5 Groats Tarrasa

This piece belongs to one of the most turbulent episodes in Spanish dynastic history: the Catalan Revolt of 1640, known as the Guerra dels Segadors, when the Principality formally renounced allegiance to Philip IV of Spain and placed itself under the protection of Louis XIII of France. Emergency coinage was struck at Tarrasa — among other improvised mints — to fund the separatist administration during the brief period Catalonia operated as a quasi-independent entity under French suzerainty. The French protectorate collapsed progressively through the 1650s, and Barcelona fell back to Castilian control in 1652.