MEMS Graduate Student Talks
Francesc Morales, “Run to the Hills: Refugees and Demographic Movements in a Napoleonic Siege”
Friday, Feb. 3
4 PM
Pugh 160
Between 1808 and 1809 the Napoleonic troops in Spanish territory started a struggle that represented a challenge for Napoleon I. I am focusing in the demographic consequences in one of the early steps of the conflict: the two sieges of the city of Girona by the French during the siege of 1808 (July 20 to August 16) and 1809 (May 2 to December 11). These sieges represent an important foundation for both Spanish and Catalan nationalism. The traditional historiography usually has paid more attention to what was happening inside the city during the sieges. Thanks to exhaustive research in the archives of the parishes of the region, I was able to study what was happening in the towns around the city. I was able to detect foreigners in the baptismal and burial books. It is possible to trace strategies of escape based on family bonds or similarity of professions, virtual camp refugees in some towns, duration of refugee status, and so on. This sheds some light on the “run to the hills strategy” of avoiding problems or for political standing. It also requires some modifications in the chronologies proposed by the traditional historiography about these two important sieges.