The Catalan Remences: Feudal Struggles in 14th-15th Century Catalonia
The Catalan Remences (14th-15th Centuries)
Definition
In Catalonia, feudal Remences referred to farmers (also known as Remences farmers) bound by serfdom. These farmers, tied to the land they worked, could not leave their homes without paying a redemption fee to their lord. This redemption, or Remences, affected not only the farmers themselves but also their wives and children.
Origins of the Conflict
During the 13th and early 14th centuries, Catalonia’s rural areas were densely populated. The old system of scattered farms gave way to cultivated land, leading to abundant and stable production. Nobles, the Church, and the bourgeoisie invested in creating farms and dividing production units to maximize income from farmers.
However, the 14th century brought a crisis marked by mortality (primarily due to the Black Death) and emigration to cities, resulting in rural depopulation. Cultivated land decreased, impacting the lords’ income. To compensate, they increased pressure on farmers, leading to discontent. Abandoned farms (rònecs farms) became common, and remaining farmers occupied and exploited them independently, strengthening their position against feudal lords.
The 14th Century
At the turn of the century, Kings Joan I (1387-1396) and Martin the Humane (1396-1410) addressed peasant pleas for freedom and the abolition of feudal abuses. However, Martin’s death without an heir led to Ferdinand of Antequera’s ascension to the throne. Emboldened by the dynastic change, nobles used the Courts of 1412-1413 to secure the “Peace and Truce” constitution. This allowed lords to evict farmers who, after relocating, attempted to retain land rights, threatening both lords and new cultivators. Farmers had one year to sell or transfer their land to the lord.
During Alfonso the Magnanimous’ reign (1416-1458), the Courts of Tortosa in 1430 saw lords declare that “farmers should remain as they were and had no right to declare their freedom.” The Church maintained that farmers should continue paying the same dues as before the “unjust demand for freedom.”
Prelude to War and the Remences Union
Tensions between Remences and lords, coupled with the King’s need to limit noble power, prompted Alfonso to issue a royal provision. This allowed farmers to assemble, discuss the abolition of abuses, and raise funds to support the King’s cause.
A large Remences Union formed, holding over 400 meetings controlled by a royal official between 1448 and 1449.
The General Council, representing the lords’ interests, opposed the royal decision and ordered the arrest of the preaching official. Despite the ban, meetings continued, but the farmers’ offer fell short of the 400,000 florins offered by Parliament in 1452.
New counter-offers from farmers and the courts’ refusal to aid the monarch until he returned to Catalonia led him to support the Remences. He temporarily suspended abuses and servitude until an agreement was reached.
Alfonso’s actions weren’t solely driven by economic needs. At stake was political power in Catalonia. Royal authority couldn’t be effective until the King recovered royal patrimony and reduced feudal powers. Alfonso died suddenly in 1458, succeeded by his brother, John II.
The Catalan Civil War and the Two Remences Wars
John II clashed with his son, Charles of Viana, over the crown of Navarre. Charles had the support of his uncle Alfonso in Naples. Upon Alfonso’s death, John II imprisoned Charles. The Catalan Courts of Lleida defended Charles, leading to a confrontation with the King in 1460.
Prince Charles’ death in 1461 sparked the Catalan Civil War between the General Council and John II.
Meanwhile, the Remences sided with the King and revolted against the nobility and the Council. Led by Francesc de Verntallat, the revolt centered in the mountains.
However, when John II won the war and signed the Capitulation of Pedralbes ten years later, he didn’t abolish the feudal burdens as the farmers had hoped.
Feeling abandoned by the crown, the Remences launched a second uprising in 1485, led by Pere Joan Sala. While Sala’s defeat and death didn’t quell Remences’ hopes, the revolt was crushed. Verntallat’s followers in the mountains continued passive resistance, leading Ferdinand (John II’s son) to issue the Arbitral Sentence of Guadalupe (1486). This abolished many feudal abuses in exchange for a payment of 60 salaries per farm.
Farmers retained control of their land but had to pay tribute and feudal dues to their lords.
This marked a new era for the Catalan countryside, characterized by free emphyteutic contracts that fostered rural prosperity. By the 15th century, Catalan farmers had achieved a level of personal freedom that much of Spain and Europe wouldn’t see until the 18th and 19th centuries.