

CAT 



629 



CAT 



nia. Barcelona the capital, Tarragona, Urgel, Lerida, 

 , - ' SaUona, Vicq, Tortoa, Figueras, Aulot, 



ilila, Rrus, Mataro, Villa Franca dc Panadt-s, 

 Cervera, aud Palamos. 



Catalonia, with the rest of Spain, wan overwhelm- 

 < tl by thi- irruptions of the northern barbarians in the 

 In-winning of the fifth century, and continued under 

 the dominion of the Goths until 712, when it was 

 ;.)(llt 1 tn yield to the Saracens. The Saracen 

 power in this province, however, was not of long 

 continuance ; for before the conclusion of the same 

 century, they were completely expelled by Lewis le 

 Debonaire, the son of Charlemagne. It was then 

 erected into a province of France, and was governed 

 by counts or viceroys, removeable at pleasure, until 

 Godfrey or Wifred the Hairy was created heredi- 

 tary count of Barcelona; and the sovereignty of the 

 province bestowed upon him and his heirs for ever. 

 As soon as it became a separate power, it rose to re- 

 spectability among the independent nations of Eu- 

 rope; and besides Catalonia, the counts of Barce- 

 lona comprised under their dominion, Roussillon, 

 Cerdagne, the country of Foix, and a great part of 

 Languedoc. At this time Catalonia was divided in- 

 to "oigueries or jurisdictions, each governed by a vi- 

 guier, or lieutenant, who enjoyed a very considerable 

 authority ; and when its count, Raymond V., suc- 

 ceeded to the crown of Arragon in 1 137, by his mar- 

 riage with Petronilla the heiress of that kingdom, it 

 still continued to be governed by its own states, 

 which shared in the legislative power with the sove- 

 reign. These states were composed of the three or- 

 ders, the clergy, the nobility, and the commons, 

 whose power consisted in proposing to the king such 

 laws as they thought necessary, and in sanctioning 

 those that originated with him. This privilege was 

 continued even after its union with the crown of 

 Spain ; but it was gradually undermined by the vice- 

 roys, and at last completely withdrawn by Philip V., 

 who allowed them to retain merely the empty 

 right of sending deputies to the states general of the 

 Spanish monarchy. Catalonia, during its union with 

 Arragon, was engaged in repeated, and sometimes 

 lengthened rebellions. It frequently opposed the 

 most obstinate resistance to the commands of its 

 sovereign j and even often attempted to choose a fo- 

 reign prince as its ruler, or to erect itself into a re- 

 public. But notwithstanding its exertions for inde- 

 pendence, it continued under the dominion of Arra- 

 gon, and afterwards of Spain, till 1640, when the Ca- 

 talans, enraged at the arrest of their deputies at Ma- 

 drid by the command of Philip IV. flew to arms, 

 and declared themselves free. Being unable, how- 

 ever, long to maintain their freedom, they gave them- 

 selves up to France ; and in 1641 proclaimed Louis 

 XIII. count of Barcelona. But even the power of 

 Louis was insufficient to support them against Spain. 

 They were reduced in 16.5'2, by Don John of Aus- 

 tria, and in 1659 their submission was confirmed by 

 the treaty of the Pyrenees. The most desperate and 

 obstinate struggle, however, which the Catalans 

 made in defence of their privileges, was in the war of 

 the succession, when attaching themselves to the 

 cause of the Archduke Charles, they resisted every 

 offer of accommodation from the French ; and when 

 at last deserted by the king, whom they had chosen, 

 and by every foreign power, they stood alone, and 



single-hand maintained the contest against the united 

 efforts of Spain and France. By this war the pro- 

 vince was drained of its wealth, and almost drpopu- 

 latt-d, as many of its inhabitants preferring exile to 

 submission, emigrated to foreign countries. Its ma- 

 nufactures and commerce were destroyed ; and when 

 Barcelona capitulated in 1714, Philip V, received a 

 country without resources. Every privilege was 

 abolished, and heavy taxes imposed in order to de- 

 fray the expences of its reduction. But though de- 

 pressed and impoverished, it in a short time recovered 

 its activity and energy ; and its trade being- relieved 

 from the impolitic and paralysing taxes 01 alcavala 

 cientos and millones, under which many of the other 

 provinces of the Spanish monarchy labour, it soon 

 rose to its present state of wealth and splendour. 

 Except a few partial insurrections, the Catalans have 

 submitted to the yoke, with sullen apathy; and such 

 is their character of pride and independence, that 

 several of their robility had constantly refused to ac- 

 cept of any titles and dignities, till the last journey 

 of Charles IV. into this province, who, by his kind- 

 ness and manners, greatly conciliated its inhabitants. 

 See SPA iv and BARCELONA. See also Laborde's 

 View of Spain, vol. i. p. 1 136 } Swinburne's Tra- 

 vels in Spain, vol. i. p. 16 and 39; and Townsend'i 

 Travels, vol. iii. (p) 



CATALPA, a genus of plants of the class 

 Diandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 92. 



CATANA. See CATANIA. 



CATANANCHE, a genus of plants of the class 

 Syngenesia, and order Polygamia jEqualis. See BO- 

 TANY, p. 289. 



CATANIA, a city in Sicily, the ancient Caliiia, 

 situated in N. Lat. 37 3V, E. Long. 15 19', at 

 the foot of Mount Etna, in the Valley of Noto, one 

 of the three districts into which the island is divided, 

 and on the shore of the Ionian sea. 



Whether we consider the political revolutions which 

 this city has experienced, from its earliest history 

 down nearly to the present times, or those awful con- 

 vulsions of nature which have so often buried it in 

 ruins, Catania must equally attract our notice. In 

 treading upon classic ground, however, it is with re- 

 gret that we narrow ourselves to the limits which 

 must be observed, lest a subject of particular interest 

 should betray us into a trespass upon other articles, 

 which, though of less moment, must not be omitted. 

 Wherever the earth is inhabited, we find man invari- 

 ably attached to the spot of his nativity, identifying 

 himself, as it were, with the soil, however few its in- 

 ducements may be ; but the force of the principle is 

 infinitely more striking, where we behold him undis- 

 mayed by the dangers that perpetually threaten him, 

 constructing his abode of the very lava that had 

 swept away in its course the mansions of his forefa- 

 thers, upon a foundation that he has often felt sha- 

 ken by earthquakes, in the midst of surrounding mo- 

 uuments of desolation. Such are the circumstances 

 in which Catania stands. In addition to these, it has 

 undergone every vicissitude to which a city was ex- 

 posed, from having frequently arrived at sufficient 

 opulence and splendour, to excite ihe cupidity of bar- 

 barians, and the envy of the powerful and ambitious. 



Catina, one of the most ancient cities in Sicily, was- 

 founded in the time ot the Sicanians, who were dri. 

 vea from it by the Siculi, at the period of their land* 



