Catalonia — A bit of history

Staff Writer

Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain which has the status of nationality. Catalonia is comprised of four provinces, namely: Barcelona, which is the capital and largest city, and the second most populated municipality in Spain. Others include Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Geographically, Catalonia is located at the eastern farthest end of the Iberian Peninsula and shares boundaries with France and Andorra in the north, Valencia in the south, the Mediterranean Sea in the east and the communities of Aragon in the west.

Historically, Catalonia appears to be a political fallout put together by the Frankish kingdom as feudal vassals which acted as a bulwark against Muslim invasions. By the 12th century, Catalonia and the Kingdom of Aragon forged a unity under the Crown of Aragon and latterly, around 1469 to 1516, the marriage between Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile meant that both jointly ruled their kingdoms together. However, the union established for the first time since the 8th century a political entity that we today call Spain.

Catalonia might be described as a hotbed of revolt and wealth of intrigue. Hence, it has seen its fair share of violence, domination, and conquests. No wonder, during the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659), Catalonia revolted against the nuisance and presence of military personnel in its territory and inevitably became a protectorate under the French. France later controlled Catalonia until the Spanish army recaptured it. At the end of the Franco-Spanish War, the Spanish Crown gave up the northern parts of Catalonia to France, as parts of the county of Roussillon.

Culturally, Catalonia caused rulers to jitter at the influence and pervasiveness of its autonomy. As a result, between 1701-1714 saw the abolition of non-Castilian institutions in all of Spain, including languages, such as Catalan and the replacement with Spanish.

Nevertheless, Catalonia has grown in leaps and bounds, though adversely hit by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars in the 19th century. It has been fortunate to relish remarkable and continued industrialization, which rekindled its cultural peculiarity and nationalism.

Historically, Catalonian autonomy has been echoed and muffled, re-echoed, and re-muffled because it reverberates around Spanish political integrity and economic independence. The reason is obvious; Barcelona the second most populated municipality in Spain and the seventh most populous urban centre in Europe is the capital city of Catalonia. It has been argued that democracies do not go to war with each other, however, internal turmoil and violence make democracy look totalitarian.

 

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