Segador rebellion

The Segador uprising , the War of the Reapers ( Cat. Guerra dels Segadors , Spanish: Guerra de los Segadores ) - the national movement of the Catalans against Spanish absolutism , during which Catalan statehood was restored for 12 years (1640-1652).

Segador rebellion
Main conflict: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)
Montjuic battle
date	June 7, 1640 - October 13, 1652
A place	Catalonia , Eastern Spain , Southern France
Cause	Spanish government plans to abolish Catalan autonomy.
Total	Suppression of rebellion; Preservation of Catalan autonomy.
Changes	France annexed the Catalan counties of Roussillon , Conflans , Vallespire , Capsir , the northern part of Cerdanya and secured them for themselves under the terms of the Iberian Peace of 1659 .
Opponents
Principality of Catalonia Kingdom of France Spanish empire
Commanders
Pablo Claris † Frances de Tamarit Josep de Margarit Louis XIII † Arman Jean de Richelieu † Giulio Mazarin Philippe de Lamot-Udancourt Jean Armand de Maye-Brezet † Philip IV Gaspard de Olivares † Pedro Fajardo † Garcia de Toledo-Osorio † Jose de Cardenas † Diego de Guzman Juan Jose of Austria

The uprising was the answer of Catalonia to the attempts of the Count-Duke of Gaspard de Olivares to liquidate the autonomy traditional for these lands. The main reasons for the dissatisfaction were the recruitment of local residents to the Italian army of the Spanish king and the deployment of a royal army manned by foreigners in Catalonia.

An equally shortsighted repressive policy related to the imposition of Castilian customs and laws was carried out in other areas of Spain. Mindful of the successful experience of the struggle against the Spanish Habsburgs of the Netherlands provinces , in 1640 Catalonia and Portugal tried to secede from the Madrid metropolis at the same time (see The War of Independence of Portugal ).

At the end of May 1640, unrest of peasants ("reapers", shagadors) from rural areas spread to Barcelona , the Viceroy was killed. The local elite put forward the slogans of the separation of Catalonia from Spain . For help, she turned to the French king Louis XIII , who was at war with the Spaniards (see The Thirty Years War ).

In August, an alliance with France was concluded, and at the end of the year, French troops entered Catalonia. In January 1641, after the victory over the Spaniards at Montjuic , the local Cortes deposed the Spanish king as Count of Barcelona , and Louis XIII was declared his successor. The most radical figures (led by Canon Pau Claris ) demanded the proclamation of the Catalan Republic.

Thanks to French support, the Catalans managed to fight back from the Spaniards for ten years - until 1651, when, taking advantage of the tiredness of the local population from the French occupation, the royal troops besieged Barcelona for the second time. By recognizing the independence of the Portuguese and Dutch provinces, the Spanish monarchy could focus on the fight against Catalan separatism . France at that time was in a state of political turmoil and could not provide support to the ally.

In October 1652, Barcelona surrendered, taking from King Philip IV a promise to reaffirm ancient Catalan privileges (which was partially fulfilled in January 1653). France entered into the Iberian Peace with Spain in 1659, according to which Louis XIV refused to claim Barcelona in exchange for the cession of another Catalan land - the county of Roussillon .