General Moragues
Josep Moragues i Mas (1669-1715), hero of the War of Succession, was born in Sant Hilari and worked as a farmer before fighting against the French troops. He was judged, tortured, and executed in 1713. The Sant Hilari City Council dedicated a monument to him in recognition of his struggle for Catalan identity.
Hero of the War of Succession, he was born in Sant Hilari and died decapitated in 1715. His head was exposed as a mockery in Barcelona for 12 years. He fought on the Austrian side and every September 11 the people pay tribute to him in the monument that the City Council dedicated to his memory.
Josep Moragues i Mas was born in the Moragues farmhouse of Sant Hilari in 1669.
He married Cecília Regàs, daughter of Joan de Regàs, related to Carles Regàs, a character who also played an important role in the Austrian cause. Moragues joined the popular militias to fight the French invaders in Garrotxa, Guilleries and La Selva. It is when the link is established with the “vigatans” among whom there was also Carles Regàs. This group is the one that emerged as the armed wing in the Catalan uprising of 1705 against Felipe V and in favor of Archduke Charles of Austria.
On May 17, 1705, the vigatans held a momentous meeting at the hermitage of San Sebastián a Vic where powers were granted, on behalf of Catalonia, to sign the pact of Genoa that sealed the alliance with England, which was committed to landing troops to support the Catalan uprising. As a gratitude, Archduke Charles of Austria rewarded the “vigatans” by integrating them into the Catalan Royal Guard. Moragues was appointed colonel and, after two years, governor of Castellciutat. In 1709 he was promoted to general and in 1710 he married Magdalena de Giralt, from Sort, for the second time.
In the year 1711, in the middle of the war, Joseph I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and brother of Charles, died suddenly. The succession to the imperial throne fell to the archduke, who marched to Vienna, leaving his supporters in Spanish lands abandoned to their fate. The event caused a change of support from the European powers, now fearful of the union between Spain and the Empire, if both remained in the hands of Habsburg.
In June 1714 he rejoined military activity, after being ill and taking refuge in Sort, in a guerrilla fight where an attempt was made to break the Bourbon siege of Barcelona commanded by the Duke of Berwick. Barcelona resisted until September 11.
With the loss of Barcelona, Moragues and his men took refuge in the Castell de Cardona until they were forced to capitulate. Although they were promised a pardon, they found out about the repression suffered by the Austrian military and Moragues tried to flee with his men towards Mallorca on March 10, 1715, but they were abandoned by the captain of the boat at the foot of the mountain of Montjuic. On the 22nd they were arrested and executed after five days.
In a display of Felipe V’s repressive will, Moragues was sentenced to be dragged alive by a horse and subsequently beheaded and dismembered. As a mockery, they placed his head in a metal cage that was hung in the Portal del Mar in Barcelona, with an inscription that said:
“Josep Moragues, for having committed the crime of repeated rebellion, having twice abused royal clemency, finally, the third time, was arrested and executed by justice.”
From Vienna, at the request of the widow, Magdalena de Giralt, the Marquis of Rialp pressured the imperial ambassador to convince Felipe V to take down his head. They achieved it on February 24, 1727.
Nowadays, the square of our town with his name pays homage to the general.
