Catalonia (historic territory)

Principality of Catalonia
Principat de Catalunya  (Catalan) Principatus Cathaloniæ  (Latin)
Realm of the Crown of Aragon (1162–1641, 1652–1714) Realm of the Monarchy of Spain (1516–1641, 1652–1714) Realm of the Kingdom of France (1641–1652)
12th century–1714
Territory of the Principality of Catalonia until 1659
Capital		Barcelona
Languages		Catalan, Latin
Religion		Roman Catholicism
Government		Monarchy subject to constitutions
Count of Barcelona
•	1162–1196	Alfons I (first)
•	1706–1714	Charles III (last)
President of the Deputation of the General
•	1359–1362	Berenguer de Cruïlles (first)
•	1713–1714	Josep de Vilamala (last)
Legislature		General Court of Catalonia
Historical era		Medieval / Early modern
•	Marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronila	1137
•	Reign of Alfons I	1162
•	First Catalan Courts	1192
•	First Catalan constitutions	1283
•	Reign of Charles V	1516
•	Catalan Revolt	1640–1652
•	Treaty of the Pyrenees	1659
•	War of the Spanish Succession	1701- 1714
Population
•	1700 est.	500.000
Currency		Croat, Ducat, Barcelonian pound, and others
Preceded by Succeeded by County of Barcelona Catalan Republic Enlightenment in Spain
Today part of		France  Spain  ∟  Catalonia

The Principality of Catalonia (Catalan: Principat de Catalunya, Latin: Principatus Cathaloniæ, Occitan: Principautat de Catalonha, Spanish: Principado de Cataluña), is a historic territory and a medieval and early modern political entity and state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain, with an adjoining portion in southern France. Between the 13th and the 18th centuries it was bordered by the Kingdom of Aragon to the west, the Kingdom of Valencia to the south, the Kingdom of France and the feudal lordship of Andorra to the north and by the Mediterranean sea to the east.

The first reference to Catalonia and the Catalans appears in the Liber maiolichinus de gestis Pisanorum illustribus, a Pisan chronicle (written between 1117 and 1125) of the conquest of Minorca by a joint force of Italians, Catalans, and Occitans. At the time, Catalonia did not yet exist as a political entity, though the use of this term seems to acknowledge Catalonia as a cultural or geographical entity.

The counties that would eventually make up the Principality of Catalonia were gradually unified under the rule of the Count of Barcelona. In 1137, the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were unified under a single dynasty, creating what modern historians call the Crown of Aragon; however Aragon and Catalonia retained their own political structure and legal traditions. Because of these legal differences and their use of different language —Aragonese and Catalan— an official recognition of the Catalan Counties as a distinct political entity with its own institutions, laws and political community became necessary.