Principality of Catalonia
Principat de Catalunya Principality of Catalonia 12th century – 1714 |
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Official language | Catalan | ||||
Capital | Barcelona | ||||
Form of government | monarchy | ||||
Head of state | Count of Barcelona ( Comte de Barcelona ) | ||||
Area - 1714 |
31,895 km² (1659-1714) |
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currency | Dukat , Croat , Lliura barcelonina , and others | ||||
Existence period | 12th century – 1714 | ||||
The Principality of Catalonia ( Catalan : "Principat de Catalunya" or simply "Principat") is the historical name for the Catalan part of the composite lordship of the Crown of Aragon .
The state community was created through the marriage contract that King Ramiro II of Aragon concluded in 1137 for his then one-year-old daughter Petronella with Raimund Berengar , Count of Barcelona . Raimund Berengar took over the government of the Kingdom of Aragon for his fiancée. He held the titles of Príncipe de Aragón (Prince of Aragon) and Comte de Barcelona (Count of Barcelona). The descendants were in personal union kings of Aragón and counts of Barcelona , whereby the old borders of the county had meanwhile blurred and a new territorial unit had already emerged: Catalonia . From then on, the name "Principality of Catalonia" is used to denote the territories that were represented in the Corts of Catalonia . The name was used under the rule of the Bourbons until well into the 19th century. Only the Republicans rejected the name because of its proximity to the monarchy .
The "Principality of Catalonia" is the historical heartland of Catalonia and includes the present-day Autonomous Community of Catalonia in Spain and the strip of land Franja de Ponent in the present-day autonomous community of Aragon, as well as Northern Catalonia, which was separated off after the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659 in France .
The principality today
Catalan nationalists see Catalonia as a nation without a state - but with the principality as a reference territory.
The “Principat de Catalunya” is not explicitly mentioned in the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia , but the “Principat” is still used today as a traditional name - even if it is mostly synonymous with the “ Autonomous Community of Catalonia ”.