History of Catalonian Nationalism
A Brief History of Catalonian Nationalism and Autonomy
The Catalonian people can trace their heritage to Charlemagne’s invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in the ninth century, commonly referred to as the Reconquista, which expelled the Muslim Moors who had conquered Iberia in 788 AD. A Feudal system was established with the ruling entity being the Count of Barcelona. The union with the neighboring Kingdom of Aragon in 1137 recognized their distinctly separate political identities including their territorial integrity, laws, institutions and rulers. During this period the Catalan Generalitat was established, which at the time was one of the first European Parliaments and continues to exist to this day. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Catalonia built up a powerful Mediterranean empire of a primarily commercial character through their seafaring expertise. When the last Count of Barcelona, Martin I, died without naming a successor or heir in 1410, Fernando I King of Aragon was elected to the throne. His subsequent marriage to Isabel I, Queen of the Kingdom of Castile in 1479 placed two very different nations under the same monarchy1. Thus, apart from sharing common sovereigns, neither Castile nor the Crown of Aragon underwent any radical institutional alteration. However, Castile by sponsoring the lucrative Columbus expedition to the Americas soon came to overshadow Aragon and Catalonia. A radical change in the Castilian policy towards Catalonia took place when Philip IV appointed the Count Duke of Olivares as chief minister in March 1621. As the Thirty-Years War with France bankrupted the Kingdom of Castile, Olivares saw the Catalonian Kingdom as a source of troops and money. Due to the relative autonomy the Catalan people had enjoyed previously the increase in taxes and forced supply of soldiers caused unrest among the Catalans. In 1640, the increasing tension between Castile and Catalonia reached its climax in the Revolt of the Reapers,
The Catalonian people can trace their heritage to Charlemagne’s invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in the ninth century, commonly referred to as the Reconquista, which expelled the Muslim Moors who had conquered Iberia in 788 AD. A Feudal system was established with the ruling entity being the Count of Barcelona. The union with the neighboring Kingdom of Aragon in 1137 recognized their distinctly separate political identities including their territorial integrity, laws, institutions and rulers. During this period the Catalan Generalitat was established, which at the time was one of the first European Parliaments and continues to exist to this day. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Catalonia built up a powerful Mediterranean empire of a primarily commercial character through their seafaring expertise. When the last Count of Barcelona, Martin I, died without naming a successor or heir in 1410, Fernando I King of Aragon was elected to the throne. His subsequent marriage to Isabel I, Queen of the Kingdom of Castile in 1479 placed two very different nations under the same monarchy1. Thus, apart from sharing common sovereigns, neither Castile nor the Crown of Aragon underwent any radical institutional alteration. However, Castile by sponsoring the lucrative Columbus expedition to the Americas soon came to overshadow Aragon and Catalonia. A radical change in the Castilian policy towards Catalonia took place when Philip IV appointed the Count Duke of Olivares as chief minister in March 1621. As the Thirty-Years War with France bankrupted the Kingdom of Castile, Olivares saw the Catalonian Kingdom as a source of troops and money. Due to the relative autonomy the Catalan people had enjoyed previously the increase in taxes and forced supply of soldiers caused unrest among the Catalans. In 1640, the increasing tension between Castile and Catalonia reached its climax in the Revolt of the Reapers,
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