Tarragona 1641

Illustration created for the Spanish historical magazine 'Desperta Ferro Historia Moderna n.º 44 (2020)'.
In 1640 Catalonia, under military pressure and a harsh hunger, revolted against the Spanish Monarchy and pledged allegiance to Louis XIII of France, who send an army to Catalonia and defeated the Spanish army at the decisive Battle of Montjuic on January 1641. Following this success, the French and Catalan forces moved to besiege and blockade the port city of Tarragona, where the defeated Spanish army had looked for shelter. The illustration shows Spanish galleys in the Tarragona’s harbour with soldiers and seamen unloading grain sacks. They are under the fire of the French galleons.