The War of the Spanish Succession: the loss of the institutions - Museu d'Història de Catalunya

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The War of the Spanish Succession: the loss of the institutions

The Nueva Planta Decrees (22g)

The War of the Spanish Succession, 1701 to 1714, is one of the key episodes that have marked the history of Catalonia. After the death of Charles II, the succession to the Spanish throne is disputed between Philip of Anjou, with the support of France, and Archduke Charles of Austria, with the support of Austria, England and the Netherlands. Although they have initially acknowledged Philip as king, Catalonia and the territories of the kingdom of Aragon switch their allegiance to Charles of Austria, who holds his court in Barcelona.

For Catalonia the military victory of Philip V means the abolition of its political institutions, such as the Corts and the Generalitat, and of its own laws. The Nueva Planta Decrees (1716) impose an absolutist government with the figure of the captain general as the supreme civil and military authority. As soon as the institutions have disappeared, the taxes are confiscated and new ones introduced. All the universities are closed, except for Cervera, and the Catalan language is gradually banned in the public sphere. 

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