wars . In 1808, it was occupied by French troops under general Guillaume Philibert Duhesme after he conquered Barcelona; the resistance against the occupation eventually developed into the Peninsular War . The rejection of French dominion

24255-420: The social crisis in the Principality of Catalonia, both in the countryside and in the cities. Political conflict in Barcelona arose due to the disputes over the control of the Consell de Cent between two political factions, Biga and Busca looking for a solution to the economic crisis. Meanwhile, the remença (serfs') peasants subjected to the feudal abuses known as evil customs began to organize themselves as

24420-425: The south of the Frankish Empire in the former province of Septimania and in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to act as a defensive barrier for the Frankish Empire against further Muslim invasions from Al-Andalus. These counties came under the rule of the counts of Barcelona , who were Frankish vassals nominated by the emperor of the Franks, to whom they were feudatories (801–988). The earliest known use of

24585-404: The term Principat de Cathalunya is found in the dispute between Peter IV of Aragon and III of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Mallorca in 1343, and it was used again in the convocation of the Catalan Courts in Perpignan in 1350, presided by Peter IV. It was intended to indicate that the territory under the laws produced by those Courts was not a kingdom, but the enlargement of the territory under

24750-426: The viceroy), appointed by the king, would govern. The division in vegueries was replaced with Castilian corregimientos . So late as in the 18th and 19th centuries, despite the military occupation, the imposition of high new taxes and the political economy of the House of Bourbon, the Catalonia under Spanish administration (now as a province) continued the process of proto-industrialization , relatively helped at

24915-401: The word was synonymous with the term "kingdom" which alluded generically to political entities which categorize historiographically the expression "Medieval States". Yet it was not until the 14th century – specifically, since 1350 – that, thanks to work of Peter III of Aragon , the Principality of Catalonia became an official and popular name. This political entity

25080-407: Was already a colony of Roman law since 45   BC). It was a rich agricultural province (olive oil, wine, wheat ), and the first centuries of the Empire saw the construction of roads (the most important being the Via Augusta , parallel to Mediterranean coastline) and infrastructure like aqueducts . Conversion to Christianity , attested in the 3rd   century, was completed in urban areas in

25245-419: Was annexed to France and organized as four departments . The French troops evacuated Catalan territory at the end of 1814. After the Bourbon restoration in Spain and the death of the absolutist king Ferdinand VII (1833), Carlist Wars erupted against the newly established liberal state of Isabella II . Catalonia was divided, with the coastal and most industrialized areas supporting liberalism, while most of

25410-407: Was carried out. Today, Catalonia remains one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain. The Catalan capital and largest city, Barcelona, is a major international cultural centre and a major tourist destination. In 1992, Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympic Games . In November 2003, elections to the Parliament of Catalonia gave the government to a left-wing Catalanist coalition formed by

25575-423: Was contested by important sectors of the Spanish society, especially by the conservative People's Party , which sent the law to the Constitutional Court of Spain . In 2010, the Court declared non-valid some of the articles that established an autonomous Catalan system of Justice, improved aspects of the financing, a new territorial division, the status of Catalan language or the symbolical declaration of Catalonia as

25740-458: Was deemed unconstitutional by the Spanish state. The Spanish Senate voted in favour of enforcing direct rule by removing the Catalan government and calling a snap regional election . The Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned seven former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President Carles Puigdemont —fled to other European countries. Those in prison were pardoned by

25905-440: Was institutionalized with the creation of "juntas" (councils) who, remaining loyal to the Bourbons, exercised the sovereignty and representation of the territory due to the disappearance of the old institutions. Napoleon took direct control of Catalonia to reestablish order, creating the Government of Catalonia under the rule of Marshall Augereau , and making Catalan briefly an official language again. Between 1812 and 1814, Catalonia

26070-459: Was legally delimited for the first time, while the first compilation of the Usages of Barcelona was made in the process to turn them into the law of Catalonia ( Consuetudinem Cathalonie ). Apart from the Usages, between 1170 and 1195 the Liber feudorum maior and the Gesta Comitum Barchinonensium were compiled and written, being considered together as the three milestones of Catalan political identity. His son, King Peter II of Aragon , faced

26235-413: Was lost to France by the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). The most significant conflict concerning the governing monarchy was the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1715), which began when the childless Charles II of Spain , the last Spanish Habsburg, died without an heir in 1700. Charles II had chosen Philip V of Spain from the French House of Bourbon . Catalonia, like other territories that formed

26400-431: Was part of some composite monarchies or dynastic conglomerates, such as the Crown of Aragon, the Spanish monarchy and the Kingdom of France (1641–1652), being on an equal footing with other political communities of the time, or external in relation to great empires, as were the kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Valencia, England , Scotland or the Duchy of Milan , for example. Following the Nueva Planta decrees of 1716 at

26565-427: Was presided by Abbot Oliba in Toulouges , Roussillon in 1027. The grandson of Ermesinde, count Ramon Berenguer I , began the codification of Catalan law in the written Usages of Barcelona which was to become the first full compilation of feudal law in Western Europe. Legal codification was part of the count's efforts to forward and somehow control the process of feudalization. Under count Ramon Berenguer III ,

26730-525: Was prohibited. In recent times, this ceded area has come to be known by nationalist political parties in Catalonia as Northern Catalonia (Roussillon in French), part of the Catalan-spoken territories known as Catalan Countries . Currently, this region is administratively part of French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales . In the last decades of the 17th century during the reign of Spain's last Habsburg king, Charles II , despite intermittent conflict between Spain and France and new internal conflicts like

26895-399: Was regarded as a legal entity for the first time. Still, the term Principality of Catalonia was not used legally until the 14th century, when it was applied to the territories ruled by the Courts of Catalonia . Its institutional system evolved over the centuries, establishing political bodies analogous to the ones of the other kingdoms of the Crown (such as the Courts, the Generalitat or

27060-407: Was the commander of the militia and the superintendent of royal castles. His job was law and order and the maintenance of the king's peace: in many respects an office analogous to that of the sheriff in England. Some of the larger vegueries included one or more sotsvegueries (subvigueries), which had a large degree of autonomy. At the end of the 12th century in Catalonia, there were 12 vegueries. By

27225-404: Was tortured and executed in the Montjuïc Castle of Barcelona for the crime of 'military rebellion'. During later stages of Francoist Spain , certain folkloric and religious celebrations in Catalan resumed and were tolerated. Use of Catalan in the mass media had been forbidden but was permitted from the early 1950s in the theatre. Despite the ban during the first years and the difficulties of

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