Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain on the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Catalonia consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona and Tarragona; the capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the core of the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union. It comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, it is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. The official languages are Catalan and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. In the late 8th century, the counties of the March of Gothia and the Hispanic March were established by the Frankish kingdom as feudal vassals across and near the eastern Pyrenees as a defensive barrier against Muslim invasions; the eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal, the count of Barcelona, were called Catalonia.
In the 10th century the County of Barcelona became independent de facto. In 1137, Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united by marriage under the Crown of Aragon; the de jure end of Frankish rule was ratified by French and Aragonese monarchs in the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258. The Principality of Catalonia developed its own institutional system, such as courts, constitutions, becoming the base for the Crown of Aragon's naval power and expansionism in the Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished. During the last Medieval centuries natural disasters, social turmoils and military conflicts affected the Principality. Between 1469 and 1516, the king of Aragon and the queen of Castile married and ruled their realms together, retaining all of their distinct institutions and legislation. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the royal army in its territory, being proclaimed a republic under French protection. Within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, until it was reconquered by the Spanish army.
Under the terms of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, the Spanish Crown ceded the northern parts of Catalonia the County of Roussillon, to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V of Spain; this led to the eclipse of Catalan as a language of literature, replaced by Spanish. Along the 18th century, Catalonia experienced economic growth, reinforced in the late quarter of the century when the Castile's trade monopoly with American colonies ended. In the 19th century, Catalonia was affected by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars. In the second third of the century, Catalonia experienced significant industrialisation; as wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a commonwealth, with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored as an autonomous government.
After the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan self-government and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. After a first period of autarky, from the late 1950s through to the 1970s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth, drawing many workers from across Spain, making Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and turning Catalonia into a major tourist destination. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained considerable autonomy in political, educational and cultural affairs and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain. In the 2010s there has been growing support for Catalan independence. On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament declared independence from Spain following a disputed referendum; the Spanish Senate voted in favour of enforcing direct rule by removing the entire Catalan government and calling a snap regional election for 21 December. On 2 November of the same year, the Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned 7 former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont—fled to other European countries.
The name Catalonia—Catalunya in Catalan, spelled Cathalonia, or Cathalaunia in Medieval Latin—began to be used for the homeland of the Catalans in the late 11th century and was used before as a territorial reference to the group of counties that comprised part of the March of Gothia and March of Hispania under the control of the Count of Barcelona and his relatives. The origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. One theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the name Gothia Launia, since the origins of the Catalan counts and people were found in the March of Gothia, known as Gothia, whence Gothlan
National symbols of Catalonia
The national symbols of Catalonia are flags, icons or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of Catalonia or Catalan culture. The oldest Catalan symbol is the coat of arms of Catalonia, based on the royal arms of the Crown of Aragon, though a number of theories trace its origin to older times, it is one of the oldest coats of arms in Europe. A legend, considered non-historical, says that the four red bars are the result of Charles the Bald, known as Charles II, king of West Francia, smearing four bloodied fingers over Wilfred the Hairy's golden shield, after the latter had fought bravely against the Normans. Catalonia's national symbols as defined in the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia are the flag, Catalonia's day, the anthem; these symbols have a political and revindicative significance. Other symbols may not have official status, for different reasons, but are recognised at a national or international level. One of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia is the St George's Cross.
Certain institutions from the former Principality of Catalonia, like the Catalan constitutions, the Usatges, the Consell de Cent, the Catalan Courts and the Generalitat are valued as historical symbols of ancient local forms of government by Catalans. Owing to a common history and shared experiences, as well as interactions at different levels along the centuries, many of the traditional Catalan symbols overlap with those of Aragon and the Balearic Islands; this is cause of controversies, as it is difficult to resolve conflicts regarding differing perceptions of the culture, the history and the language issues surrounding what was the former Crown of Aragon and the culturally Catalan geographic areas. Places like the Poblet Monastery where the ancient kings lie buried are revered as common symbols that helped consolidate Catalonia in the 12th century. In former times the existence and survival of Catalonia depended on being victorious in the constant battles against the Saracens. Therefore, many ancient Catalan symbols are of a warlike nature, like Otger Cataló known as Pare de la Pàtria, the Nou Barons de la Fama, James the Conqueror, the Almogavars, Bernat de Rocafort and the Comte Tallaferro.
Present-day "moros i cristians" popular festivals still commemorate the battles against the Moors that allowed the Catalans to endure the invasions. The national anthem of Els Segadors, as well as the sickle, date back to the Catalan Revolt, while the Timbaler del Bruc commemorates the resistance against Napoleon I's troops in Catalonia during the Peninsular War. Ancestral symbols, like the Virgin of Montserrat, Saint George, other Virgins and Saints, as well as the Pessebre, the Nit de Reis and the Christmas celebrations, are derived from the Christian doctrine; these symbols were fruit of a time when churches or cathedrals were in the centre of Catalan towns and respect for priests was not questioned. The Christian cross and the colors of the sacrifice of Christ and red for "body and blood", inspired a great part of the Catalan traditional emblems; some old Christian symbols are now subject to controversy, for present-day society in Catalonia is in a state of Postchristianity, seeing itself as more secular than its traditional ancestry.
The names of many villages and mountains all over Catalonia, like Santa Susanna, Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, or Sant Llorenç del Munt, as well as a great number of chapels and hermitages spread all over the territory, remain as a testimony of the ancestral faith of the Catalans. In recent times, these symbols have seen their meaning much reduced. While until the 19th century all Catalans felt represented by their symbols of Christianity, nowadays only a few consider them relevant. In 1905 writer and bishop Josep Torras i Bages, convinced that the Catalan nation had to be Christian in order to establish itself as something enduring and meaningful in the future criticized the secularism displayed by the "militant nationalism" of Enric Prat de la Riba. According to Torras i Bages, the seny, another Catalan symbol, was based in ancient Catalan traditions. Analyzing this controversy, Mossèn Gaietà Soler i Perejoan came to the conclusion that "there are two "opposing visions" in Catalonia, from one side the Catholic, based on "seny" and tradition, aiming to promote benevolent social restoration... of the faith and social and legal customs of Catalonia...", on the other side "the unconcerned, based on what is politically convenient, in order to achieve, rather than social improvement, the political prestige of a nation-state."
Aside of the symbols of a historic and religious character, there are other popular Catalan symbols which are more or less serious according to the case and the context. Many of these symbols come from the local folklore, like the sardana dance, the Castellers and the gegants i capgrossos, as well as the dragon, its derivations, the cucafera, the vibria and the bat; the choosing of a "Pubilla" in the summer fairs comes from an old tradition based on the transmission of hereditary patrimony in rural Catalonia. While other peoples and nations have a "national bird" or a "national flower", Catalonia does not have much in the way of tongue-in-cheek popular established symbols though the yellow weaver's broom has been regarded as such in literature, specially in combination with red poppies; the "ruc català" or "burro català" is a recent creation when the need was felt to produce something Catalan to
Traditions of Catalonia
There are quite a number of festivals and traditions in Catalonia. While most are of ancient origin, certain traditions are of recent introduction. There are some that are common to the whole Catalan society, but others are relevant only to a particular location. Locals welcome outsiders to share with them in their celebration; the correfocs, in which "devils" play with fire close the onlookers, is one of the most striking of the Catalan festive events. The devils are not considered the incarnation of evil. Another tradition occurs during the spring festival day of Sant Jordi, in which men give roses to women, women give a book to men as a present; that day is known as "Dia del Llibre", coinciding with the anniversaries of the deaths of William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Josep Pla. The streets are full of people gathering around flower stands; the most spectacular of the Catalan festivals are those of the colles castelleres, groups of enthusiasts who form impressive human towers. This is an old tradition of the Tarragona region, which has now spread to many parts of Catalonia, has become a real spectacle, or sport, that attracts thousands of people.
Amongst other important festivities are the carnivals over all the region,especially in Sitges, Solsona and Vilanova i la Geltrú, the Patum in Berga. In Catalonia, there are a few local Christmas traditions. Another custom is to put up a "Pessebre" Nativity scene, which includes the Caganer, a figurine depicted in the act of defecation, it is traditional to hang small branches of mistletoe above the doors. Traditionally, all Catalan men and women are named after a Christian saint, Virgin or Biblical personality. Besides celebrating birthdays, Catalan people used to celebrate their given name saint's day, according to the General Roman Calendar; the Catalan "Diada" or National Day of Catalonia is on September 11, after the defeat and surrender of Barcelona to the French-Castilian army of Philip V of Spain and his supporters during the War of Spanish Succession. November 7 is remembered in Northern Catalonia after the Treaty of the Pyrenees. Among the musical traditions, there is the special music of the cobles, the wind bands that play sardanes.
The sardana is a circular, open dance, that originated in the Empordà region and the Pyrenees, is now danced in many squares and streets all over Catalonia. Popular folk songs include "El Rossinyol", "La Balanguera", "La Santa Espina", "Virolai" and "El Cant dels Ocells"; some of them became something like unofficial national anthems under the years of General Franco's dictatorship. Some of those songs became popular all over the world with the success of the Orfeó Català choir around the beginning of the 20th century. Another song, created by the present singer Lluís Llach, L'Estaca gained sudden recognition as expressing the national feeling of Catalans. Despite its relative recent introduction, singing l'Estaca became a kind of tradition. Another important Catalan musical tradition is the singing of Havaneres and burning rhum together at the Cremat which happen simultaneously. There are a number of Catalan culinary traditions, some of them coincide with a religious festival, like cooking a big Christmas Day meal on December 25 which includes escudella i carn d'olla.
St. Stephen's Day on December 26 is a holiday in Catalonia, it is celebrated right after Christmas, with another big meal including canelons stuffed with the ground remaining meat of the previous day. These events are celebrated along with kin and close friends. Other religious event related foods include the Panellets sweets eaten on All Saints' Day and the Bunyols de Quaresma puffy little buns eaten to celebrate Lent. One of the most representative Catalan gastronomy-centered events is the Calçotada; this is a group event where a certain type of tender onions are barbecued outdoors, among much feasting and merrymaking with family and friends. Similar occasions may be the Costellada and the Botifarrada, where mutton ribs or botifarra sausages are barbecued. Sometimes people get together to roast pine kernels or chestnuts; the Vermut is a tradition, now much in decay, of having a light aperitif with olives and potato chips before the Sunday meal together with family and friends. An important tradition in rural areas of Catalonia is the pig slaughter.
Although it has declined in importance owing to strict sanitary European Community rules and public sensitivities, it is still celebrated in certain villages, like La Cellera de Ter, Artesa de Segre, Vall-de-roures, Passanant and La Llacuna. Mushroom hunting is a popular activity in Catalonia. There is a tradition of going to hunt mushrooms as a family or group in the fall, after the rains marking the end of the summer season. In Catalonia, sport has a strong national and political connotation; the Barça football team and the USAP Perpignan rugby team are considered by some Catalan nationalists, to act as unofficial national teams of Catalonia. Auca Catalan symbols Traditions in Catalonia
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish architect known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a individualized, one-of-a-kind style. Most are located including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture and religion, he considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement, reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and moulding the details as he conceived them.
Gaudí's work enjoys study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudí's Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works; this led to calls for his beatification. Antoni Gaudi was born in 1852 in Riudoms or Reus, to the coppersmith Francesc Gaudí i Serra and Antònia Cornet i Bertran, he was the youngest of five children, of whom three survived to adulthood: Rosa and Antoni. Gaudí's family originated in the Auvergne region in southern France. One of his ancestors, Joan Gaudí, a hawker, moved to Catalonia in the 17th century. Gaudí's exact birthplace is unknown because no supporting documents have been found, leading to a controversy about whether he was born in Reus or Riudoms, two neighbouring municipalities of the Baix Camp district. Most of Gaudí's identification documents from both his student and professional years gave Reus as his birthplace.
Gaudí stated on various occasions that he was born in his paternal family's village. Gaudí was baptised in the church of Sant Pere Apòstol in Reus the day after his birth under the name "Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet". Gaudí had a deep appreciation for his native land and great pride in his Mediterranean heritage for his art, he believed Mediterranean people to be endowed with creativity, originality and an innate sense for art and design. Gaudí described this distinction by stating, "We own the image. Fantasy comes from the ghosts. Fantasy is. We are concrete; the image comes from the Mediterranean. Orestes knows his way, where Hamlet is torn apart by his doubts." Time spent outdoors during summer stays in the Gaudí family home Mas de la Calderera, afforded Gaudí the opportunity to study nature. Gaudí's enjoyment of the natural world led him to join the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya in 1879 at the age of 27; the organisation arranged expeditions to explore Catalonia and southern France riding on horseback or walking ten kilometres a day.
Young Gaudí suffered from poor health, including rheumatism, which may have contributed to his reticent and reserved character. These health concerns and the hygienist theories of Dr. Kneipp contributed to Gaudí's decision to adopt vegetarianism early in his life, his religious faith and strict vegetarianism led him to undertake several severe fasts. These fasts were unhealthy and as in 1894, led to life-threatening illness. Gaudí attended a nursery school run by Francesc Berenguer, whose son called Francesc, was one of Gaudí's main assistants, he enrolled in the Piarists school in Reus where he displayed his artistic talents via drawings for a seminar called El Arlequín. During this time he worked as an apprentice in the "Vapor Nou" textile mill in Reus. In 1868 he moved to Barcelona to study teaching in the Convent del Carme. In his adolescent years Gaudí became interested in utopian socialism and, together with his fellow students Eduard Toda i Güell and Josep Ribera i Sans, planned a restoration of the Poblet Monastery that would have transformed it into a Utopian phalanstère.
Between 1875 and 1878, Gaudí completed his compulsory military service in the infantry regiment in Barcelona as a Military Administrator. Most of his service was spent on sick leave, his poor health kept him from having to fight in the Third Carlist War, which lasted from 1872 to 1876. In 1876 Gaudí's mother died at the age of 57, as did his 25-year-old brother Francesc, who had just graduated as a physician. During this time Gaudí studied architecture at the Llotja School and the Barcelona Higher School of Architecture, graduating in 1878. To finance his studies, Gaudí worked as a draughtsman for various architects and constructors such as Leandre Serrallach, Joan Martorell, Emili Sala Cortés, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano and Josep Fontserè. In addition to his architecture classes, he studied French, economics and aesthetics, his grades were average and he failed courses. When handing him his degree, Elies Rogent, director of Barcelona Architecture School, said: "We have given this academic title either to a fool or a genius.
Time will show." Gaudí, when receiving his degree told his friend, the sculptor Llorenç Matamala, with his ironical sense of humour, "Llorenç, they're saying I'm a
General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales
The General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales is the assembly elected for 6 years by the 31 Cantons of the Pyrénées-Orientales and its executive. Christian Bourquin, is the elected president since 1998; the chairman of'General Council of Pyrénées-Orientales' is Hermelin Malherbe-Laurent, who succeeded Christian Bourquin in November 2010. She is the head of the executive. Guy Male 1982 - 1987 Rene Marques 1987 - 1998 Christian Bourquin 1998 – 2010 Jean-Jacques Lopez Jean Vila Robert Garrab Henri Demay Louis Caseilles Alexandre Reynal Alain Boyer Jean-Louis Alvarez Jean Codognès The Assembly sets departmental policy; the General Council has 31 Conseillers généraux for the 31 Cantons of the Pyrénées-Orientales and its Chairman. The Conseiller général is the representative, elected by universal suffrage for 6 years; the General Councils exercise the powers given by the laws of decentralization in the social welfare, the roads and water network, education and rescue services, economic development, public museums, departmental archives, the management of protected areas.
The Revenu de solidarité active, or RSA is to replace in 2009, the Revenu minimum d'insertion or RMI, the "Allocation de parent isolé" to help Single-parent, the "prime pour l'emploi" or an allocation to help working poor. The Office of Public Housing of Pyrénées-Orientales The 1 € bus network The management of the road network in the Pyrénées-Orientales The management of school canteens and 30 collèges of Pyrénées-Orientales Two bibliobus that crisscross the department The Médiathèque départementale Claude Simon; the 40 "sports departmental committees", the Sports Health Center. Financial support for the USAP, Catalans Dragons The "Platform Multimodale Pyrenees Mediterranean" The departmental committee of tourism The THEMIS solar power plant Partner of Musée d'Art Moderne de Céret the art museum of Céret, The Palace of the Kings of Majorca The Château Royal de Collioure The Serrabone Priory Participation in the cultural network "Réseau culturel Terre Catalane". Partner of the Parc naturel régional des Pyrénées Catalanes Partner of "syndicat mixte grand Site Canigó" that manages the Canigou range management of Paulillesprotected area The Regional Natural Reserve of Nyer The Natural Marine Reserve of Banyuls-Cerbère The General Council has a policy of cooperation with the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Province of Girona and the Andorra to create a Catalan Eurodistrict.
July 27, 2007 in Céret took place the signature of the framework agreement for launching the Eurodistrict project Establishment of a Common Fund to support projects of cooperation across the Catalan space, common development of cross-border projects, the General Council and the Casa de la Generalitat de Catalunya in Perpignan. A study in 1997 found that 55% of the population understand, 39% can read and 34% can speak Catalan, it found a higher percantage of speakers in lower in the capital city. Although Catalan has no official status it was first recognised in 1951 when it was introduced into the school curriculum; the Region of Languedoc-Roussillon created an agency for the promotion of the two regional languages and Occitan. At the session of 10 December 2007, the General Council approved the "Charter for Catalan" in which the Pyrénées-Orientales is committed to ensure the promotion and dissemination of the Catalan language and the Catalan culture, it says in the Preamble: "Catalan, is born more than a thousand years, is one of the pillars of our identity and richness of the department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
The term Northern Catalonia gets its first official recognition. The Pyrénées-Orientales is conducting a pilot study of installation of automatic defibrillators. On April 2, 2007, the General Council first decided to purchase defibrillators for 22 municipalities located more than 20 minutes from emergency medical services. Since March 2008, when a defibrillator was installed in Mosset, 141 municipalities have them, the objective being to equip all 226 municipalities and the 22 General Council buildings. Certain municipalities have decided to install additional defibrillators at frequented locations. After a presentation to the French Council of Mayors, other French departments and regions are considering the installation of automatic defibrillators; the devices require a telephone line and an ADSL connection, their ground support equipment makes use of GPS. Thus their installation helps to reduce the digital divide in poorly connected villages. Languedoc-Roussillon Sheet presentation of Eurodistrict in french and Catalan Charter for the Catalan Conseil Général des Pyrénées-Orientales INTERREG cross-border projects in progress
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous autonomous community after Andalusia and Madrid with more than 4.9 million inhabitants. Its homonymous capital Valencia is metropolitan area in Spain, it is located along the Mediterranean coast on the east side of the Iberian peninsula. It borders with Catalonia to the north and Castilla–La Mancha to the west, Murcia to the south; the Valencian Community consists of three provinces which are Valencia and Alicante. According to its Statute of Autonomy, the Valencian people are a nationality, their origins date back to the Aragonese reconquest of the Moorish Taifa of Valencia, taken by James I of Aragon in 1238 during the Reconquista. The newly founded Kingdom of Valencia was granted wide self-government under the Crown of Aragon. Valencia experienced its golden age in the 15th century. Self-government continued after the unification of the Spanish Kingdom, but was suspended in 1707 by Phillip V of Spain as a result of the Spanish War of Succession.
Valencian nationalism resurged towards the end of the 19th century, which led to the modern conception of the Valencian Country. Self-government under the Generalitat Valenciana was reestablished in 1982 after Spanish transition to democracy. Many Valencian people speak Valencian, the region's own co-official language, a southwestern dialect of Catalan standardised by the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Valencian is a diglossic language, repressed during Franco's dictatorship in favour of Spanish. Since it regained official status in 1982 in the Valencian Estatut d'Autonomia. Valencian has been implemented in public administration and the education system leading to an exponential increase in knowledge of its formal standard. Valencian is understood by more than half of the population living within the Valencian Community. Valencia was founded by the Romans under the name of "Valentia Edetanorum", which translates to'Valiance of the Land of the Lamb'. With the establishment of the Taifa of Valencia, the name developed to بلنسية, which became Valencia after the expulsion of the Moors.
"Valencian Community" is the standard translation of the official name in Valencian recognized by the Statute of Autonomy of 1982. This is the name most used in public administration, the media and Spanish written language. However, the variant of "Valencian Country" that emphasizes the nationality status of the Valencian people is still the preferred one by left-wing parties, civil associations, Catalan written language and major academic institutions like the University of Valencia. "Valencian Community" is a neologism, adopted after democratic transition in order to solve the conflict between two competing names: "Valencian Country" and "Former Kingdom of Valencia". On one hand, "Valencian Country" represented the modern conception of nationality that resurged in the 19th century, it became well-established during the Second Spanish Republic and on with the works of Joan Fuster in the 1960s, implying the existence of the "Catalan Countries". This nationalist subtext was opposed by anti-Catalan blaverists, who proposed "Former Kingdom of Valencia" instead in order to emphasize Valencian independence from Catalonia.
Blaverists have accepted the official denomination. The autonomous community can be homonymously identified with its capital "Valencia". However, this could be disregarding of the provinces of Castellón. Other more anecdotal translations have included "Land of Valencia", "Region of Valencia" and "Valencian Region"; the term "Region", carries negative connotations among many Valencians because it could deny their nationality status. The Pre-Roman autochthonous people of the Valencian Community were the Iberians, who were divided in several groups; the Greeks established colonies in the coastal towns of Saguntum and Dénia beginning in the 5th century BC, where they traded and mixed with the local Iberian populations. After the end of the First Punic War between Carthage and Rome in 241 BC, which established their limits of influence in the Ebro river, the Carthaginians occupied the whole region; the dispute over the hegemony of Saguntum, a Hellenized Iberian coastal city with diplomatic contacts with Rome, destroyed by Hannibal in 219 BC, ignited the Second Punic War, which ended with the incorporation of the region to the Roman Empire.
The Romans founded the city of Valentia in 138 BC, over the centuries overtook Saguntum in importance. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the Barbarian Invasions in the 5th century AD, the region was first invaded by the Alans and ruled by the Visigoths, until the arrival of the Arabs in 711, which left a broad impact in the region, still visible in today's Valencian landscape and culture. After the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba, two main independent taifas were established at the region, Balansiya and Dénia, along with the small and short living taifas of Orihuela, Alpuente, Jérica and Sagunt and the short Christian conquest of Valencia by El Cid. However, the origins of present-day Valencia date back to the Kingdom of Valencia, which came into existence in the 13th century. James I of Aragon led the Christian conquest and colonization of the existing Islamic taifas with Aragonese and Catalan colonizers in 1208; the kingdom developed intensively in the 14th and 15th centuries, which are con
History of Catalan
Catalan originated from Vulgar Latin in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. It diverged from the other Romance languages in the 9th century. At that time, Catalan spread throughout the Iberian peninsula when the Catalan counts conquered Muslim territory. By the 11th century, the Catalan language was present in several feudal documents. Catalan was present throughout the Mediterranean by the 15th century; this was during a time. In 1659, the Treaty of Pyrenees was signed, beginning a suppression of the Catalan language. Louis XIV issued a decree; the repression continued during the French Revolution when the First French Republic prohibited the usage of Catalan in linguistic education. The repression continued until when the French government in 2007 promoted the usage of Catalan publicly and in education. In Spain, the usage of Catalan was prohibited. Under Francisco Franco, Catalan was prohibited in education, it was prohibited in mass media but allowed during the early 1950s. The publishing of written works in Catalan continued.
When Franco died and a constitutional monarchy was instituted, the usage of Catalan was promoted. By the 9th century, the Catalan language had developed from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern end of the Pyrenees mountains, as well as in the territories of the Roman province and archdiocese of Tarraconensis to the south. From the 8th century on, the Catalan counts extended their territory southwards and westwards, conquering territories occupied by Muslims, bringing their language with them; this phenomenon gained momentum with the separation of the County of Barcelona from the Carolingian Empire in 988 AD. By the 9th century, the Christian rulers occupied the northern parts of present-day Catalonia termed "Old Catalonia", during the 11th and 12th centuries they expanded their domains to the region north of the Ebro river, a land known as "New Catalonia". During the 13th century, the Catalans expanded to the Land of Valencia and across to the Balearic Islands and Alghero in Sardinia.
According to historian Jaume Villanueva, the first attested Catalan sentence is thought to be found in an 8th-century manuscript from Ripoll that has since been lost. It was a whimsical note in 10th- or early 11th-century calligraphy: Magister ms no vol que em miras novel. Starting in the 9th century, several feudal documents written in macaronic Latin began to exhibit elements of Catalan, with proper names or sentences in Romance. For example, in the act of consecration of the cathedral of Urgell from 839 the toponymy exhibits clear Catalan traits, like apocope in Argilers < ARGILARIUS, Llinars < LINARES, Kabrils < CAPRILES, reduction of Latin clusters as in Palomera < PALUMBARIA. Another text, from the early 11th century, exhibits the names of seven fruit trees: Of special historical and linguistic importance is the Memorial of Complaints of Ponç I, featuring whole sentences in Romance. By the middle of the 11th century, documents written or in Catalan begin to appear, like the Oath of Radulf Oriol Complaints of Guitard Isarn, Lord of Caboet, or The Oath of Peace and Truce of Count Pere Ramon.
The hagiographic poem Cançó de Santa Fe from ca. 1054 is not considered one of the oldest Catalan texts because it is hard to tell if it is written in Catalan or Occitan, since its place of composition is unknown and it is difficult to assign it to one language or the other, the fact that both languages were so similar to each other at the time. Catalan shares many features with Gallo-Romance languages, which are located in France and Northern Italy. Old Catalan diverged from Old Occitan between the 11th and 14th centuries, although it wasn't until the nineteenth century that Catalan was formally considered a separate language, when in 1863 the German philologist Friedrich Christian Diez first put Catalan on the same level as the rest of the romance languages, though still admitting a close relationship with Occitan. Catalan lived a golden age during the Late Middle Ages, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural plenitude. Examples of this can be seen in the works of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull, the Four Great Chronicles, the Valencian school of poetry which culminated in Ausiàs March.
By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the center of social and cultural dynamism, Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world. The belief that political splendor was correlated with linguistic consolidation was voiced through the Royal Chancery, which promoted a standardized language; the outstanding novel of chivalry Tirant lo Blanc, by Joanot Martorell, shows the transition from medieval to Renaissance values, something that can be seen in the works of Bernat Metge and Andreu Febrer. During this period, Catalan was what Costa Carreras terms "one of the'great languages' of medieval Europe"; the flowering of the Renaissance was associated with the advent of the printing press, the first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in Valencia in 1474: Trobes en llaors de la Verge maria. After the Treaty of the Pyrenees, a royal decree by Louis XIV of France on April 2, 1700 prohibited the use of the Catalan language in present-day Northern Catalonia.
The decree forbade use under the threat of being invalidated. Sho
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