Between Rebellion and Resistance: Guild Government, Ancient Liberty, and Plebeian Estate in the Catalonia of the Nueva Planta

The text addresses the conflict provoked in Barcelona by the resistance of the guilds to the order of forced conscription decreed in 1773, which reached its climax in an act of rebellion, the so-called avalot de les quintes (4 May), immediately led to the formation of a Diputación de los colegios y gremios to negotiate the terms of military service, which remained active until July 1774, and ended the following year with the declaration of nullity of all its actions and the implementation of certain reforms in the Nueva Planta of provincial government. Starting from the traditional weight of the guilds in Catalan society as the incarnation of plebeian estate, I analyze the constitutional strategy deployed by the aforementioned Diputación in defense of an ancient freedom, in order to illustrate the relationship between resistance and collective memory.