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1697:
New war agains France that resulted in Barcelona being occupied
by the French troops for a month.
1673-78:
New war against France. One tried that the Rosselló (former
Catalonia, nowadays south of France) was returned to the Kingdom
of Catalonia.
1652:
More droughts and diseases resulted in people suffering
important hardships.
1640-52: 'Guerra dels Segadors'
(war) between the kingdoms of Catalonia - Aragó and Castilla
in order to defend the Kingdom of Catalonia - Aragon’s ancient
institution, culture and rights against the centralisation expectations
of Felip IV.
1635:
The Kingdom of Castilla was in conflict against France ('War of
the 30 years'). The Spanish army settled in Catalonia. As a result,
the inhabitants of Catalonia were obliged to provide accomodation
and food to the soldiers, which caused social unrest.
1632:
Second visit of Felip IV to Cervera.
1628:
Important drought, poor harvest, devasting famine. The price of
cereals rised considerably.
1626:
Felip IV visited Cervera when travelling to Barcelona
1621: Felip IV was appointed
as and the Lord of Olivares assumed the government functions.
The institutions of Catalonia did not accept to financing and
military contribute to the army the latter tried to set up.
1609: The King Felip III
ordered the Muslims were expelled from the Kingdoms of Castilla
and Catalonia - Arago.
XVII century: the King of
Castilla Felip III asked for 1/5 of the incomes of Catalonia in
order to be able to finance the wars of his empire. However, due
to the economic crisis the Catalan institutions did not yield
to this request.
Owing to the economic crisis, the brigand
phenomenon extended.
XVI century: Important economic
crisis in Catalonia (droughts, farming struggle, brigands, ...).
The institutions prosecuted the witchcraft phenomenon as well
as bet games. Up to 400 women were accused of being witches.
1559: End of the conflicts
and wars against France.
1553: Up to 75 people lived
in the village of Granyenella, whereas 350.000 people lived in
Catalonia.
1545: The Council of Trento
tried to solve the problems of the Catholicism.
1528: Important drought
in La Segarra - Lleida, where most of the Orobitg lived.
1515-58: Kingdom of the
Spanish Charles I. Most expanding period of the Kingdom of Castella
- Arago. Continuous wars against France.
1502: The Kingdom of Castilla
obliged the Muslims to baptize in order to avoid being expelled.
1501: Caterina of Arago,
daughter of the Catholic monarchs, was married to Arthur of England.
When the latter died, she married to Henry VIII of England.
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1553:
As well as in the census made in 1497, the census made in 1553
makes clear that the Orobitg in Catalonia concentrated in the
area of Lleida – Segarra (100 km from Barcelona), particularly
in Granyenella, Verdu and Gramuntell. Strange though it may seem,
there are no Orobitg in Cervera.
1536:
A ‘capbreu’ was a document detailing all properties
of a person in order to calculate the amount of taxes to be
paid to the Monastery of Poblet. In the ‘capbreu’
of 1536, one can observe the details corresponding to all families
and villages under the Monastery of Poblet protection. Mention
is made to Mr Pere Antoni Orovig, Mr Pere Simó Orovig
and Mr Joan Oromir from Granyenella, as well as to Mr Joan Orovig
from Verdú.
1585:
Marriage contract between Mr Pere Orovitg from Gramuntell and
Ms Caterina Calafell. Mention is made to Mr Gabriel Orovitg,
who is mentioned as well in the census made in 1553. The document
is quite strange as apparently it was not finalised. Therefore,
we do not know if the marriage was finally celebrated.
1586:
Marriage contract between Mr Antoni Orovitg and Ms Elisabet
Pomés, both from Granyenella. Moreover, mention is made
to Mr Antoni Orovitg as heir of Mr Simó Orovitg. Furthermore,
mention is made of the latter (Mr Simó Orovitg) within
the above mentioned ‘capbreu’ of 1536.
1629:
Mr Jaume Orovig’ will. As he died without descendants,
he donated his entire important heritage to her sister Ms Caterina
Orovig. Mention is made to the fact that Caterina is married
to Ms Isidre Orovitg! Therefore either Caterina was married
to a direct family member, or her husband Isidre Orovitg adopted
the same surname as Caterina as a result of her being designed
heiress of an important heritage. Moreover, mention is made
to Mr Joan Orovig as main responsible for another Orovig branch
from Granyenella and Mr Magí Orovig from Gramuntell.
None of them were family direct related members with the before
mentioned Jaume.
1676:
Within a ‘capbreu’ (document detailing all properties
of a person in order to calculate the amount of taxes to be
paid to the Monastery of Poblet) now kept by the National Historical
Institute of Madrid, mention is made to both branches from Granyenella:
a) Mr Isidre
Orovitg and his wife Ms Caterina Orovitg (above mentioned)
b) Mr Joan Orevitg
1690:
When the Monastery of Poblet appointed a new abbot, the latter
usually made visits in order to be known to all Poblet’s
villages. Within the abbot Pere Virgili’ book of visits,
mention is made to Mr Joan Orevitg and Mr Ramon Horevitg from
Granyenella and to Mr Climent Orovitg from Verdú.
1658:
Within a ‘capbreu’ now kept by the National Historical
Institute of Madrid, mention is made to Mr Joan Orovitg from
Granyenella as main responsible of a family.
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The
Orobitg
During those centuries
there is evidence of the existence of the before mentioned both
families in Granyenella as well as in Verdú (20 km par from
Cervera) and in Gramuntell. However, until now we have not been
able to find documents certifying the existence of Orobitg families
in Cervera in this period.
During those centuries, the Orobitg descendants lived on agriculture,
as had done their ancestors. They had lands of their own property.
Moreover, in the case of families in Granyenella and Verdú,
they were to pay taxes to the Monastery of Poblet in return for
cultivating those tracts of land. |
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Recerca s. XVI_dades.pdf |
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The
new world The
fact of discovering America in 1492 supported the Kingdom of Castilla
in becoming an important empire during that period. However, at
the same time Turkish and Muslim piracy decreased trade relationships
in the Mediterranean and the Kingdom of Castilla did not allow Catalans
to held trade relationships with America until 1778. Both facts
lead to a decline process in the Kingdom of Catalonia – Arago.
Despite the internal differences, neither Catalonia nor Castilla
yield in the different religious contests that took place in Europe
at that time due to the important influence of religious institutions
in both Kingdoms at both social and political levels.
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Columbus
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Relationship with the Kingdom of Castilla
The fact that the
Kingdom of Catalonia’ economy lost importance during that
period resulted in a decrease of its negotiating capacities with
the Spanish Kings, who tried to reduce the power of the Catalan
institutions, thus making uniform both Spanish Kingdoms (Castilla
and Catalonia - Arago).
Late this period, a decrease of trade relationships between the
Kingdom of Castilla and America took place at the same time that
Spain had expanded. This fact together with different conflicts
in its domains resulted in continuous decreases
in the financing capacities of the Kingdom of Castilla. This is
why in order to face such financing necessities the Castilians continuously
asked the Kingdom of Catalonia - Arago for financing and military
contributions that Catalonia could not afford to. Given the weak-financing
situation, the Catalan institutions, having at that time full financing
administrative capacity, did not give in to the claims of the Castilian
institutions.
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'Guerra
(war) dels Segadors' (1640-52) |
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Moreover,
frequent conflicts between France and the Kingdom of Castilla took
place in the XVII century. Due to geographical reasons, those conflicts
particularly affected the Kingdom of Catalonia - Arago as its inhabitants
were obliged to host the Castilian troops and their abuses. This
is why, together with the continuous attempts by Felip IV to centralise
the administration of both Kingdoms by abolishing the Catalan institutions
and eliminating Catalan’s ancient privileges, from 1640 to
1652 finally took place the ‘Guerra dels Segadors’,
an important war to defend the Kingdom of Catalonia - Aragon’s
ancient institution, culture and rights.
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Hard
living conditions
Apart from continuous
droughts, plagues, diseases and farming struggle, the Kingdom of
Catalonia had to face a new phenomenon that would evolve in the
future: brigands.
Though agriculture remained the main economic sector, in some villages
artisans and their representative associations become a new important
sector. Moreover, nobility and religious institutions enriched continuously
at the same time that consolidated their social position. It is
in this period that most castles of the area of Lleida - Segarra
(central Catalonia, it gathers the before mentioned Cervera, Granyenella,
Montoliu and Verdú) that were former defensive fortifications
were either rebuilt and readapted as palaces or definitely abandoned
by its owners when they decided to move to main cities.
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Castle
of Meià (Lleida) |
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