A Historical Outline
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HISTORY A HISTORICAL OUTLINE THEHISTORY OF ANDORRA, ALWAYS PRESENT IN THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE OF HER POPULATION, IS CONDITIONED, AMONGST OTHER THINGS, BY THE GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION ARISING FROM HER SIZE, THE EXISTENCE OF NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES THAT SURROUND HER AND ALSO BY HER REDUCED POPULATION. PERE CAVERO LECTURER IN HISTORY he archaeological evidence Romanization also took place in this Saracens. It is in this document that the points to a population at the area. However, our historical know- parishes of Andorra appear for the first end of the Mesolithic age -some ledge contains a large gap until the ninth time: Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, La eight thousand years ago. Throughout century A.D., when we find two docu- Massana, Andorra, Santa Coloma and prehistory, there have been various nu- ments that could form the basis of the Sant Julia de LOria. clei at the La Margineda cave, Andorra, beginnings of Andorra. One is the "Car- The territory of Andorra formed part of el Cedre and 1'Oral. ta Pobla", from the early ninth century, the Spanish March -to be precise, of the Polybius, in the second century B.C., which refers to the foundation of Ando- County of Urgell. During his campaign tells how Pyrenean peoples fought rra by Charlemagne. The other is the against the Saracen, though, the Count against the Carthaginians who were Deed of Consecration of the Cathedral of Urgell gradually moved towards Ba- heading for Italy. Amongst these peo- of Urgell, in the second half of the cen- laguer, close to Lleida. This is why the ples were the Arenosi and the Ando- tury, where mention is made of the Bishop of Urgell gained more power, sini. towns of the bishopric of Urgell, which until in 1 133 he became Lord of Ando- As we can see in the towns of Puig contributed to the reconstruction of the rra, after various donations, exchanges d7Enclar and l'Antuix, amongst others, cathedral, destroyed in a raid by the and purchases agreed with the Count of MlNlATURE DEPlCTlNG A PACT BETWEEN COUNTS OF URGELL AND CERDANYA BELLTOWER OF SANT JOAN DE CASELLES Urgell. Thus the Bishop acquired power gona forced the two enemies to sign the of land between the people of Andorra over Andorra which has lasted to this day. first Pariatge, in 1278, which was fol- and its defence from her neighbours. During the twelfth and thirteenth cen- lowed by a second in 1288. Until the end of the eighteenth century, turies, the Bishop had to defend his These two Pariatges gave rise to an An- Andorra enjoyed a period of political rights and prevent his neighbours' anne- dorra separated from other regions of stability: the ratification of privileges by xionist intentions from weakening his the Pyrenees -where other Pariatges the nobility, development of an agricul- possessions. Eventually he had to agree were signed- and led to the regulation tural economy and exploitation of tex- to a treaty with the Lord of Cabó, in and clarification of power in Andorra. tile and iron industries. 11 59, which meant the feudalization of These documents regulate recognition of The French Revolution, however, put the rights over Andorra. the nobility through the qiikstia, which is the historical constitution and the inde- The lordship of Cabó and protector of still in force today, and regulate justice pendence of Andorra in danger. The the bishop extended its alliances and and civil and criminal jurisdiction, as weii French revolutionaries broke off al1 re- possessions through successive mar- as obliging the people of Andorra to orga- lations with Andorra, which meant the riages; it was joined to the lordship of nise an armed force to defend the Lords. abolition of customs exemptions and Castellbó at the end of the twelfth cen- The Lord of Foix abandoned his policy full economic independence. This sup- tury and with that of Foix in 1208. The of expansion south of the Pyrenees and posed freedom was harmful because, as Lord of Foix, though, who was theor- directed his ambitions towards the Andorra depended on a single lord -the etically the bishop's protector as succes- north. As a result of this change, he Bishop of Urgell-, she was in danger of sor to Cabó, was in fact the bishop's became lord of Bearn, king of Navarre being liquidated and becoming part of natural enemy. This new situation led and, in 1572, king of France. Al1 of this Spain. Relations with France were to a confrontation which was to culmi- made for a more active presence of the therefore resumed, culminating in 1806 nate in the warlike incursions of the Bishop of Urgell in Andorra. It is hardly with the restoration of traditional links Count of Foix, Roger Bernat 111, and surprising, then, that he himself should by a decree by Napoleon. the replies of Bishop Peter of Urg. The have been the first to grant the Ando- The nineteenth century appears as the situation became impossible and pres- rrans the right to create the Consell de pursuit of economic improvements as a sure on the part especially of King Peter la Terra (Council of the Land), in 14 1 9, result of the wish for greater contact of Aragon and the Archbishop of Tarra- an organism based on the administration with the exterior. SANT ESTNE [ANDORRA LA VELLAJ BELLTOWER OF SANTA COLOMA The Consell General, heir and successor The end of the nineteenth century and reviva1 in the economy based especially to the Consell de la Terra, began a po- beginning of the twentieth was a period on commerce. This led to a new wave of licy of concessions to achieve the infra- of economic and demographic decline immigration and, for the first time, the structures necessary for development. for Andorra. Many Andorrans were foreign population far exceeded in This new situation was to confront two forced to emigrate. This was the time of number the local inhabitants. political conceptions: the traditional and the closure of the forges and of crises in Since the seventies, economic growth the progressive. This bitter, radical con- the textile industry and farming. has given rise to new political and social flict gave rise to the New Reform of 1866. The recovery came in the thirties. The anxieties that have modified the social This reform extended the electorate to Consell General granted two conces- structure of the country. Universal suf- include al1 heads of household and sions: the FHASA (Hydroelrctrical frage was achieved in 1973 and a re- physically separated the local adminis- Forces of Andorra), which meant the form was started that included the crea- trations: the Comú and the Consell Ge- construction of a principal road tion of the parish of Escaldes-Engor- neral. However, instead of resolving the network, and the concession of Radio dany in 1978 and the creation of a situation, the reform made things consi- Andorra, which was to publioize Ando- government in 198 1. derably worse. rra abroad. Towards the end of the eighties, the The presence of foreign concession- However, the need for an abundant country's energy reserves were national- aires, the political unrest, the wish for workforce, which the Andorrans could ised by purchase (1988) and negotia- improvements and the frequent distur- not supply, led to the start of immigra- tions started with the EEC which ended bances forced the Co-Princes -the new tion, mainly from Spain. in 1991. This meant the explicit inter- name for the Lords of Andorra: bishop In 1933, Andorra achieved universal national recognition of Andorra. In and head of the French state, successor male suffrage -reflecting neighbouring 1990, two opposed political concep- to the king of France- to reorganise political trends-, which was to be in tions arose, which nevertheless agreed their administrations. The nomination force until 1941 and restored in 1 947. on the initiation of a constituent pro- of the Delegats Permanents, amongst The economic process was interrupted cess that will define Andorra and iden- other measures, made the power of the with the start of the civil war in 1936 tify her to her neighbours, now that no- Co-Princes more noticeable in Andorra and the subsequent world war. one has any doubts about the historical and put an end to confrontations. At the end of the sixties, there was a constitution. .