Manor house capdet History

An historical note on Capitan Capdet.

In 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, France invaded Spain, first capturing Pamplona and Barcelona, then Madrid, thus starting the so-called Peninsula War, or “the war of the French”, as it was known in Catalonia.

Napoleon forced the Spanish king Charles IV to abdicate and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte (known as Pepe Botella, although he was actually abstemious) on the Spanish throne, which gave rise to a general anti-French revolt across the Peninsula. Military units, the militia, as well as groups of men with little military training but a lot of courage, called guerrillas, started harassing the French army.

One of the Catalonian militia was lead by Josep Capdet del Corral, born in the farm house Corral del Capdet, half a kilometer outside of Sant Pere de Ribes. The most extensive accounts of the prowess of Josep Capdet are described in a book entitled “Barcelona Cautiva”. This book was written by Father Ramon Ferrer from the Oratory of Sant Felip Neri in Barcelona and published in several volumes from 1815.

According to the “Barcelona Cautiva”, Josep Capdet del Corral was the head of the militia of Ribes under the orders of the Superior Board of Catalonia, with headquarters in Lleida, as Barcelona was held by the French army. The book describes several attacks led by Josep Capdet del Corral on French troops, in the area around Sant Pere de Ribes, Sitges and Vilafranca del Penedès.