Entre Francia y España. Conflicto político y defensa hispánica de la frontera en la Cerdaña, 1659-1672

Abstract

The main focus of this study was to analyse the creation of a new military border in Catalonia and the specific role played by the region of Cerdanya, divided between the French and Spanish monarchies since 1659. We compared the contributions of authors like P. Sahlins and A. Ayats with documentation unearthed in the General Archive of Simancas and the Archive of the Crown of Aragon. The years between the Peace of the Pyrenees and the beginning of the war in the Netherlands allow us to contextualize the enormous difficulties faced by the Spanish Monarchy when developing an appropriate defensive policy in the area. We conclude that economic difficulties frustrated attempts to make Puigcerdà fortress a real threat to the French crown in the Pyrenees.