The Battle of Montjuïc took place on 26 January 1641 during the

Reapers' War The Reapers' War (, ; , ), also known as the Catalan Revolt or Catalan Revolution, was a conflict that affected the Principality of Catalonia between 1640 and 1659, in the context of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War of 1 ...

. A Spanish force under Pedro Fajardo launched an attack on the Catalan army led by Francesc de Tamarit, with French cavalry support. The Spanish force had recently massacred hundreds of rebels who had tried to surrender at Cambrils. The Catalan rebels had taken up position on the heights of

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Montjuïc or Montjuich, meaning "Jewish Mountain" in medieval Latin and Catalan, is a broad, shallow hill in Barcelona with a rich history. It was the birthplace of the city, and its st ...

which dominated the city of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

. The Spanish launched several concerted attempts to capture Montjuïc Castle, but were continually repulsed. Finally a large force of Catalan rebels counter-attacked from the direction of Barcelona. Large numbers of Spanish troops were killed and the remainder had to withdraw to

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

along the coast. Amongst those killed at the battle was John O'Neill, the exiled Earl of Tyrone, who was serving with an Irish regiment in the Spanish army.

Bibliography

* * Serra, Eva. ''La guerra dels segadors.'' Ed. Bruguera (Barcelona, 1966) Military history of Barcelona Battles of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) Battles of the Reapers' War 1641 in Spain Conflicts in 1641 Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving France Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving Spain Montjuïc Attacks on castles in Spain {{Catalonia-hist-stub