Catalonia in the Context of 18th-century European Politics:
the War of Succession (1702-1714)

If in the 17th century Catalonia suffered the consequences of the Thirty Years War and the loss of its northernmost territory, in the 18th century it was to lose its political institutions as the result of a conflict over the succession to the throne of Castile and Catalonia-Aragon, which eventually led to an international war. For some European countries, the succession to the Spanish throne was a weighty enough matter to change the balance of power in Europe. For Catalonia, the outcome was decisive for the preservation of its rights and liberties.

Philip IV and his successor Charles II (1665-1700) were the last monarchs of the Austrian Hapsburg Dynasty. Charles II, who died without leaving an heir, had made an effort to ease tensions with Catalonia, so it was not surprising that when the question of succession was posed, the Catalans mistrusted the absolutism of the French Dynasty, and showed greater inclination towards the Austrian claimant.

Before the death of Charles II in 1700, all of the arts of French diplomacy were marshalled to persuade him to designate Duke Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor to the Spanish throne. The pressures brought to bear on the dying king led to the designation of the French claimant over Archduke Charles of Austria, nephew of the Queen of Spain (Mariana of Neuburg) and son of the Austrian Emperor Leopold I. Charles’s claim was supported by the Catalans, England, Holland, and some German states. Later, Portugal and Savoy joined this Great Alliance against the King of France, Louis XIV, and Duke Philip of Anjou, the new King of Spain, Philip V. Nonetheless, neither the Generalitat nor the mass of Catalans rejected the first Bourbon king, Philip V, until their freedom was threatened despite the fact that the king had sworn to respect these rights in the first Corts held in Barcelona in 1701.

In 1700, there was open warfare in Europe against Spanish possessions and the Madrid-Paris axis: Holland, with English aid, concentrated troops around Flanders; Austria did the same in the Milanesat. The Great Alliance found staunch allies in the Catalan supporters of the Archduke Charles of Austria against Philip V, while the German states were divided between the two blocks.

Full-scale war broke out in May 1702. The first skirmishes within Spanish territory were provoked by the English and Dutch navy and took place along the coasts of Cadiz and Vigo.

In Catalonia, opposition to Philip V increased because of the continuous vexations on the part of the King and his Viceroy, Fernández de Velasco, who was also in conflict with the Generalitat because of its defence of the Constitutions of Catalonia. This situation and the news of the battles undertaken by the Great Alliance led to an uprising in Catalonia in mid-1705. In June, two Catalan envoys signed the Genoa Pact with the representatives of Queen Anne of England in favour of Archduke Charles of Austria. In exchange, the English Crown guaranteed respect for the freedom and Constitutions of Catalonia, irrespective of the result of the war. Catalonia was not interested in the war of succession, but was fighting to preserve its rights and liberties.

Towards the end of 1705, Archduke Charles of Austria triumphantly entered Barcelona as King Charles III. He immediately convened the Corts Catalanes and swore to respect the Constitutions of the Catalans. These were to be the last Corts in the history of the Catalan-Aragon Crown.

In Europe, everything seemed to point to an allied victory over the absolutism of France and Spain. In 1706, Philip V laid siege to Barcelona, but Catalan resistance proved to be effective and the king failed and was forced to flee to France. However, soon afterwards he managed to conquer two major territories of the Catalan-Aragon Federation: Valencia in 1707, and Aragon in 1708.

In 1708, Louis XIV, defeated on several fronts, sued for peace. However, the demands of the allies caused negotiations to break down, since the French King refused to accept that his grandson Philip V should renounce the Spanish throne. The war continued.

An unexpected event changed the course of history: in April 1711, the Austrian Emperor Joseph I died, and his brother, Archduke Charles, inherited the Crown and left Barcelona for Vienna. Faced with the danger of the reconstitution of a great European empire, more fearful a prospect than the Franco-Spanish alliance if the Spanish throne finally fell into Austrian hands, the non-Austrian allied powers decided to negotiate peace with Louis XIV and to recognise Philip V. Talks began immediately and eventually resulted in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713.

Archduke Charles of Austria lands in Barcelona

Catalonia was thus abandoned to its fate despite the promises of the new Austrian Emperor Charles and the English Crown. The Emperor proposed to England the constitution of Catalonia as a Republic. But England knew that this would mean continuing a war that was no longer in its interests, merely insisted to Madrid through its ambassador Lord Lexington that it was necessary to respect Catalan liberties, adding that the Catalans “could still cut a considerable figure in the world by organising themselves as a commonwealth”.