Information and power. The government of Catalonia and its minor committees (1700–13)

ABSTRACT

The exercise of power is intimately related to the people who control the information process. Throughout the second half of the seventeenth century, the Generalitat of Catalonia tended to share information on the serious matters of the principality of Catalonia with the creation of specific minor committees (novenas and divuitenas). The recourse to minor committees can be explained by the desire to prevent the six deputies who ruled the Generalitat from the sole control of the information process and from making the most important decisions that were normally related to issues that impacted on the whole Catalan community. This process culminated in the period 1700–13. In this way the minor committees were more important and they had more decision making power, so much so that they almost replaced the deputies themselves. This article analyzes the type of information discussed in the committees and it explores the reasons for this. This article also examines the chronological process whereby the deputies shared information with the minor committees.

KEYWORDS:

• Minor committee
• advisory committee
• Generalitat of Catalonia
• novenas
• divuitenas
• political influence

Notes

1 J.M. Sans, (dir.), Dietaris de la Generalitat de Catalunya, 10 vols (Barcelona, 1994–2007), vol. X, (Barcelona, 2007), p. 2023. The Dietaris de la Generalitat de Catalunya, the ledgers of the Catalan government, will henceforth be referred to as DGC. The chapter refers to the jurisdiction of the barons. See V. Ferro, El dret públic català. Les institucions a Catalunya fins al decret de Nova planta (Vic, 1987), p. 145, note 43. In order to make reading easier, we translated all the textual quotations that were in Catalan into Spanish.

2 On this matter, it will suffice to have a look at the minutes of the annual congresses of the International Commission for the Study of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions to realize the wide variety of the studies being carried out. Between others we can underline E. Martí, ‘La Conferència dels Comuns: Una institució per a la defensa de les constitucions a Catalunya (1698–1714)’, in J. Sobrequés, (ed.), Actes del 53è Congrés de la Comissió Internacional per a l’Estudi de la Història de les Insitucions representatives i Parlamentàries, vol. I, (Barcelona, 2005); J.I. Fortea, ‘Monarquía, Cortes, i ciudades en la Corona de Castilla durante la edad moderna’, in Actes del 53è Congrés, pp. 447–66; B. Castellà, ‘Los actores del parlamento detrás del escenarioel control del debate parlamentario desde la oscuridad de oficinas, comités y comisiones (Francia, 1789–1793)’, in D. Repeto, Las Cortes de Cádiz y la Historia Parlamentaria (Cádiz, 2012), pp. 383–404.

3 Cortes or General States were meetings between the king and the three states (nobility, clergy and the third estate) to negotiate new laws and privilege in exchange of an economic payment. On the role of the committees see M.B. Castellà (ed.), Poders a l’ombra: les comissions de les institucions parlamentàries i representatives (segles XV-XX) (Barcelona, 2014); and the journal RiMe, 13, (2014).

4 J.L. Palos, La práctica del gobierno en Cataluña. Siglos XVI-XVII- doctoral thesis, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (Bellaterra, 1990) p. 224.

5 M. Pérez Latre, ‘La Diputació del General i les torbacions polítiques de 1587–1593’, in M.T. Ferrer i Mallol (dir.), Historia de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Dels orígens medievals a l’actualitat, 650 anys (Barcelona, 2011), pp. 163–78. p. 176.

6 This is what happened, for instance, in May 1607, in April 1621 or in June 1646. See DGT, volumes III-VI.

7 See E. Martí, ‘Las novenas de la Diputación de Cataluña en la segunda mitad del siglo XVII’, in Poders a l’ombra, pp. 177–208.

8 A relatively recent approach to the subject and the reasons of this weakness of Generalitat see E. Serra, ‘La Generalitat de Catalunya entre 1652 i 1700’, in Ferrer, Historia de la Generalitat de Catalunya, pp. 199–220.

9 See Ferro, Dret públic, p. 449.

10 J. Albareda, ‘Les Corts de 1701–1702 i 1705–1706. La represa del constitucionalisme’, in Constitucions, capítols i actes de Cort. 1701–1702, 1705–1706 (Barcelona, 2006), p. XLI.

11 J. Capdferro and E. Serra, El Tribunal de Contrafaccions de Catalunya i la seva activitat (1702–1713), (Barcelona, 2015).

12 B. Rubí, Les Corts Generals de Pau Claris (Barcelona, 1976), pp. 83 and 128.

13 The Insaculació was a system to elect the members of the commission by lot. The names of candidates were included in a ball-draw, and a kid choose by random.

14 The committees concerned with the issues of collecting the donation and of the free port are included, as they were directly chosen by the court and therefore they were not subject to the control of the deputies.

15 See E. Martí, ‘La Diputació del General sota Felip V i Carles III, l’Arxiduc (1700–1714)’, in T. Ferrer (ed.), Historia de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Barcelona, 2011), pp. 221–41.

16 The Capítols de Redrés of 1702 consisted of 59 provisions, while the ones of 1705 included seventy-six, which is an indication of the changes the institution underwent.

17 E. Serra, ‘Les comissions de Balanç i Redreç: dels antecedents del s. XVI a les corts encavalcades de 1705–1706, in Poders al l’ombra, pp. 103–26.

18 F. Castellví, Narraciones Históricas, 3 vols (Madrid, 1997), vol. I, p. 496. Henceforth referred to as Castellví, indicating only the volume and the page. F. de la Penya, Anales de Catalunya, 3 vols (Barcelona, 1999), vol. III, pp. 501 and 511. Henceforth Feliu de la Penya, Anales.

19 DGC, vol. X, p. 1644.

20 J. Albareda and E. Martí, ‘La Generalitat entre 1701 i 1714’, in DGC, vol. X, p. XVIII.

21 The tercios were a Spanish infantry division.

22 Nova Ampra was a tax over silk fabrics and cards. The problem of the moneda recortada was identified with the corrupt tendency to retail the coins.

23 E. Serra, ‘Voluntat de sobirana en un context de canvi dinàstic’ in J. Albareda (ed.), Una relació difícil. Catalunya i l'Espanya Moderna (Barcelona, 2007), pp. 109–80.

24 Emmanuel Mas, a lawyer, criticized the Diputation because of its ‘slowness’ in defending the Constitutions. Cfr. E. Mas, Diari des del novembre del any 1700 fins a l'octubre del any 1705, Biblioteca del Seminari Conciliar de Barcelona, document 419, (Barcelona, 1705), p. 7. Henceforth referred to as Mas, Diari. Narcís Feliu de la Penya also criticized the deputies because they ‘did not want to fulfill the obligations of their office’ (the defense of the constitutions). See Feliu de la Penya, Anales, p. 464.

25 DGC, vol. X, pp. 115 and following pages. Mas, Diari, pp. 162–5.

26 E. Martí, La Conferència dels Tres Comuns (1698–1714). Una institució decisiva en la política catalana (Vilassar de Mar, 2008), pp. 96–106; J. Albareda, Els catalans i Felip V, de la conspiració a la revolta, 1700–1705 (Barcelona, 1993), pp. 94–110.

27 The development of events may be followed closely in DGC, vol. X, pp. 247–350.

28 The sisenes were appointed by the divuitenes to examine specific matters in depth and to prepare documents.

29 Jaume Alòs was removed from his position by archduke Charles III in 1706. With regard to the other three members, see E. Martí, La classe dirigent catalana (Barcelona, 2010).

30 E. Serra, (ed.), Els llibres de l’ànima de la Diputació del General de Catalunya (1493–1714) (Barcelona, 2015).

31 DGC, vol. X, 342–9.

32 DGC, vol. X, p. 344.

33 Historic Archive of the City of Barcelona, Llibres de deliberacions del Consell de Cent, 1B, II, 222, page 124/1. Henceforth referred to as LLDCC.

34 See Martí, ‘Las novenas de la Diputación de Cataluña’, for further information on this issue.

35 See DGC, vol. X, pp. 121, 204 and 975.

36 See DGC, vol. X, pp. 122, 187, 258, 359, 776, 1266, 1299, etc.

37 See DGC, vol. X., pp. 203, pp. 478 and 728.

38 We need to differentiate between convening minor committees and the number of meetings these committees held. Sixty-one per cent of the committees convened between 1700 and 1713 only met once; those that met twice represent 14%.

39 The meetings of the minor working parties are not included in this analysis.

40 This calculation does not include the year 1705 as the minor committees were banned. From 9 February 1705 until the arrival of the archduke Charles III in October 1705, minor committee of Diputació were banned by Philip V.

41 The best synthesis on this issue is J. Albareda, La Guerra de Sucesión en España (1700–1714) (Barcelona, 2010).

42 The Revolt of the Barretines (1688–1690) was an anti-seigneurial revolt.

43 Between 1653 and 1700, only 26% of the matters the committees were consulted on were related to problems derived from the fragmentation of the constitutions. See Martí, ‘Las novenas’, p. 197.

44 Between 1653 and 1700, the advice requested per year was 2.2 on average, while between 1700 and 1713, this figure rose to 12.3 per year. See Martí, ‘Las novenas’, p. 199.

45 These documents were usually written by the minor committees. Between 1653 and 1700, twenty-seven documents were written, i.e. during the fourteen years analysed in this text, the number of documents was almost the same as the number of documents written in the forty-seven years prior to this period. See Martí, ‘Las novenas’, p. 199.

46 Castellà, Poders a l’ombra.

47 In particular, see: dotzena regarding the donation (26 January, 1702); novena regarding the horse picador (26 April, 1703); novena regarding the Maritime Company (15 September, 1703); novena regarding the Free Port (21 October, 1703); novena regarding the position of the master of ceremonies (17 June, 1706); novena regarding the Free Port (1 September 1706); novena regarding the archive (15 December, 1706); novena regarding collecting debts (1 July 1707); Novena regarding the donation (22 December, 1707); divuitena regarding the somatent (27 January 1711); divuitena regarding ambassadors (11 June, 1712) and sisena regarding the archive (31 May 1713). The dates between brackets refer to the first meetings documented. See DGC, vol. X.

48 Dietari Antic del Consell Barceloní, 25 vols (Barcelona 1982–1975), vol. XXV, p. 8. The reference to 1701 can also be found on this page.

49 DGC, vol. X, p. 618. Similarly, the Braç Militar did not convene any minor committee during this time (Archive of the Crown of Aragon, Llibre de deliberacions del Braç Militar, G-69, vol. 7), which reinforces the impression that the decree was understood as a ban of the minor committees.

50 National Library of Paris. Espagnol, Supp. Francia, n.2214.

51 DGC, vol. X, p. 113.

52 Cfr. J. Albareda, ‘Introducció’, in J. Albareda (ed.), Escrits polítics del segle XVIII. Tom V. Escrits del moment republicà (Vic, 2011); A. de Benedictis, ‘Guerra, tirannide e resistenza negli scriti politici catalani’, in Generalitat de Catalunya, Actes del congrés l’aposta catalana a la Guerra de Successió (1705–1707) (Barcelona, 2007).

53 Albareda, Constitucions, p. XLIV.

54 N. Sales, ‘Abans del 1714: cap a una democratització de les institucions catalanes’, en VV.AA., La commemoració de l’Onze de setembre a Barcelona (Barcelona, 1994), p. 96.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eduard Martí

Eduard Martí holds a degree in Humanities from the Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, and a PhD in Modern History from the Institute of History Jaume Vicens Vives, Pompeu Fabra University (2008). Since 2008 he has lectured at the International University of Catalonia, Barcelona. His research focuses on the study of Catalan institutions during the War of the Spanish Succession, especially the urban gentry and the aristocracy. He is the author of three books: La conferencia de los Tres Comunes (Lleida, 2008); La Classe Dirigent Catalana. Els membres de la Conferencia dels Comuns i del Braç Militar (Barcelona, 2009); El Braç Militar de Catalunya, 1602–1714 (Valencia, 2016).