The self-government of Catalonia: the antecedents Josep Maria Sans i Tomàs de Montagut
The Diputació del General, a body created by the cortes Víctor Ferro
Origins and evolution of the Diputació of the General de Catalunya (1359-1413) Albert Estrada-Rius
The full political powers of the Diputació del General (1413-1479) Isabel Sánchez de Movellán Torrent
The recuperation of the General Ernest Belenguer
THE MODERN GENERALITAT AND ITS SUBSEQUENT VINDICATION
The Diputació of the General in the 16th century: support and conflict Miquel Pérez Latre
The Diputació del General in the 17th century Josep Capdeferro
From full political powers to defeat (1700-1714) Joaquim Albareda
The vindication of the Catalan institutions under the regime de Nova Planta and constitutionalism (1714-1931) Sebastià Solé i Joan Lluís Pérez
FROM THE REPUBLICAN GENERALITAT TO THE NEW STATUTE
The autonomy of Catalonia during the Second Republic Enric Fossas
The autonomy of Catalonia and the Constitution of 1978 Enric Fossas
Balance of the last twenty five years of self-government Carles Viver
Perspectives for the future Carles Viver
All the Nadales published since 1967.
It is a well know fact that the historical antecedents of the birth of Catalonia as a political community of self-government or full public power are to be found in the process for independence from the Carolingian empire carried out by the Catalan counts, with the Count of Barcelona at their head, over a long period of time.
During the 12th century the notion of jurisdiction was used in Europe in the construction of valid processes of public power (Empire and Church). Very soon it was a possible to effectively apply this concept to various emerging Christian monarchies and it constituted a useful legal-political instrument for the monarchs who led the national communities that formed a part of the law, but not of fact, within the Christian Empire.
The Count of Barcelona had become the prince of Catalonia by the authority of the Usatges of Barcelona, the first code that brought together the general law of Catalonia and which was first written down during the 12th century. In the following century, the Commemorations of Pere Albert, which helped complement and update the Usatges, granted the count of Barcelona general jurisdiction over the entire Principality of Catalonia. As Víctor Ferro states, this jurisdiction was soon conditioned by pactism, the contractual doctrine which some jurists used to establish the necessary intervention of the ruling social classes of Catalonia in the work of its supreme government, in the hands of the prince.
A number of political and administrative institutions were born and formalised during the historic process that ratified this pactism and these included the Cort General de Catalunya and a temporary committee known as the Diputació del General de Catalunya. The assembly of the Corts Reials Catalanes, whose origin has not yet been clarified completely, represented the constitutional framework where, a parliamentary process was used to establish a pact between the classes of the General and the king; the arms and head, respectively, of the Principality of Catalonia, forming what can be considered as a corporation of corporations. In effect, the social classes represented in the cortes (barons and knights; prelates and members of religious orders; citizens and inhabitants of the towns) made up the Universitas Cathaloniae or General de Catalunya, which required the constitution of a permanent organ which would allow it to express its will on a permanent basis. This is where we find the origins of the Diputació del General de Catalunya, the organ of permanent representation of the General, which soon became known under the name of Generalitat.
Consequently, at an institutional level Catalonia was represented by both the prince and the General or its Diputació (Generalitat). In the 15th century the personal union of the Catholic Kings resulted in the personal union of the Crown of Aragon and that of Castille, as well as a situation of chronic absenteeism by the Catalan monarchs, who thenceforth lived outside of Catalonia on an almost permanent basis. In this context the Generalitat became the only superior institution for the supreme representation of Catalonia within the actual Principality itself.
In the following pages we offer a summarised version of the history of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the institutional flagship of the self-government of Catalonia, in order to offer an insight into the mishaps that it has suffered over the centuries and, in this way understand how Catalans from different periods have tried to achieve a decisive level of participation in the organisation of the supreme public power of Catalonia and also to see the effective results of their endeavours. Leading experts in the history of the Generalitat have spoken of its institutional significance (Víctor Ferro), of its process of formation (Albert Estrada), its period of full institutional powers (Isabel Sánchez de Movellán), the reform or recuperation that took place under Ferdinand II also known as Fernando el Católico (Ernest Belenguer), of the adaptation of the institution within the universal empire of the early Hapsburgs (Miquel Pérez Latre), of the break with the last Hapsburgs (Josep Capdeferro), the defeat in the War of Succession (Joaquin Albareda), or the memory of fight for the institutions of self-government suppressed by the Bourbons, and of the process of the rebirth and partial recuperation of the lost autonomy (Sebastìa Soler and J. L. Pérez Francesc).
