French departments of Spain

The French departments of Spain were territorial subdivisions of the territory conquered in Catalonia in 1812 by the First French Empire at the outset of the Peninsular War. Their annexation by France was never officially validated even by France itself and they were officially suppressed on 10 March 1814 before being returned to Spain.

Departments of 1812

The territory annexed by the Empire by a decree of 26 January 1812 was divided by the same decree into four departments:

• Bouches-de-l'Èbre (prefecture: Lérida)
• Montserrat (prefecture: Barcelona)
• Sègre (prefecture: Puigcerda)
• Ter (prefecture: Girona)
• The Valley of Aran was included into the Haute-Garonne department.

The decree was never published in the Bulletin des Lois de l'Empire français, but is quoted in the decree of 15 January 1813 that organizes the Valley of Aran communes.[1] [2] In the museum at Figueres in the province of Girona is a reproduction of the Le Moniteur which created these four departments.

Departments of 1813

On 7 March 1813 the above four departments were merged into two:

• Bouches-de-l'Èbre-Montserrat, by merging des Bouches-de-l'Èbre and Montserrat (prefecture : Barcelona)
• Sègre-Ter, by merging Sègre and Ter (prefecture : Girona)

See also

• List of French possessions and colonies

References

1. Collection complète des lois, décrets d'intérêe général, traités internationaux, arrêtés, circulaires, instructions, etc, Volume 18, Paris: Sirey, 1838.
2. See (in French) Les modifications intérieures et extérieures du Premier Empire.

External links

• (in French) SPLAF : page on the départements of the First Republic and First Empire