Timeline of Catalan history

This is a timeline of Catalan history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Catalonia and its predecessor states and polities. To read about the background to these events, see History of Catalonia.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

8th century

Year	Date	Event
760		Perpignan conquered by the Franks from Muslim control. Establishment of the County of Roussillon.
785		Girona conquered by the Franks from Muslim control. Establishment of the County of Girona.

9th century

Year	Date	Event
801		Barcelona conquered by the Franks from Muslim control. Establishment of the County of Barcelona.
826		Aissó Revolt against Frankish nobility, devastating and depopulating most of Central Catalonia.
878		Wilfred the Hairy, count of Urgell and Cerdanya becomes count of Barcelona, Girona and Osona.
880		Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll founded.
897		Muslim raid over the County of Barcelona. Count Wilfred died, creating the tradition of hereditary passage of their titles, founding the House of Barcelona.

10th century

Year	Date	Event
942		Hungarian raid.
985	6 July	Cordoba's ruler Almanzor sacks Barcelona.
988		Borrell II, Count of Barcelona not renewed allegiance to the French king Hugh Capet; ensuring the independence of the counties from Frankish monarchy.

11th century

Year	Date	Event
1018		Countess Ermesinde of Carcassonne became regent of Barcelona, Girona and Osona after the death of her husband, the count Ramon Borrell.
1027		First Assembly of Peace and Truce of God of Catalonia, in Toulouges (Roussillon), promoted and presided by Abbot Oliba.
1035		Mir Geribert led the nobility of the Penedès against the authority of the count, representing the height of the feudal revolution in Catalonia.
		Ramon Berenguer I, grandson of Ermesinde, became Count of Barcelona, he began a process of negotiation with the nobility in order to recover the authority over them, respecting the resulting new feudal order.

12th century

Year	Date	Event
1111		Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, inherited the County of Besalú.
1117		The first reference to Catalonia and the Catalans appeared in the Liber maiolichinus de gestis Pisanorum illustribus, a Pisan chronicle of the conquest of Majorca by a joint force of Italians, Catalans, and Occitans.
1118		Archdiocese of Tarragona reestablished, the Catalan Church gained independence from the Archdiocese of Narbonne, in France.[1]
1137		Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona received from Ramiro II the Kingdom of Aragon and its heiress, Petronilla, resulting in the dynastic union later known as Crown of Aragon.
1148		Ramon Berenguer IV takes Tortosa from Muslim rule.
1149		Ramon Berenguer IV takes Lleida from Muslim rule.
1173		First documentary reference of the Usages of Barcelona, the first compilation of feudal legislation and the basis of Catalan law. First legal delimitation of Catalonia.
1192		First Assembly of Peace and Truce of God with representatives of the non-privileged estate, making it a precedent of the Catalan Courts.

13th century

Year	Date	Event
1213	12 September	Battle of Muret, defeat of Catalan, Aragonese and Occitan forces led by Peter II of Aragon, which died in the battle, against the French-Crusade army led by Simon de Montfort.
1214		Royal Court convened in Lleida by cardinal Peter of Benevento in order to fix the confusing situation after the death of King Peter II and secure the succession of his heir James I.
1229	5 September	Conquest of Majorca: James I the Conqueror led a fleet of some two hundred vessels and twenty thousand men from Salou, Cambrils and Tarragona to Majorca.
1249		Council of One Hundred of Barcelona established.
1258	11 May	Treaty of Corbeil between James I and Louis IX of France. The French king renounced claims of feudal overlordship over Catalonia while James renounced his claims in Occitania, except Foix.
		James I granted the Carta Consular, the legal basis of the Consulate of the Sea, to the city of Barcelona.
1276	27 July	James the Conqueror died. He was succeeded as king of Aragon, Valencia and count of Barcelona by his son, Peter the Great, and as king of Majorca by another son, James II of Majorca.
1283		First regulated Catalan Courts, presided by Peter III. First Catalan constitutions.
1285	4 September	Aragonese Crusade: A Sicilian-Catalan fleet decisively defeated the French and Genoans at the naval Battle of Les Formigues, northeastern coast of Catalonia.
	30 September	Aragonese Crusade: Battle of the Col de Panissars (Catalan Pyrenees), decisive victory of the king Peter III of Aragon over French forces.
1300		University of Lleida, the first university of Catalonia and the Crown of Aragon, founded.[2]

14th century

Year	Date	Event
1311		The Catalan Company conquered the duchies of Athens and Neopatras, in Greece.
1318		Establishment of the Royal Archives in Barcelona.[3]
1329	25 March	Santa Maria del Mar church construction begins.
1333		Lo mal any primer ("The first bad year"), great famine due to poor harvest.
1343		The counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya, previously owned by the Kingdom of Majorca, were reincorporated in to the Principality of Catalonia. First documented use of the term "Principality of Catalonia".
1348		Black Death in Barcelona.
1349		University of Perpignan founded.
1350		Catalan Courts of Perpignan.
1358		First Fogatge (hearth tax) carried out in Catalonia.
1359	19 December	The Catalan Courts of 1359 established the Deputation of the General (Generalitat of Catalonia).
1365	22 July	Privilege of Sant Feliu de Guíxols: Peter IV of Aragon granted to inhabitants of the Kingdom of Majorca the condition of Catalans and the right to be represented in the Catalan Courts, politically vinculating Majorca with the Principality of Catalonia.
1375		Catalan Atlas.

15th century

Year	Date	Event
1401		Taula de canvi, first public bank of Europe, founded in Barcelona.[4]
1410	31 May	Martin I, last king of the House of Barcelona, died without heirs. Beginning of two-year interregnum.
1412		Compromise of Caspe, representatives of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia elected Ferdinand of the Castilian House of Trastámara as the new King of Aragon.
1413		Defeat of count James II of Urgell, claimant of the throne of Aragon, at the siege of Balaguer.
1428	2 February	Earthquake with an epicentre in Northern Catalonia.
1450		University of Barcelona founded.
1460	8 December	The Generalitat creates the Council of the Principality.
1461	21 June	Capitulation of Vilafranca between John II and the Generalitat.
1462		Outbreak of the Catalan Civil War.
		Outbreak of the First War of the Remences.
1472	24 October	Capitulation of Pedralbes, end of the Civil War with negotiated victory of the royal side.
1481		The Constitució de l'Observança passed by the Catalan Courts, establishing the submission of royal power to the laws of the Principality Catalonia.
1486	21 April	Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe: the remença peasants were liberated from most of feudal abuses.
1492	31 March	Alhambra Decree issued by the Catholic Monarchs, expelling non-converted Jews from their realms.
1493	April	Christopher Columbus was received in the monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra of Badalona by the Catholic Monarchs after his first voyage to America.
		Ferdinand II established a separate Royal Audience of Catalonia, the supreme court and seat of the government of the Principality.

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1519		Charles V presided the Catalan Courts and was recognized as Count of Barcelona.
1529	29 June	Treaty of Barcelona between Charles V and Pope Clement VII.
1587		The Generalitat commissions to the painter Filippo Ariosto the Gallery of portraits of the Counts of Barcelona, one of the oldest and largest royal galleries of Europe.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1626		The Catalan Courts, presided by Philip IV, rejected the proposal of Union of Arms made by the royal favourite and minister Count-Duke of Olivares.
1640	6 January	The border fortress of Salses recovered to the French by the Spanish armies with large assistance of Catalan militia.
	7 June	Corpus de Sang in Barcelona, one of the initial events of the Reapers' War. Dalmau de Queralt, viceroy of Catalonia, assassinated during the event.[5]
	7 September	Pact of Ceret between Catalonia and France.
	10 September	Junta de Braços or States-General (assembly of Estates) of the Principality of Catalonia summoned, it began to assume the sovereignty.
	16 December	On its way to Barcelona, the Spanish armies perpetrate the Cambrils massacre.
1641	16 January	The Junta de Braços, presided over by Pau Claris, President of the Generalitat, accepted the establishment of an independent Catalan Republic under French proteccion.[6]
	23 January	In order to gain more military aid from France, the Junta de Braços proclaimed Louis XIII as Count of Barcelona.
	26 January	Battle of Montjuïc, decisive Franco-Catalan victory over the Spanish armies.
	30 December	Louis XIII swears the Catalan constitutions.
1644		Spanish armies capture Lleida. Philip IV commits to respect the Catalan constitutions.
1652		Fall of Barcelona to the Spanish Royal army. The Principality was reincorporated into the Monarchy of Spain.
1659		Treaty of the Pyrenees between Spain and France, the counties of Roussillon and the northern half of Cerdanya were ceded to France.
1687		Revolt of the Barretines.
1697	10 August	French armies occupied Barcelona during the Nine Years' War.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1701		Catalan Courts presided by Philip V of Bourbon, recognizing Philip as Count of Barcelona and establishing the Court of Contraventions.
1705	20 June	Pact of Genoa between England and Catalonia.
	9 October	Grand Alliance armies took Barcelona.
	5 December	Last Catalan Courts, presided by Charles III of Habsburg, they recognized Charles as Count of Barcelona and represented an important progress in the guarantee of individual, civil and political rights.
1713	9 July	The Junta de Braços of Catalonia votes to remain on the fight against Philip V, thus starting the War of the Catalans. Army of Catalonia and the Catalan navy raised.
	9 July	Expedition of the military deputy: Catalan army disembarked in Arenys de Mar, in order to weaken the siege of Barcelona and provoke a general rebellion against the Bourbons in the countryside.
1714	13 August	Battle of Talamanca, last pro-Habsburg major victory in Catalonia.
	11 September	Fall of Barcelona to Bourbon armies, after thirteen months of siege.
1716		Nueva Planta Decrees: the Principality of Catalonia loss its institutions and public law, being politically and administratively incorporated as a province into the Crown of Castille, as the new Kingdom of Spain.
1717		Philip V decrees the abolition of all universities of Catalonia and the foundation of the University of Cervera.
1719		Pro-Habsburg uprising, led by Pere Joan Barceló Carrasclet, during the War of the Quadruple Alliance.
1721		Mossos d'Esquadra founded.
1758		Royal Barcelona Board of Trade founded.
1773		Revolt of the Quintas against forced recruitment.
1778		Charles III of Spain decrees the end of Cádiz's trade monopoly with American colonies.
1789	28 February	Rebombori del Pa.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1808	14 June	Second Battle of the Bruch, Spanish victory.
1809	12 December	Girona was taken by the French after seven months of siege.
1812	12 January	By decree of Napoleon, Catalonia was incorporated to France and divided into four French departments.
1814		French troops evacuated Catalonia.
1832		The Bonaplata Factory commenced operation in Barcelona, the first one of the country to make use of the steam engine.
1833		Outbreak of the First Carlist War. Parts of inland Catalonia were in Carlist hands, while Liberals retained the coastal areas.
	November	Minister Javier de Burgos decrees the territorial division of Spain into provinces. Catalonia was divided into four provinces (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona).
1835		First Barcelona bullanga (popular revolt or riot).
1840	6 July	Carlist general Ramon Cabrera crossed the border to France, ending the First Carlist War.
1842	3 December	Bombardment of Barcelona ordered by General Espartero due to popular uprising.[7]
1843		Jamància, last bullanga, which vindicated a progressive political program.
1846		Second Carlist War or Guerra dels Matiners.
1848	28 October	First railway service in the Iberian Peninsula, linking Barcelona with Mataró.
1855	2 July	Catalan general strike, being the first carried out in Spanish history.
1859	May	Floral Games were re-established, in the context of the Renaixença.
1869	18 May	Representatives of the federal-republican committees of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands signed the Tortosa Pact to work together in order to establish the Spanish Federal Republic.
1870	April	Revolt of the Quintas. Bombing of the town of Gràcia.
1872	21 April	Outbreak of the Third Carlist War.
1873	9 May	The Provincial Council of Barcelona, controlled by radical federal-republicans, attempts to proclaim a Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic.
1882	19 March	Gaudí's Sagrada Família church construction begins.
1888		1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition.
1892		Manresa Bases, first proposal for self-government of Catalonia promoted by Catalan nationalism.
1893	7 November	Liceu bombing attack by the anarchist Santiago Salvador.
1899	July	Tancament de caixes, tax strike in Barcelona against tax hikes in order to pay for the expenses of the Spanish–American War.

20th century

Year	Date	Event
1901		Regionalist League founded.
1905	25 November	¡Cu-Cut! incident. Officers of the Spanish Army, angry at the magazine for having published an offending joke, stormed the Cu-Cut! offices.[8]
1907	3 August	Solidaridad Obrera labor federation founded.
1909	25 July	Beginning of the Tragic Week.
13 October	The radical freethinker, anarchist, and educationist Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia is executed, falsely accused of orchestrating the Tragic Week.
1910	30 October	CNT, Anarcho-syndicalist trade union, founded in Barcelona.[9]
1911	6 January	First edition of the Volta a Catalunya cycle race begins.
1914	6 April	Commonwealth of Catalonia established. Enric Prat de la Riba (Regionalist League) appointed its first president.
		Library of Catalonia opens to the public.[9]
1919	February	La Canadiense strike. Among its consequences was to force the Spanish government to issue the first law limiting the working day to eight hours.
1925	20 March	Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish dictator, disbanded the Commonwealth of Catalonia.
1926	4 November	Events of Prats de Molló: Francesc Macià, leader of the independentist party Estat Català, tried to liberate Catalonia from France with a small army and proclaim the Catalan Republic, but he was betrayed and arrested.
1929		1929 Barcelona International Exposition.
1931	14 April	Francesc Macià proclaimed the Catalan Republic within the "Iberian Federation".[10]
	17 April	After negotiation, the Catalan Republic becomes the Generalitat, the Catalan institution of self-government within the Spanish Republic.
1932	18 January	Anarchist insurrection in the Alt Llobregat mining area.
	9 September	Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia approved by the Spanish Parliament. Catalonia became an autonomous region within the Spanish Republic.[11]
	20 November	First election to the Parliament of Catalonia, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) won a large majority of seats.[12]
	14 December	The Parliament appointed Francesc Macià (ERC) as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
1934	1 January	The Parliament appointed Lluís Companys (ERC) as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia right after the death of Macià on 25 December 1933.
	21 March	Crop Contracts Law passed by Catalan Parliament.
	6 October	Lluís Companys proclaimed the Catalan State of the Spanish Federal Republic. The Spanish army quickly suppressed the proclamation, arresting Companys and the Catalan government. Self-government suspended.
	11 November	Art Museum of Catalonia inaugurated.[13]
1936	19 February	After the Popular Front victory in the February 1936 Spanish general election, the Catalan government was pardoned and reinstated.
	19 July	Military uprising in Barcelona, as part of the coup against the Republic. Forces of the Generalitat and trade unions stopped the coup in Barcelona and Catalonia. Beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Anarchists take control de facto of Catalonia. People's Olympiad of Barcelona cancelled.
	21 July	Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia established.
	24 October	The Generalitat passed the Decree on Collectivization and Workers' Control.[14]
	6 December	People's Army of Catalonia raised.
1937	3 May	May Days, clashes between the anarchists and POUM versus the forces of the Republic and the Generalitat, supported by the PSUC. The Republic recovered full control of Catalonia.
1938	5 April	General Francisco Franco decrees the suppression of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and the Generalitat.
	25 July	Beginning of the Battle of the Ebro.
1939	5 February	Lluís Companys crossed the Franco-Spanish border, the Generalitat went into exile.
1940	15 October	President Lluís Companys is executed in Montjuïc Castle of Barcelona by firing squad in Francoist Spain.
1951	1 March	Barcelona tram strike protesting a plan by authorities to increase tram fares by up to 40%, first open demonstration against the Dictatorship.[15]
1952	27 May	35th International Eucharistic Congress held in Barcelona.
1971	7 November	Assembly of Catalonia founded.
1977	11 September	1977 Catalan autonomy protest.
	23 October	The exiled president of Catalonia, Josep Tarradellas, returned to Barcelona and the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored.
1979	8 September	Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979.
1980	20 March	First election to the reestablished Parliament of Catalonia. Convergència i Unió (CiU) became the winning party.
	24 April	The Parliament appointed Jordi Pujol (CiU) as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
1983	6 April	Law of Linguistic Normalization of Catalan passed by the Parliament.
	8 September	Televisió de Catalunya founded.[16]
1992	25 July	1992 Summer Olympic Games held in Barcelona.[17]
1998	15 July	Law recognizing same-sex partnerships passed by the Parliament. Catalonia became the first Spanish territory to recognize them.[18]

21st century

Year	Date	Event
2002		First book of the Civil Code of Catalonia passed by the Parliament.
2003	16 November	Election to the Parliament of Catalonia. The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV-EUiA) were able to form a coalition government.
	16 December	The Parliament appointed Pasqual Maragall (PSC) as President of the Generalitat of Catalonia
2005		PADICAT is established.
2006	9 August	Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006.
2010	28 June	At the request of the conservative People's Party, the Constitutional Court of Spain declared non valid many of the articles of the Statute of Autonomy.
	10 July	2010 Catalan autonomy protest.
	28 July	Ban on bullfighting in Catalonia passed by the Catalan Parliament.
2013	11 September	Catalan Way.
2014	9 November	2014 Catalan self-determination referendum.
2015	9 November	Declaration of the Initiation of the Process of Independence of Catalonia.
2017	17 August	Islamic terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.
	1 October	2017 Catalan independence referendum.
	27 October	Independence declared.
	27 October	Spanish Senate invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution and PM Mariano Rajoy declared the dissolution of the Catalan Parliament and dismissed Catalonia's Government.
2018	1 May	Quim Torra was elected President of Catalonia after the Spanish courts blocked the election of Carles Puigdemont, who had the support of the Catalan Parliament after the December election.

See also

City and town timelines

• Timeline of Barcelona
• Timeline of Lleida