1. THE HISTORY OF CATALONIA
1000 BC the Neolitic Ibers
In Catalonia there were some Iberic tribes who
lived off the earth, they knew how to melt copper
and tin. These tribes were called ilergetes in Lleida,
ausetans in Vic etc.
The Merchants Who Arrived by
Sea: The Old Age
One day the iber villagers who lived by the sea
were surprised to see people from far away arriving
by boat to trade products with them. These were
Greek and Phoenetian people who very quickly
established cities by the sea such as Empúries.
The ibers learned the alphabet and how to make
coins from them.
The Romans Organise the
Country: The Old Age
A bit later, Catalonia was invaded by the Romans.
They conquered the Spanish Peninsula. Cities
established by the Romans still exist such as
Tarraco or nowadays Tarragona. The Roman
colonization forced the way of life, the language
and the culture to change. There were also some
advantages such as more public buildings such as
roads (via Augusta).
One day the Barbarians arrived from Germany and
started to invade the Roman Empire. The Romans
built walls to defend themselves from the
Barbarians. For example, in Barcelona they built a
wall with rectangular towers. Christianity also
arrived in Catalonia at this time but it conflicted with
the Romans’ beliefs. They did not believe that there
were rich and poor or that they were children of
God.

2. THE HISTORY OF CATALONIA
The Birth of Catalonia: The
Middle Ages
The sarraïns invaded the Spanish Peninsula, but
the Christians in the Pyrenees were helped by the
King of France Carlemany who came to help the
people of Catalonia. They beat the sarraïns and
some of the territories were given to Counts who
were given the responsibility to rule and defend
them. Some of these counties are Rosselló,
Cerdanya, Urgell, Empúries, Ausona and
Barcelona, which make up the ‘old’ part of
Catalonia. The other part that was re-conquered by
the Moros is known as ‘new’ Catalonia. A count
from Barcelona who was called Guifré “el Pilós”
brought together counties from ‘old’ Catalonia to
repopulate the area after people fled the Moros.
Monks, Knights and Peasants:
The Middle Ages
The monks lived in the monasteries praying and
writing books, the Knights protected the land and
fought in the wars, and the peasants worked the
land under the authority of the Knights.
In 888 the Ripoll monastery was founded. The
counts from Barcelona expanded their territories
inside and outside of Catalonia. One of them
Ramon Berenguer III married Countess Dolça of
Provence in France, and was able to extend the
territory beyond the Pyrenees. They also moved
more people to Tarragona because the Moros had
left. Since 985 the counts from Barcelona were
independent from the kings of France.
Kings of Aragó and Counts of
Barcelona: The Middle Ages
In 1137 Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Catalonia
and Peronella the daughter of the King of Aragó
married, so the two territories became linked.
Around this time Ramon Berenguer IV also took
back Lleida and Tortosa from the Muslims,
whereas Jaume I conquered Mallorca and
València.
During the Middle Ages, the cities grew and in
order to lead them the municipal councils were
created.
Another important organization was the Court,
which was formed by counts, knights, bishops and
craftsmen. All of them were responsible of
proposing new laws to the King which were a
benefit for the village. Three representative people
of the Court were responsible for making deals.
They were the congressmen and formed “La
Generalitat”. Saint George was the master of this
organization and of Catalonia too.

3. THE HISTORY OF CATALONIA
Life in Medieval Cities: The
Middle Ages
From 1200 on, cities became important again.
Times for anxiety and wars: The
Modern Ages
Ferran I of Castella conquered Aragó and
Catalonia. He had problems with the Catalan
people and their traditions. Later Ferran II and
Isabel of Castella get married, thanks to this the
Catholic King and Queen brought the two territories
together. This king was also very strict and this was
bad for the Catalan peole who were not allowed to
participate in the conquest of America.
The Unorganized Country: The
Modern Ages
The grandson of the Catholic King and Queen,
Carles, became the King of Spain also taking
control over the parts of Europe and America that
Spain had conquered. In these times there were
lots of bandits in Catalonia. The country as a whole
was unorganized, with the expulsion of the Moros
worsening the situation. Spain was fighting Holland
and the German princes, and many soldiers were
sent to Catalonia to fight but the Generalitat’s laws
forbid this. However the King of Spain forced them
to accept the soldiers using the excuse of being at
war with France. This lead to the War of the
‘Segadors’.
After this riot, there was a war lasting eleven years
in which the Catalan people were allied with the
French. In order to end the war, Spain and France
signed the ‘pau dels Pirneus’ and the border
established.
The last Habsburg king, Carles II died without any
children resulting in the war of succession. The
Catalan people were in favour of Carles of Austria,
who was fighting against Felip, the grandson of the
King of France. On the 11th
September 1714
Barcelona surrendered to the troops of Felip.

4. THE HISTORY OF CATALONIA
The Reconstruction of the
Country: The Modern and
Contemporary Ages
Felip V was the first king of the new Bourbon
dynasty. He unified all the regions of Spain and the
Catalan language was officially forbidden. In the
18th
century, many ships and boats were sent to
America to trade. At this time work was plentiful
and people had lots of work. The first railway was
built between Barcelona and Mataró and the first
modern textiles factories were opened. The iron
and engineering industries were also established
and grew.
The Catalonia of Our
Grandparents: Contemporary
Agedd
Between 1902-1931 Alfons XII ruled Spain. During
the First World War Spain remained neutral.
Catalonia profited from the war because they were
able to sell war materiel to the other countries. After
that the Second Spanish Republic was established
and the Generalitat was first lead by Francesc
Macià and then Lluís Companys. However due to
the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, the
autonomous government of Catalonia disappeared.
When Franco died Joan Carles I became King,
democracy was restored and the autonomous
government of Catalonia was re-established. The
first president of the Generalitat was Josep
Tarradellas who returned from exile. The Catalan
people voted in the referendum to approve ‘Estatut
d’Autonomia de Catalunya’.
Nowadays
Nowadays Catalonia is in danger of losing its
autonomous government. This is the age that you
are going to be part of.