Francesc de Castellví i Obando (1682 – 15 September 1757) was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

who fought for the Austriacist side in the 1714 Siege of Barcelona. Castellví is primarily known for writing '' Narraciones Históricas'' during his stay in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, a work in which he explains the events that took place during the Siege of Barcelona based upon his own experiences.

Biography

Francesc de Castellví was born in 1682 in Montblanc, in the Principality of Catalonia. Raised in a small but distinguished family, Castellví received a good education, studying

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and

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during his youth. During the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, he was a member of the military branch of the '' Junta de Braços'', one of the key political organizations in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

during the war. In 1713, with King Philip V's troops besieging Barcelona, Castellví and the rest of the members of the Junta de Braços decided to continue resisting the siege, despite receiving several capitulation offers from the Bourbonics and not having any possibility of success. He fought as a captain during the defense of Barcelona, being a member of the '' Coronela'', an urban militia mainly composed of civilians, that sought to defend the city. Castellví led the 2nd company of the Immaculada Concepció de la Verge Maria

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

as a captain. On the 14 of August, he was wounded while fighting at the Sant Pere bastion. During the September 11 battle, while he and his men were performing a counterattack on the Bourbonic forces,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

capitulated, thus ending the conflict. Once Philip V's troops occupied Barcelona, Castellví was sentenced to surveillanced liberty, and had all his territorial possessions confiscated. In 1726, a peace treaty was signed between Philip V and Charles VI. The treaty provided amnesty for political prisoners, and Castellví exiled himself to Austria, where he wrote ''Narraciones Históricas desde el año 1700 hasta el año 1725''. He used Bourbonic and Austriacist sources in order to complete his work, as well as accounts from other figures who emigrated to Austria after the war and his own personal experiences. He was amongst the Catalans who embarked in an expedition in the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

from 1735 to 1738, in an attempt to found a new city, named Nova Barcelona. Nevertheless, the project failed, due to the dangerous proximity of the city to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and a black plague epidemic. He then returned to Vienna, where emperor Charles VI granted him an annuity, for being an ex-participant of the War of Succession. He remained in Austria until his death in 1757.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellvi I Obando, Francesc De 1682 births 1757 deaths People from Conca de Barberà Spanish chroniclers 18th-century Spanish historians