Perpignan During the French Revolution
Liberty, Borders & Suspicion
A Storm in Paris and Ripples in Perpignan – 1789
When the Bastille fell in Paris in July 1789, Perpignan felt a long way from the Revolution. Down here, people still spoke Catalan at home, respected the clergy and saw Parisian politics as distant and far away.
But, the tremors came quickly and word spread of new rights, the end of noble privilege and the drafting of a Declaration of the Rights of Man. In Perpignan’s cafés and squares, students and merchants debated these strange new ideas. Was this the dawn of liberty or the start of chaos?
Noble Houses Abandoned – 1790s
As the Revolution escalated, the nobility fled. Mansions around Place Arago and Rue Mailly were boarded up and some aristocratic families escaped across the Pyrenees to Spanish-held Catalonia. Others tried to lie low, dressing plainly and pretending to be “patriots.”
Perpignan’s long-standing religious orders were targeted too. Churches were closed, monasteries dissolvedand priests forced to swear loyalty to the new regime. Many refused and were either exiled or arrested.
The End of the University – 1793
The University of Perpignan, a proud institution since 1349, was seen as too aristocratic and too loyal to the old order, so it was shut down in 1793 and its books and assets seized. The city lost a major intellectual centre and the university wouldn’t reopen until over a century later.
War Comes to the Border – 1793–1794
In 1793, France declared war on Spain and Perpignan became a military front line. Spanish troops crossed the border and captured parts of Roussillon. For a brief moment, the region was under threat of returning to the Spanish crown.
But, French revolutionary forces struck back hard. There were battles at Peyrestortes and Le Boulou, and Perpignan filled with soldiers, cannons and barricades. After a year of fierce fighting, the Spanish were pushed out and the French border was secured.
The Guillotine Arrives – 1794
As the Reign of Terror gripped France, it reached all the way down to Perpignan. A guillotine was installed on Place de la Loge and many executions took place of accused royalists, priests or alleged “enemies of the Revolution.”
The people of Perpignan watched with dread. This wasn’t Paris; these were familiar faces. Some of the victims had been respected townsfolk and here they were now being dragged to the scaffold for opposing the central government.
Catalan Identity vs. French Uniformity
The Revolution promised liberty, equality and fraternity, but it also brought strict centralisation. Perpignan’s Catalan language and customs were curtailed. French became the only official language. Local festivals were renamed and Catalan saints were replaced with revolutionary symbols like “Reason” and “Liberty.”
In schools, children were taught that they were “citizens of the Republic,” not Catalans of Roussillon. The transition wasn’t easy and traces of resistance remained for decades.