War and peasant communities in the Vegueria of Girona (1640-1720). Some testimony and cases

Abstract

In Vegueria of Girona, war became a common practice: from 1640 to 1720, there was an outright war that lasted 49 years. This paper will examine the impact of war on peasant communities, which suffered its direct effects, and, in particular, the taxes derived from the War of Spanish Succession that ended this military period. Indeed, the tax records for Cassà de la Selva, Puigcerdà, and Torroella de Montgrí reveal that the communities accumulated substantial debt that would not be cleared until the second half of the 18th century. Three generations would live through war. From 1720 onwards, the peasant communities of the vegueria of Girona would still assume its costs: community debts and the taxation fell upon the villages, which would have to pay them.