ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Anti-conscription riots in Barcelona 1636

Synopsis
After the outbreak of war between the Spanish Monarchy and the Kingdom of France in 1635, the Spanish crown ordered the viceroy of Catalonia to mobilize troops. The difficulties in recruiting soldiers were, however, daunting. Since the levies were voluntary, the viceroy tried to collect taxes from the Catalan towns in order to recruit men to join the army. When this method proved insufficient, less orthodox strategies were implemented, often in contravention of the laws of the kingdom, such as the forced mobilization of urban militias or conscription by deception and coercion. In 1636, shortly before the Leucata campaign took place, several riots broke out in Catalonia. Among them the one of June 12 in Barcelona stands out, when a group of reapers assaulted and burned the house of Joan Agustí Forés. The viceroy had commissioned him to recruit a score of soldiers in exchange for a position as a royal officer. To save the cost of hiring them, Forés kidnapped a group of reapers under the false promise of giving them work in the fields. As the news spread, a riot broke out that lasted until nightfall, at which time the local authorities, along with the royal ministers, paraded accompanied by the city's companies to break up the tumult.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1 day. Name in sources: Motín antimilitar (Barcelona). Location: Barcelona Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Peasants. Number of participants: 250-500. Main reasons & motivations: Freedom, Others. Leadership: Unknown. Relevance: low.

Further reading
CORTEGUERA, Luis R. (1998). “Violence and Identity in 16th and 17th Century Barcelona”, Mediterranean Studies 7: 179-190. ELLIOTT, John H. (1963). The Revolt of the Catalans. A study in the Decline of Spain (1598-1640). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. PARETS, Miquel (2011). Crònica, 1626-1661. M. Rosa Margalef (ed). Barcelona: Barcino, vol. I, pp. 319-321.
Cite this entry

Gracia-Arnau, Ivan (2023). "Anti-conscription riots in Barcelona 1636", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. http://atlas.cidehusdigital.uevora.pt/revolt/anti-conscription-riots-in-barcelona-1636/ (accessed on 19 Fevereiro 2023).