Arxiu Municipal de Barcelona

Jaume I lays the first stone

The city councillors’ first known meeting place was the old Santa Caterina convent, also known as the Dominicans’ or Preachers’ convent, where they began to keep the city’s privileges in big wooden boxes.

This shows that the origins of the Barcelona Municipal Archives are inseparable from the gradual creation of the legal system of the municipal government in Barcelona in the course of the 13th century.

The first stone of this new, autonomous municipal government was laid by King Jaume I (1249), and consolidated by his successors, who renounced the royal prerogatives in favour of the municipal government.

1336. The first index

The first index of privileges and other documents was drawn up to know what they were and have a record of them.

1369. Abandoned boxes

Following a series of conflicts between the Santa Caterina Dominicans, responsible for the Inquisition, and the city councillors, the latter decided not to meet at the convent anymore and build the Casa de la Ciutat (literally “City House”).

While the Casa del Consell (Council House) was being built and even after, there was a certain separation of the documents. The boxes of municipal documents were moved to the Framenors de Sant Francesc convent, where they remained, somewhat abandoned, in later centuries.

The first attempts at organisation

New series of documents appeared between the 16th and 18th centuries and steps were taken to organise municipal office documents.

1583. Some notable things

Pere Joan Comes (1562-1621), canon, archivist and Barcelona chronicler, compiled the Llibre d’algunes coses assenyalades, [Book of some notable things] in which he transcribed a large number of municipal documents from the years 1423-1579. It was not published until 1887.

1610. Rubric of royal privileges

The notary Esteve Gilabert Bruniquer (1561-1641) was commissioned by the councillors to create the rubric of royal privileges, a useful tool for consulting the dispersed documents of royal concessions.

1614. Bruniquer’s Rubrics

Bruniquer drew up the Cerimonial dels magnífics Consellers i regiment de la Ciutat, also known as the Rúbriques de Bruniquer [Bruniquer's Rubrics] which were published between 1912 and 1916.

They formed a selection of Barcelona’s municipal documents (classified in theme-based chapters: protocols, elections, embassies, trade, defence, supplies, public works, health and so on.)

From 1779 to 1792. Historical reports

Memorias históricas sobre la marina, comercio y artes de la antigua ciudad de Barcelona, reports on old Barcelona’s merchant fleet, trade and arts by Antoni Capmany de Montpalau (1742-1813) were published during these years and included numerous documents the author had consulted in the city’s Municipal Archives.

A journey to different places

Given the political instability of the first decades of the 19th century, and following the disturbances and confiscation (disentailment) decrees, the Municipal Archives documents were deposited at the convent of the sisters of Sant Joan de Jerusalem, from where they were subsequently transferred to and installed in the Crown of Aragon Archives.

1834. First organisation of the Archives

In the context of some successful attempts to bring order to the Archives’ facilities at the start of the 19th century, a Municipal Archives Restoration Committee was set up consisting of the councillors Pau Soler i Trens, the Marquis of Llió, Josep Maria de Llinàs and Andreu Avel·lí Pi i Arimon, which produced the first, provisional plan for the Barcelona Municipal Archives.

1842. Oldest series lost

As a result of the shelling of Barcelona, the Saló de Cent roof caught fire and collapsed, leading to the loss of the oldest document series, dating from the 15th century and referring to the 'Taula de Canvi', a medieval bank.

1848. The first archivists

The Municipal Archives moved to the top floor of the new Cases Consistorials (City Hall) building and was split between six rooms. The City Council then entrusted a fuller reorganisation, called for by the ombudsman Domènec Garriga, to the scholar Ramon Muns Serinyà and the municipal archivist Atoni Brunet. When the latter died, he was succeeded in the post by Lluís Gaspar i Velasco until 1896.

These and other archivists, such as Josep Puiggarí i Llobet and later Alfons Damians i Manté, attended to more and more people consulting the Archives.