History in Barcelona

Introduction

Barcelona is now one of the most populated urban regions in the EU, it is home to a exuberant and energetic lifestyle with some of the world's most impressive sights. When you ask of the humble beginnings of the city you may hear a few alternative stories though there are two main tales that are considered over the others. First if you trace your minds back to the time of the Romans the story goes as so: Hercules discvovered the city a huge four hundred years before Rome was created. It follows the story of Hercules joining Jason and the Argonauts when looking for the golden fleece when one of the shop is lost Hercules follows to save the crew and finds them ending up on a small hill calling it Barca nona (ninth ship).

In Roman times Barcelona was known as Barcino, a settlement that was doing well with its abundance of agriculture. Barcelona has evidence behind it, having settlers way before the 9th century. The plain of Barcelona was the starting place. This area was taken by the Lustianians who are considered by the Portuguese to be their ancestors. They were later conquered by the Romans a (common occurance), after which this area of land became known as part of Hispania citerior, which encompassed an area bordering hte south and east of modern Spain. This period came to a close in 5AD as the Visigoths took over and made Toledo the capital of Spain. Moors started an attack during the 8th century though the drama continued when the Franks (Germanic tribe) took over in 801 and removing it from the Frank empire made it an independent state.

Jaume I the Conqueror took Ibiza and Mallorca as well as other regions in the Valencian kingdom. After the death of Martin of Aragon, who died from laughter (yes, really), it was to become Castilian dynasty. The following period saw the creation of the government of Barcelona and the discovery of America, needless to say, also brought about some interesting changes.

There were conflicts between the two sides over who was going for the crown. There was Phillip V of Spain and Archduke Carlos of Austria and both were going for the crown and both had their loyal supporters. Phillip won, causing the Bourbon reign to begin in Spain. Because Barcelona was one of the cities supporting Carlos of Austria, they were punished when Phillip got into power and was demoted to a province. The 18th and 19th centuries were a good time for Barcelona economically, though there was also a renewed war with Morocco which caused a period of anarchism.

The new period in Spain faced problems and in 1923 the attempted Mancomunidad Catalana brought a period of dictatorship.

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