Cataluña Flashcards
Oldest human settlements in Cataluña date back to ?
200kya
A cave in Neolithic Cataluña was used for worship for over 5 millenia. It contains 42 painted figures and 260 other painted subjects. in 1998 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What is it called, and where is it?
Roca dels Moros
in El Cogul
Which invaders brought grapes to the Iberian tribes in Cataluña?
Phoenicians
Greeks
Who invaded Cataluña after the Phoenicians and Greeks? Which dispute did they bring with them?
Carthaginians
Competing with Rome for Mediterranean
In which century did the Carthaginians fight the Romans in Hispania? Who won?
2C BCE
Romans
Which Roman road runs through Tarragona in Cataluña? In which century was it built, and when was it used until? What was Tarragona called by the Romans?
Via Augusta
1C BCE - 1920s
Tarraco
The Romans exported wine from Cataluña in amphorae. Where to, by land? Where to, by sea?
Italy and France by land
Africa by sea
Name the three successive invaders of Cataluña after the Romans
Visigoths
Moors
Franks
What did Charlemagne, King of the Franks, establish to pacify and control Cataluña?
Marca Hispánica
(Spanish March, a military buffer zone, establishing ‘self governing’ counties’)
Which order of monks resuscitated the vineyards in Cataluña in the Middle Ages? What was the wine for?
Cistercian
Sacrament, troops of Reconquista
First known reference to Catalan identity:
name of Cataluña?
name of Catalan people?
name of book it was in?
approximate year the book was written?
what was it about?
Catalania
Catalanenses
Liber maiolichinus de gestis pisanorum illustribus (Majorcan Book of the Deeds of the Illustrious Pisans)
1113-15
Pisan military expedition against the taifa of the Balearic islands
Which monastery in Cataluña was founded because a shepherd told two knights about a vision of a staircase with angels ascending to heaven?
Which king instigated it?
Which monastic order established it?
When?
Caused nine villages to spring up in the foothills of which mountains?
Cartoixa d’Escaladei
King Alfonso II (King of Aragón and Count of Barcelona)
Carthusian Order of Provence (Carthusians)
Established 1194, flourished until 17C
Serra de Montsant
In which year did King Ramiro II of Aragón offer Ramon Berenguer IV (Count of Barcelona) marriage to his daughter Petronila?
What was the political effect of this marriage?
1137
United the Kingdom of Aragón with the County of Barcelona, giving Aragón access to the sea
What enabled Barcelona to prosper and control trade in the western Mediterranean in 13-14C?
Strategic coastal location
Power of Aragón behind it
When and why did the County of Barcelona fold into the Aragonese Crown?
Who did the monarchy transfer to?
1410
King Martin I of Aragón, Count of Barcelona, died without successor.
Ferdinand of Antequera (Martin’s nephew, a Castilian) became Ferdinand I of Aragón)
Ferdinand I of Aragón’s successor was Alfonso V. He fought a ten year civil war with Cataluña. Who won?
He did - Cataluña lost
Who was famous grandson of Ferdinand of Antequera?
Ferdinand the Catholic (Ferdinand II)
Why did Cataluña gain autonomy under Ferdinand and Isabella?
The monarchs focussed on reclaiming the Iberian Peninsula and expanding colonies
In which year did the Catalans definitively defy the Spanish crown and place themselves under French authority (and whose)?
1640
King Louis XIII of France
Cataluña rebelled again in the late 17C when the French Bourbon dynasty took the Spanish Crown. Which war did this dispute turn into? Who won?
War of Spanish Succession in 1701
The Bourbons won
In which year did King Philip respond to Catalan defiance with decrees that incorporated all Aragonese territories and ended Catalan autonomy? What were the decrees called?
1716
Nueva Planta
Name and describe two strange Christmas traditions of Cataluña
Caganer (pooing figure in nativity scene)
Tío de Nadal (Christmas Log which must be looked-after and then poos presents)
In the 18C Cataluña’s wine exports prospered. Through which port in particular? to which markets?
Tarragona
Britain, Scandinavia, Baltics, etc
In mid- to late-19C sparkling wine was developed in Cataluña.
Why whom?
Travelling where and when?
Making Spain’s first sparking wine in which year?
How long before it was called cava?
Josep Raventós i Fatjó
1860s to Champagne
1872
Nearly a century
Which side were the Catalans on during the Carlist wars of the 19C?
What effect did this have on the Catalans?
What did they dub this cultural movement?
Carlist movement
Revived Catalan nationalism
Renaixença
Which Catalan modernist architect lived 1852-1926, whose works are a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Antoni Gaudi
Outline the history and effect of phylloxera in Cataluña
France got phylloxera in late 19C, boosted Catalan wine exports. Phylloxera came to Cataluña in 1879 but swiftly remediated.
In what year did Catalan labour reformers create Europe’s first legal 8 hour workday?
1919
Cataluña regained some autonomy in the early 20C. What caused them to lose it again?
Lost after Spanish Civil War 1936-39
Cataluña boomed in the 1960s. Which two sectors? Despite what?
Industry and tourism
Despite Franco
Which body provisionally recognised DOs in Cataluña in 1972? How many?
Bonus: name them.
Catalan Generalitat (parliament, president, executive council).
7
DO Alella
DO Conca de Berberà
DO Empordà
DO Penedès
DOQ Priorat
DO Tarragona
DO Terra Alta
In which year did Cataluña finally regain its autonomy for the present day?
1979
What status was Cataluña granted in 2006? Meaning what?
‘Nation’ status
Same level of taxation and accountability as Spanish government.
What borders Cataluña?
N: France, Andorra
W: Aragón
S: Comunidad Valenciana
E: Mediterranean Sea
Name the four provinces of Cataluña. Which is inland?
Inland:
Lérida (Catalan: Lleida)
Coastal:
Gerona (Girona)
Barcelona
Tarragona
Cataluña: capital, largest city?
Barcelona 1.6m 21%
2nd largest in Spain after Madrid
11th largest in EU
Climate of Cataluña generally
Mediterranean
(dry hot summers, cool winters)
Climate in northern Cataluña?
near Pirineos
cooler winters
more rain 1,000mm+
Contrast Cataluña’s climate between coast and inland
Coast: sea breezes moderate temperature range, bring humidity
Inland: continental influences
Maximum temperatures in Cataluña, at:
coast
inland
Coast: max 26-31ºC
Inland: max 40ºC
Typical Cataluña rainfall in south and north. What is unusual about the rainfall patterns for a Mediterranean climate?
500 mm (South)
600 mm (North)
Unusually falls mostly in spring and autumn, not winter (summer too in the north)
Name the three major topographical features of Cataluña
Catalan Pirineos
Cordilleras Costero-Catalanas
Central Catalan Depression
Catalan Pirineos: length? highest peak in Cataluña?
200km
Pica d’Estats 3,143m
What are the two ranges within the Cordilleras Costero-Catalanas in Cataluña? Which is higher? Which is closer to the coast?
Cordillera Litoral (closer to coast), up to 763m
Cordillera Prelitoral, up to 1,712m
What topographic features deliniate the Central Catalan Depression?
Catalan Pirineos
Cordilleras Costero-Catalanas
Central Catalan Depression:
elevation?
longest river in Cataluña?
second longest?
other source of water?
200-600m
Ter (208 km)
Llobregat (170 km)
other drainage from Pirineos
Which of these rivers in Cataluña is navigable?
Ter
Llobregat
Ebro
All three are navigable
What are the dominant soil types in Cataluña:
from Cordillera Litoral to the sea
from Cordillera Prelitoral to Cordillera Litoral
in DOQ Priorat and nearby
Cordillera Litoral to the sea
Sedimentary: alluviums, limestone, clay. Some granite, slate
Cordillera Prelitoral to Cordillera Litoral:
Metamorphic, igneous: slate, granite. Also limestone, calcareous clays.
DOQ Priorat: llicorella
Cataluña soils are generally low in…? Are better-draining where?
Organic content
Better draining nearer coast
Llicorella is the soil most famous in which wine region?
What type of rock is it?
Describe it.
When was it formed?
What effect does it have on vines?
DOQ Priorat
Decomposed slate/shale
Shallow, copper-coloured, low organic content, fragile, foliated
Devonian and Carboniferous 416-318mya
Forces roots to search through fissures for water and nutrients
What is the difference between shale, slate and schist?
They are metamorphic from different original rocks:
mud -> shale
clay -> slate
basalt -> schist
Are the grapes of Cataluña mostly international or indigenous?
Indigenous
Some virtually unknown outside Cataluña
Name the three primary grapes of cava in its home, Cataluña. Which is most planted?
Xarel.lo
Parellada
Macabeo (most planted)
Give two synonyms of the Xarel.lo grape
Pansal Blanc
Pansa Blanca
Which grape is of exceptional quality for vinos blancos in Cataluña? What international white grapes are also grown there?
Garnatxa Blanca / Garnacha Blanca
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc