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Catalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (Catalan: catalanisme, Spanish: catalanismo), which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning; most people who define themselves as Catalanist do not necessarily identify as Catalan nationalists.
Intellectually, modern Catalan nationalism can be said to have commenced as a political philosophy in the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state in Spain in the context of the First Republic (1873-1874). Valentí Almirall i Llozer and other intellectuals that participated in this process set up a new political ideology in the 19th century, to restore self-government, as well as to obtain recognition for the Catalan language. These demands were summarized in the so-called Bases de Manresa in 1892.
The movement had little support at first. After the Spanish–American War, in which Spain lost the last of their colonies in the Pacific and the Caribbean, these early stages of Catalanism grew in support, mostly because of the weakened Spanish international position after the war and the loss of the two main destinations for Catalan exports (Cuba and Puerto Rico).
During the first centuries of the Reconquista, the Franks drove the Muslims south of the Pyrenees. To prevent future incursions, Charlemagne created in 790 CE a series of Frankish counties through the conquered territory (which was occasionally called "Marca Hispanica"), serving as buffer states between the Frankish kingdom and Al-Andalus.
Between 878 and 988 CE, the area became a hotbed of Frankish-Muslim conflict. However, as the Frankish monarchy and the Caliphate of Córdoba both weakened during the 11th century, the resulting impasse allowed for a process of consolidation throughout the region's many earldoms, resulting in their combination into the County of Barcelona, which became the embryo of today's Catalonia. By 1070, Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, had subordinated other Catalan counts and intransigent nobles as vassals. His action brought peace to a turbulent feudal system and sowed the seeds of Catalan identity. Ramon Berenguer approved a series of pacts, called the Usatges, which "explicitly acknowledged legal equality between burghers ... and nobility".
According to several scholars, the term "Catalan" and "Catalonia" emerged near the end of the 11th century and appeared in the compiled Usatges of 1173. Two factors fostered this identity: stable institutions and cultural prosperity. While the temporary lack of foreign invasions contributed to Catalonia's stability, it was not a major cause. Rather, it provided a zone for sociopolitical development. For example, after the County of Barcelona signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Aragon in 1137 to create a dynastic union of both entities later known as Crown of Aragon, the system was designed to mutually check both the king's and the nobility's powers, while the small but growing numbers of free citizens and bourgeoisie would tactically take sides with the king in order to diminish typically feudal institutions. In 1173, Catalonia was legally delimited for the first time, while, apart from the compilation of the Usages, between 1170 and 1195 the Liber feudorum maior and the Gesta Comitum Barchinonensium were compiled and written, being considered together as the three milestones of Catalan political identity.
In addition, the estates of the realm established the Corts Catalanes (Catalan Courts), a representative body of nobles, bishops, abbots and the bourgeoisie that counterbalanced the King's authority. By the end of the 13th century, "the monarch needed the consent of the Corts to approve laws or collect revenue". Soon after, the Catalan Courts elected a standing body called the Diputació del General or the Generalitat, which included the rising upper bourgeoisie. The first Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Catalan Courts held in Barcelona in 1283, following the Roman tradition of the codex.
In the 13th century, King James I of Aragon conquered Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Subsequent conquests expanded into the Mediterranean, reaching Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Naples, and Greece, so by 1350 the Crown of Aragon "presided over one of the most extensive and powerful mercantile empires of the Mediterranean during this period". Catalonia's economic success formed a powerful merchant class, which wielded the Corts as its political weapon. It also produced a smaller middle class, or menestralia, that was "composed of artisans, shopkeepers and workshop owners".
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Catalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (Catalan: catalanisme, Spanish: catalanismo), which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning; most people who define themselves as Catalanist do not necessarily identify as Catalan nationalists.
Intellectually, modern Catalan nationalism can be said to have commenced as a political philosophy in the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state in Spain in the context of the First Republic (1873-1874). Valentí Almirall i Llozer and other intellectuals that participated in this process set up a new political ideology in the 19th century, to restore self-government, as well as to obtain recognition for the Catalan language. These demands were summarized in the so-called Bases de Manresa in 1892.
The movement had little support at first. After the Spanish–American War, in which Spain lost the last of their colonies in the Pacific and the Caribbean, these early stages of Catalanism grew in support, mostly because of the weakened Spanish international position after the war and the loss of the two main destinations for Catalan exports (Cuba and Puerto Rico).
During the first centuries of the Reconquista, the Franks drove the Muslims south of the Pyrenees. To prevent future incursions, Charlemagne created in 790 CE a series of Frankish counties through the conquered territory (which was occasionally called "Marca Hispanica"), serving as buffer states between the Frankish kingdom and Al-Andalus.
Between 878 and 988 CE, the area became a hotbed of Frankish-Muslim conflict. However, as the Frankish monarchy and the Caliphate of Córdoba both weakened during the 11th century, the resulting impasse allowed for a process of consolidation throughout the region's many earldoms, resulting in their combination into the County of Barcelona, which became the embryo of today's Catalonia. By 1070, Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, had subordinated other Catalan counts and intransigent nobles as vassals. His action brought peace to a turbulent feudal system and sowed the seeds of Catalan identity. Ramon Berenguer approved a series of pacts, called the Usatges, which "explicitly acknowledged legal equality between burghers ... and nobility".
According to several scholars, the term "Catalan" and "Catalonia" emerged near the end of the 11th century and appeared in the compiled Usatges of 1173. Two factors fostered this identity: stable institutions and cultural prosperity. While the temporary lack of foreign invasions contributed to Catalonia's stability, it was not a major cause. Rather, it provided a zone for sociopolitical development. For example, after the County of Barcelona signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Aragon in 1137 to create a dynastic union of both entities later known as Crown of Aragon, the system was designed to mutually check both the king's and the nobility's powers, while the small but growing numbers of free citizens and bourgeoisie would tactically take sides with the king in order to diminish typically feudal institutions. In 1173, Catalonia was legally delimited for the first time, while, apart from the compilation of the Usages, between 1170 and 1195 the Liber feudorum maior and the Gesta Comitum Barchinonensium were compiled and written, being considered together as the three milestones of Catalan political identity.
In addition, the estates of the realm established the Corts Catalanes (Catalan Courts), a representative body of nobles, bishops, abbots and the bourgeoisie that counterbalanced the King's authority. By the end of the 13th century, "the monarch needed the consent of the Corts to approve laws or collect revenue". Soon after, the Catalan Courts elected a standing body called the Diputació del General or the Generalitat, which included the rising upper bourgeoisie. The first Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Catalan Courts held in Barcelona in 1283, following the Roman tradition of the codex.
In the 13th century, King James I of Aragon conquered Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Subsequent conquests expanded into the Mediterranean, reaching Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Naples, and Greece, so by 1350 the Crown of Aragon "presided over one of the most extensive and powerful mercantile empires of the Mediterranean during this period". Catalonia's economic success formed a powerful merchant class, which wielded the Corts as its political weapon. It also produced a smaller middle class, or menestralia, that was "composed of artisans, shopkeepers and workshop owners".