Generalitat de Catalunya

The formation of the General Council was the result of a gradual historical process that spanned eighty years from the end of the 13th century to the late 14th century. In 1283, the Court of Barcelona, presided by King Peter the Great, formalised a deal-making system which prohibited the sovereign from promulgating constitutions or levying general taxes without the authorisation of the three estates—military, ecclesiastical and noble—in the Courts. At each session, parliamentary negotiations between the monarch and the representatives of the estates of society would conclude with the approval of new legislation on the administration of land, redress of grievances and compensatory donations to the monarch.

Since more time was required to collect this donation than that allowed at the Court, estate commissions were appointed to carry out the collection. The first such commission was created in 1289. This commission (or council) and those formed well into the 16th century—which normally included only the noble estate, as it was the sole giver of donations—were ad hoc organisations that disappeared as soon as the agreed payment had been made.

In 1348, the Black Death ushered in a period of economic and demographic decline. The long reign of Peter the Ceremonious was characterised by a series of internal conflicts and costly foreign wars, which required a sustained financial effort by all of the estates. This situation irreversibly ensured the continuity of the estate council and the formation of a public treasury of the kingdom.

In 1359, the Court of Cervera appointed two commissions: one for the noble estate and one for the ecclesiastical and military estates. In 1362-1363, the General Courts of Montsó created taxes on trade (entries, exits and lead stamps) in Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia. These were called “generalitats” or taxes for the entire community of subjects. In 1364-1365, faced with the problem of insufficient revenues, the Court of Barcelona-Lleida-Tortosa created a consolidated debt by selling the right to receive an annuity or pension paid out of the taxes on trade. As a result, a single, exclusive General Council was definitively established for Catalonia. Its offices, which were set up on Carrer Sant Honorat in Barcelona, formed the initial core of what would become the Palace of the Government of Catalonia.

The estates viewed the creation of the General Council as a necessary evil that would prevent the extraordinary taxation from falling under the control of the royal tax authorities—as had happened in France, Castile and even parts of England—and hoped to dissolve it as soon as possible. However, the royal requirements continued—in particular, the need to continue paying the annuities and pensions. As a consequence, taxes needed to be raised above the requirements of the donations, making it impossible to dissolve the organisation. In any event, the prudent differentiation between taxes levied by the General Council and those imposed by the king was the source of the prominence and longevity of the Council. It survived well into the Modern Period and the establishment of the absolutist monarchy.