INTROD.
from this quarter of their dominions, than from every other[1] Navagiero, the Venetian ambassador to Spain, early in the sixteenth century, although a republican himself, was so struck with what he deemed the insubordination of the Barcelonians, that he asserts, "The inhabitants have so many privileges, that the king scarcely retains any authority over them; their liberty," he adds, "should rather go by the name of license."[2]One example among many, may be given, of the tenacity with which they adhered to their most inconsiderable immunities.
Ferdinand the First, in 1416, being desirous, in consequence of the exhausted state of the finances on his coming to the throne, to evade the payment of a certain tax or subsidy customarily paid by the kings of Aragon to the city of Barcelona, sent for the president of the council, John Fiveller, to re- quire the consent of that body to this measure. The magistrate, having previously advised with his colleagues, determined to encounter any hazard, says Zurita, rather than compromise the rights of the city. He reminded the king of his coronation oath, expressed his regret that he was willing so soon to deviate from the good usages of his prede-
- ↑ Barcelona revolted and was twice besieged by the royal arms under John II. ; once under Philip IV., twice under Charles II., and twice under Philip V. This last siege, 1713 - 14, in which it held out against the combined forces of France and Spain under Marshal Berwick, is one of the most memorable events in the eighteenth century. An interesting account of the siege may be found in Coxe's Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon, (London, 1815,) vol. ii. chap. 21. — The late monarch, Ferdinand VII., also had occasion to feel, that the independent spirit of the Catalans did not become extinct with their ancient constitution,
- ↑ Viaggio, fol. 3.
