ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Barcelona bread riots 1604

Synopsis
On 9 December 1604, at 9 o'clock in the morning, a riot broke out in Barcelona due to the lack of wheat in the market. A large group of people, mostly women (some sources speak of 4,000 people), rioted against the local authorities and went to the town hall. There they met the person in charge of the wheat supply, but he excused himself on the grounds that he had only recently joined the council. Indeed, he had only been elected a couple of days earlier, which is why he blamed his predecessor, Jaume Hernandes. It was rumoured that, during the year he had been in office, he had profited by hoarding wheat and selling it illegally from his house. The mob went to the house in the Born, threw stones at the windows and tried to set fire to it. The viceroy tried to stop the assault, but had to withdraw after the mob accused him of not having prevented wheat from leaving Catalonia. The riot ended after a series of economic measures were taken: on the one hand, the viceroy prohibited the export of wheat from Catalonia, and, on the other, the local government ordered the city to be supplied with wheat and flour.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1 day. Name in sources: Motín del pan (Barcelona). Location: Barcelona Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Artisans, Peasants, Women. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Food. Leadership: Unknown. Relevance: low.

Further reading
CORTEGUERA, Luis R. (1993). “El motín ¿una institución de la política popular en la Barcelona del XVI y XVII?, Pedralbes: Revista d’Història Moderna, 13 (2): 235-242. MANUAL DE NOVELLS ARDITS, 1603-1609 (1809), Frederich Schwartz y Luna and Francesc Carreras y Candi (eds). Barcelona: Imprenta de Henrich y Cía, vol. VIII, pp. 146-148. PUJADES, Jeroni (1975). Dietari de Jeroni Pujades, 1601-1605. Josep M. Casas Homs (ed). Barcelona: Fundació Salvador Vives Casajuana, vol. I, pp. 382-383.
Cite this entry

Gracia-Arnau, Ivan (2023). "Barcelona bread riots 1604", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. http://atlas.cidehusdigital.uevora.pt/revolt/barcelona-bread-riots-1604/ (accessed on 19 Fevereiro 2023).