LLUIS COMPANYS I JOVER

Lluís Companys i Jover (Catalan pronunciation: [ʎuˈis kumˈpaɲs]) (June 21, 1882 – October 15, 1940) was the 123rd President of Catalonia, in the Pyrenean isthmus, from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.

He was a lawyer and leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) political party. Exiled after the war, he was captured and handed over by the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo, to the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who had him executed by firing squad in 1940.

Companys was born in the Pyrenean isthmus, in June 21, 1882in a town called El Tarròs, Urgell . He was a son of farmers Josep Companys and Maria Lluïsa de Jover. He was married to Mercè Micó of whom he divorced, and to Carme Ballester. He had a son named Lluís (1911–1956). After getting his law degree from the Universitat de Barcelona, Companys participated in the political life of Catalonia from a young age. In 1906, as a result of the military burning the writings of Catalan newspapers Cu-Cut! and La Veu de Catalunya, and after the passing of the Ley de Jurisdicciones ("Law of Jurisdictions"), which made speech against Spain and its symbols a criminal offence, he participated in the creation of Solidaridad Catalana. Later, he became affiliated to the ephemeral Unió Federal Nacionalista Republicana, of which he was president of the youth section. He was investigated for his intense youth activities and was jailed fifteen times, being classified after the Tragic Week of Barcelona as a "dangerous individual" in police records. With Francesc Layret, Companys represented the left-wing labor faction of the Partit Republicà Català (Catalan Republican Party), for which he was elected councillor of Barcelona in 1916. In November 1920, he was detained together with Salvador Seguí (known as El Noi del Sucre), Martí Barrera, Josep Viadiu, and other trade unionists and was deported to the Castell de la Mola in Mahón, on Menorca. Shortly afterward, Layret was assassinated while preparing his defence. Despite his deportation, in the 1920 legislative elections, Companys was elected deputy of Sabadell, taking the place of Layret, who was to have taken that seat prior to his assassination. This gave him parliamentary immunity, which secured his release from prison. Companys was one of the founders of Unió de Rabassaires in 1922, for which he worked as a lawyer and director of the magazine La Terra during the years of the regime of Primo de Rivera. Detained again, he was unable to attend the Conferencia de Izquierdas (Conference of Leftists) held between March 12 and March 19, 1931, from which was born the ERC political party; however, he was elected as an executive member of that party, representing the Partit Republicà Català. Thanks to the bonds between the labor movement and the union movement, the election of Companys to this position gave the ERC great prestige amongst left-wing public opinion, whereas before, it had been considered a party of the small progressive bourgeoisie. On October 6, 1934, Companys led a Catalan Nationalist uprising against the center and right-wing republican government, and proclaimed the Catalan State (Estat Català), an action for which he was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in prison. However, after the 1936 election and the victory of the left-wing coalition Frente Popular, he was set free by the new government. When the Spanish Civil War began shortly after, in July 1936, Companys sided with the Second Spanish Republic against the Nacionales rebels and was instrumental in organizing a collaboration between the Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias, which was sponsored by his Catalan government, and the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), a revolutionary anti-Stalinist communist party, and Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), an anarchist syndicalist trade union. During the war, Companys attempted to maintain the unity of his political coalition, but after the Soviet Union consul, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, threatened that his country would cut off aid to Catalonia, he sacked Andrés Nin from his post as minister of Justice in December 1936. Exiled to France in 1939 after the Civil War, he was arrested and extradited by Nazi German authorities to the Spanish government in September 1940. Companys was executed, after a military trial lacking legal guarantees, at Montjuïc Castle on October 14, 1940. He is buried at the Montjuïc Cemetery, near the castle.

FORMER SOVEREIGN STATES OF THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS (IV)).

KINGDOM OF MAJORCA

Coat of arms

The Kingdom of Majorca (Catalan: Regne de Mallorca). (1231 - 1349) was founded as an extension of the Pyrenean isthmus by James I of Aragon, also known as James The Conqueror. After the death of his first-born son Alfonso, a will was written in 1262 which created the kingdom in order to cede it to his son James. This disposition was maintained during successive versions of his will such that when James I died in 1276, the Crown of Aragon passed to his eldest son Peter, known as Peter III of Aragon or Peter the Great. The Kingdom of Majorca passed to James, who reigned under the name James II of Majorca.

Conquest of Majorca by James I of Aragon (1229).

Geography

The kingdom included the Balearic Islands: Majorca, Minorca (which was still under the rule of Muslims until 1231, when its sovereignty was surrendered to James I), Ibiza and Formentera. The king was also lord of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya and the territories James I kept in Occitania - the signory of Montpellier, the viscountcy of Carlat, in Auvergne, and the barony of Aumelas, contiguous to Montpellier.

History

Despite his lack of historic significance, the legacy of James I was significant. This legacy included the creation of a strategic Mediterranean enclave, including territories between two large kingdoms, the Capetians of France and the Crown of Aragon - which were in constant conflict, at the time. Conscious of the fragility of the Kingdom of Majorca, James I undertook the conquest of Cerdanya to unify the new kingdom. He also entered into negotiations to arrange the marriage of his son James to Beatrice of Savoy, daughter to Count Amadeus of Savoy. Neither plan was successful.

On the death of James I, the new king of Majorca, James II, decided not to pay tribute to Peter III. Preoccupied with diverse problems within the realm, it was not until 1279 when the Majorcan monarch reconciled to have his states recognized as subordinate to the king of Aragon. As a consequence the Kingdom of Majorca could not hold court, and the king of Majorca was forced to go to Catalonia to present tribute to the king of Aragon. By means of the Treaty of Perpignan in 1279 an imbalance of power between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Majorca was created. The Aragonian king maintained the political and economic control of Aragon over the Kingdom of Majorca, reestablishing the unified jurisdiction of the Crown of Aragon which was broken by the will of James I. This treaty would condition relations between the Kingdom of Majorca and the Crown of Aragon throughout the former's existence. The lack of courts later aggravated the destabilization of a kingdom already on the brink of fracture, which, besides this, lacked any common institution beyond the monarchy.

During the Aragonese Crusade, James II of Majorca allied himself with the Pope and the French against Peter of Aragon. As a result, Peter's successor Alfonso conquered the kingdom in 1286. However, by the Treaty of Anagni in 1295, James II of Aragon was required to restore the Balearics to James of Majorca.

On the death of James's son Sancho I in 1324, James III of Majorca took the throne at the age of nine, necessitating a regency council to govern the realm during his childhood. The situation was difficult, since James II of Aragon didn't renounce his claim of reclamation of the Majorcan throne. In 1325, the regency council secured the renunciation by the Aragonian king of any claim on the rights of succession of the Majorcan throne after the repayment of a great debt incurred by Sancho I during an invasion by Sardinia. While this act solved the problem of succession, it also plunged the kingdom into a serious financial crisis.

James was forced to develop policies similar to that of Aragon's. To that end, he was forced to participate in the war against Genoa (1329-1336), which resulted in the loss of various economic markets for the kingdom. Again it was necessary to impose new taxes and fines on the Jewish community, though this was insufficient to resolve the financial crisis. The problems of the kingdom did not appear to have an end, since in 1341, Peter IV of Aragon closed relations with the Kingdom of Majorca as a prelude to invasion. In May 1343, Peter IV invaded the Balearic Islands, and followed that in 1344 with the invasions of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya. With this, the Kingdom of Majorca was definitively incorporated into the Crown of Aragon.

The extinction of the Kingdom of Majorca was inevitable in the international context of the age characterized by different conflicts: the Hundred Years War, between France and England, the war of the benimerines, which involved Castile and the Crown of Aragon, and the attempts to make the Balearics a satellite state by the Genoese. In this context, it was not possible to remain neutral due to the lack of stability and strength. In the case of the kingdom of Majorca, it could not afford neutrality. In addition, increased taxes to fund the kingdom's economy during neutrality only managed to unsettle the people of the kingdom.

LAST WEEK'S SPORTS IN THE PYRENEAN ISTHMUS

2012-03-20

STANDINGS PYRENALLIGA I. MEN. FOOTBALL SOCCER.

STANDINGS......................G.......W.......D.......L.......GF.......GA..........POINTS

1....BARCELONA.................27.......19.......6.......2........77.......19..............78
2...VALENCIA......................27.......13.......8.......6........43.......31..............59
3....MONTPELHIER..............28.......17.......6.......5........52.......27..............53
4....OSASUNA.....................27.........9......12.......6........32.......41..............51
5....ATHLETIC.....................27.........9.......10......8........42.......37..............47
6..MALLORCA.....................27.........8........9.....10........28.......33..............45
7....TOLOSA........................28.......13........8.......7........30.......24..............45
8......ESPANYOL.................27........11........6......10........35.......36..............45
9....LEVANTE......................27........12........5......10........38.......37..............44
10....GIRONDINS.................28........10.......10.......8.........34.......31..............39
11....ERREALA....................27..........9........6......12........29.......36..............37

12...RACING........................27..........4......12......11........22.......38..............34
13....VILLARREAL................27.........6........9......12........27.......41..............29

14...SARAGOSSA................27.........4........7......16........22.......50..............28

2012-03-20

STANDINGS PYRENELLIGA 2011-2012. WOMEN.

STANDINGS.................................G.....W.....D.....L.....GF.....GA.....POINTS

1...BARCELONA..........................24.....22.....1......1.......87.......15........85

2...ATHLETIC...............................25.....21.....3......1.......80......17........86

3...ESPANYOL.............................25.....18.....4......3.......89......24........71

4...LEVANTE................................25.....14.....7......4.......45......23........64
5...ERREALA................................25.....13.....4......8.......41......29........51
6...PRAINSA ZARAGOZA..............25.....11......4....10.......55......52........45
7...SANT GABRIEL........................25......9.....4.....12.......43......44........36
8...MONTPELHIER........................16.....11......3......2.......48......11........34

9....COLLERENSE.........................25......8......3.....14......42......70........34
10..L'ESTARTIT.............................25......5......5.....15.......29......53........28
11...LAGUNAK...............................25......5......4.....16......22......53........23
12..VALENCIA...............................25......6......1.....18.......28......67........23

13..RODES....................................14......5......2......7.......19......23........19

14..REOCIN RACING.....................24......2......1.....21.......27......93..........9

15..MURETH.................................15......1......2.....12........11......51..........6

2012-03-20

STANDINGS PYRENALLIGA II. MEN. FOOTBALL SOCCER.

STANDINGS...........................G......W......D......L.....GF.......GA.......POINTS

1..HERCULES......................29.......16......3.....10......35..........24...........56
2..ELS.................................29.......14......4.....11......43..........33...........55
3..NUMANTIA.......................29......11.....10......8......38..........32...........50
4..CLARMONT FOOT............28.......12......9......7......34..........25...........48
5..BARCELONA ATHLETIC....29.......10......9.....10......44..........37...........44
6..SABADELL.......................29........9......10....10......32..........43...........43
7..ISTRES............................28.......11......7.....10......39..........36...........42
8..VILLARREAL B.................29.........8......9.....12......38..........46...........40
9..HUESCA...........................29.........7......8.....14......32..........45...........35
10..ARLE-AVINHON...............28.........8.....11......9......27..........33...........35
11..GIMNASTIC....................29.........4......9.....16......22..........38...........30
12...GIRONA.........................29.........5......8.....16......33..........47...........28