'', Barcelona, seat of the Executive Council and the Presidency of Catalonia Catalonia's political past as a territorially differentiated community with its own representative and separated institutions, materialized in the institutional systems of the combined
Catalan counties (9th–12th centuries), the
Principality of Catalonia within the
Crown of Aragon (1164–1714) and the
Monarchy of Spain (1516–1714/1833), as well the establishment of Catalan self-government from 1931 onwards, can be divided into different stages, separated by ruptures in the legal/public order. The Generalitat of Catalonia can trace its origins in the
Catalan Courts, as during the reign of
James I the Conqueror (1208–1276) they reunited and were convoked by the king, as representatives of the social statements of the time. Under the reign of
Peter the Great (1276–1285), the Catalan Courts gained institutional status, after the king obliged himself to celebrate an annual "General Court". The Catalan Courts exercised as Council and had legislative functions through its three branches (
braços): the ecclesiastical (clergy), the military (nobility) and the popular (villages and towns submitted to direct rule of the king). This union of the tree branches was named "Lo General de Cathalunya", where "General" means the political community of the Catalans as a whole. In 1289 the first step towards becoming an institution occurred when the courts met in the castle of
Montsó. (Although located in the
Kingdom of Aragon, Montsó had been ruled by the
Count of Barcelona since the year 1151 AD when Count
Ramon Berenguer IV married Princess
Petronilla of Aragon). A body was appointed, designated the "
Diputació del General" (Deputation of the General), to temporarily collect the "services" or tributes that the "branches" granted the king on his demand. This tax was popularly known as "
Drets Generals" (General Rights) or "
generalitats" (generalities), similar to the French "Généralités", which were also founded as tax districts.
Medieval origins The
Pau i Treva de Déu ("
Peace and Truce of God") was a social movement born in the eleventh century promoted by the Church, united with the peasantry as the response to the violence perpetrated by feudal nobles. The hometowns, then, delimited a space protected of feudal violence. However, to ensure a coexistence climate, it was necessary to go further, establishing an authority that prohibited the practice of any type of violent act anywhere in the territory. This was the objective of the assemblies of Peace and Truce of God, the first of which, in the Catalan counties, took place in Toluges (Roussillon), in 1027, under the presidency of
Abbot Oliba, on behalf of Bishop
Berenguer d'Elna, absent from the diocese because he was on a pilgrimage. The origin of the
Catalan Courts can be considered from the Peace of Truce of God. The
Generalitat of Catalonia stems from the medieval institution which ruled, in the name of the King as Count of Barcelona, some aspects of the administration of the
Principality of Catalonia. The Catalan Courts were the main institution of the Principality during its existence as a polity and approved the
Catalan constitutions. The first constitutions were that of the Courts of 1283. The Medieval precedent of the Generalitat, the
Diputació del General de Catalunya ("Deputation of the General of Catalonia") was a permanent council of deputies established by the Courts in order to collect the new "tax of the General" (or tribute for the King) in 1359. The "general" refers to the combination of the three estates: nobility, church and people. The tax became known was the
drets del General or
Generalitats. The council gained important political power during the next centuries, assuming tasks including that of
prosecutor. In 1931, the name Generalitat was chosen by the legislators of the new self government to help legitimise their function.
First abolition Catalan institutions which depended on the Generalitat were abolished in what is currently known in Catalonia as
Northern Catalonia, one year after the signature of the
Treaty of the Pyrenees in the 17th century, which transferred the territory from Spanish to French sovereignty. Then, by the early 18th century, with the issue of the
"Nueva Planta Decrees" after the Catalan defeat in the
War of the Spanish Succession, the institution, as well as the other political institutions of the Principality, was abolished.
First restoration The Generalitat was restored in the Catalonia under Spanish administration in 1931 during the events of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic when
Francesc Macià, leader of the
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), declared the
Catalan Republic within an Iberian Federation on 14 April but later reached an agreement with the Spanish ministers, in which the Catalan Republic was renamed Generalitat of Catalonia (Catalan: Generalitat de Catalunya) and given its modern political and representative function as the institution of self-government of Catalonia within the Spanish Republic. The restored Generalitat was ruled by a statute of autonomy approved by the Spanish Cortes in 1932 and included a
parliament, a
presidency, an
executive council and a
court of cassation. It was presided by Francesc Macià (1931–1933) and
Lluís Companys (1933–1940). The governments of Macià and Companys enacted a progressive agenda, despite the internal difficulties, while fought to demand the complete transfer of the powers estipulated in the Statute. After the right wing coalition won the Spanish elections in 1933, the leftist leaders of the Generalitat of Catalonia
rebelled in October of 1934 against the Spanish authorities, and it was temporarily suspended from 1934 to 1936. After the victory of the left in the Spanish elections of February 1936 the new Spanish government pardoned the Catalan government and the self-government was fully restored. Throughout the
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) the Generalitat remained loyal to the Republic, assuming powers in areas belonging to the State in Catalonia, such as border controls, coinage, justice and defense. However, due to the
revolutionary situation created after the coup d'etat, the Generalitat lost most of the effective power over the territory, largely controlled by local committees under the command of the
Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia. As the weeks passed, the Catalan government progressively recovered somewhat control until May 1937.
Second abolition In 1939, as the Spanish Civil War finished with the defeat of the Republican side, the Generalitat of Catalonia as an institution was abolished and remained so during the
Francoist dictatorship until 1975. The president of the Generalitat at the time,
Lluís Companys, was tortured and executed on 15 October 1940 for the crime of 'military rebellion'. Nonetheless, the Generalitat maintained its official existence
in exile, led by presidents
Josep Irla (1940–1954) and
Josep Tarradellas (1954–1980).
Second restoration The succession of presidents of the Generalitat was maintained in exile from 1939 to 1977, when Josep Tarradellas returned to
Catalonia and was recognized as the legitimate president by the Spanish government. Tarradellas, when he returned to Catalonia, made his often quoted remark "
Ciutadans de Catalunya: ja sóc aquí" ("Citizens of Catalonia: I am back!"), reassuming the autonomous powers of Catalonia, one of the historic nationalities of present-day Spain. After this, the powers given to the autonomous Catalan government according to the
Spanish Constitution of 1978 were transferred and the
Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (''Estatut d'Autonomia'') was passed after being approved both by referendum in Catalonia and by the
Spanish parliament. == Recent history ==