El Sistema constitucional català i el dret de les persones entre 1702 i 1706

Abstract

This article analyses the Catalan political model abolished in 1714. It focuses on the empirical character of Catalan legislation as a written law resulting from knowledge of social and political events and rooted in reality. With this public law, Catalan society used juridicism as a weapon against royal interventionism or authoritarianism. This model reached its peak of development in the courts of 1701-1702 (the courts of Felipe V) and especially in the courts of 1705-1706 (the courts of Archduke Charles III). These courts supported Catalan legislation with the aim of counteracting royal policy after defeat in the Catalan Revolt. In these courts, with a notable presence of guilds from the municipal branch, greater in the Archdukes courts, a wide range of important laws were passed (affecting the economy, society, culture, the legal and notarial systems, etc.) but this article merely intends to highlight those laws aimed at safeguarding the constitutions (the compilation of the laws and creation of the Catalan Court of Litigations (Tribunal de Contrafaccions) to defend civil rights above military authority and guarantee peoples rights, the latter being particularly relevant in the courts of 1705-1706 under the repression of the first reign of Felipe V. The modernity of these courts disappeared with the fall of Barcelona in 1714 and the implementation of the Nueva Planta decrees.