381 years ago today, Pau Claris, President of the Government of Catalonia, proclaimed the 1st Catalan Republic, with the support of Cardinal Richelieu, in the middle of the Thirty Years’ War.
381 years ago today, Pau Claris, President of the Government of Catalonia, proclaimed the 1st Catalan Republic, with the support of Cardinal Richelieu, in the middle of the Thirty Years’ War.
2 comments
Some extra information:
* [Pau Claris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pau_Claris_i_Casademunt)
* [Reapers’ War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reapers%27_War)
* [Catalan Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_Republic_(1641))
> Catalan peasants, who were forced to quarter the royal army and reported events such as religious sacrileges,[1] destruction of personal properties and rape of women by the soldiers, responded in a series of local rebellions against their presence.
> When the bishop of Barcelona, after blessing the furious crowd, asked them: “Who is your captain? What is your flag?” They raised a big Christ in the Cross Statue covered with an all black cloth and shouted “Here is our captain, this is our flag!”.
> Pau Claris proclaimed the Catalan Republic under the protection of the French monarchy, on January 17, 1641, which lasted a week until January 21, 1641, when they declared the French king Louis XIII count of Barcelona.[6][7]
> Despite this success, the peasant uprising was becoming uncontrollable in some places, progressively focusing on the Catalan nobility and Generalitat itself.
> Meanwhile, increasing French control of political and administrative affairs (maritime ports, taxes, key bureaucratic positions, etc.) and a firm military focus on the neighbouring Spanish kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon, in line with Richelieu’s war against Spain, gradually undermined Catalan enthusiasm for the French.
> In 1652 a Spanish offensive captured Barcelona bringing the Catalan capital under Spanish control again. Irregular resistance continued for several years afterwards and some fighting took place north of the Pyrenees but the mountains would remain from then on the effective border between Spanish and French territories.
Just thought I’d put this here, as to avoid people confusing this as a nationalist uprising, when there were other reasons for this Catalan uprising. All in all its a pretty interesting rebellion, especially from my perspective being Aragonese.
For the record I’m trying to be impartial here. Some Catalan independist groups and also some anti-independence groups manipulate this event to suit their agenda and I don’t agree with it.