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I have captured this series of photographs for Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia during an excursion to the hermitage of Sant Sebastià, a place steeped in history within the Route of 1714, since the Pact was signed here in 1705 of the Vigatans
It is located at the top of a hill at 770 meters high, making it a magnificent watchtower over the Plana de Vic. This hermitage can be reached on foot following a beautiful track of more than 2 kilometers of sustained ascent.
The Pacte dels Vigatans was the agreement established on May 17, 1705 between various personalities of the small nobility of Vic, known popularly as Els Vigatans and more officially as Companyia d’Osona, gathered in this hermitage of the parish of Santa Eulàlia de Riuprimer .
According to this pact, powers were granted and Domènec Perera and Antoni de Peguera were commissioned to negotiate a treaty of alliance with England.
This hermitage was chosen for the meeting due to its elevated location above the Plana de Vic, which allowed the entrances to be monitored and also because it was away from the busiest routes.
According to this proposal for a secret pact with the kingdom of England, the English would provide military aid against Philip V of Castile, as well as undertake to respect Charles III and Catalan laws. In exchange, the Catalan Austrians conspired to facilitate the landing of troops of the Grand Alliance on the Catalan coast and to raise several companies of miquelets commanded by Josep Moragues i Mas.
Llorenç Tomàs, parish priest of the town in 1705, instigated the meeting in the hermitage of Sant Sebastià to sign this pact. A month later, on June 20, 1705, the commissioners Domènec Perera and Antoni de Peguera and Aimeric would meet in the capital of the Republic of Genoa, to sign the Treaty of Genoa with Mitford Crowe, Queen Anne’s envoy from England
As a result of this meeting, on August 22, 1705, an Anglo-Dutch armada, in which Archduke Charles himself was traveling, anchored in front of Barcelona with 10,000 troops and enough artillery to begin a siege. From this maneuver the War of Succession lasted until 1714.
