Reapers' War: Difference between revisions

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Catalan Revolt
Battle of Montjuïc
Date 1640-1659 Location Catalonia, eastern Spain, southern France Result French victory, revolt crushed. Catalan Roussillon conquered by France by the Treaty of Pyrenees
Belligerents
Principality of Catalonia  France	Spain

The Catalan Revolt (Catalan: Guerra dels Segadors, Catalan pronunciation: [ˈɡɛrə ðəɫs səɣəˈðos], Catalan pronunciation: [ˈɡɛrɛ ðeɫs seɣaˈðos]; meaning in English "Reapers' War") affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France (see French Cerdagne), thereby splitting the Catalan population of the Aragonese crown.

The war had its roots in the discomfort generated in Catalan society by the presence of Castilian troops during the wars between France and Spain as part of the Thirty Years' War. Count-Duke Olivares, the chief minister of Philip IV, had been overusing Catalan resources in his wars against France. Catalan peasants, who were forced to quarter Castilian troops, responded on Corpus Christi day, May 1640, with an uprising known as 'Bloody Corpus' (Catalan Corpus de Sang), under the slogans "Long live the faith of Christ!", "Long live the king , our lord", "Long live the land, death to bad government". This 'Bloody Corpus' which began with the death of a segador, a reaper, ^{[citation needed]} and led to the somewhat mysterious death of Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma and Spanish viceroy of Catalonia, marked the beginning of the conflict. The irregular militia involved were known as 'Miquelets'.

The situation took Olivares by surprise, with most of the Spanish army fighting on other fronts far from Catalonia.

Pau Claris, head of the Generalitat of Catalonia, turned the social unrest of the Catalans into a political cause and proclaimed a Catalan Republic.

In a first reaction, Spain sent a large army of 26,000 men under Pedro Fajardo to crush the Catalan Revolt. On its way to Barcelona, the Spanish army retook several cities, executing many hundreds of prisoners. These atrocities only reinforced the determination of the defenders of Barcelona, and the Generalitat obtained an important military victory over the Spanish army in the Battle of Montjuïc (January 26, 1641). A little later, the death of Pau Claris created a difficult local and international situation, which resulted in the proclamation of Louis XIII of France as sovereign count of Barcelona as Lluís I de Barcelona. For the next decade the Catalans and French fought as allies, taking the initiative after Montjuic.
A French-Catalan army under Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt moved south and gained several victories. But the sieges of Tarragona, Lleida and Tortosa finally failed and the allies had to withdraw. In the north (Roussillon), they were more successful. Perpignan was taken after a siege of 10 months, and the whole of Roussillon became French after the defeat of the Spanish relief armies in the Battle of Montmeló and Battle of Barcelona.
In 1652 a Spanish offensive captured Barcelona bringing the Catalan capital under Spanish control again. Irregular resistance continued for several years afterwards, but the successful siege of Barcelona marked the end of major fighting.

The conflict extended beyond the Peace of Westphalia, which concluded the Thirty Years' War in 1648, with the confrontation between two sovereigns and two Generalitats, one based in Barcelona, under the control of Spain and the other in Perpinyà (Perpignan), under the occupation of France. In 1652 the French authorities renounced Catalonia, but held control of Roussillon, thereby leading to the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.

• "Els Segadors" ("The Reapers"), the current anthem of Catalonia. The current lyrics are from 1899.
• Revolt of the Barretines, another Catalan revolt from 1687–1689.

• J.H. Elliott. The Revolt of the Catalans: a Study in the Decline of Spain (1598-1640). Cambridge, 1963.
• J. Sanabre. La acción de Francia en Cataluña en la pugna por la hegemonía de Europa (1640-1659). Barcelona, 1956. Still indispensable for its detailed coverage of the events from 1640/41 and later.

• Museum exhibit with online information