General Archive of the Crown of Aragon

The General Archive of the Crown of Aragon (Spanish: Archivo General de la Corona de Aragón), originally Royal Archives of Barcelona (Spanish: Archivo Real de Barcelona), is an archive containing the background documents of the institutions of the former Crown of Aragon and currently also contains other historical resources.

Since 1994 it has been based on the street Almogàvers Barcelona, where he was transferred from the Palau del Lloctinent (Lieutenant Palace).

It was founded in 1318 in Barcelona by the king James II of Aragon the Just as unified archive of all the territories of the Crown of Aragon. It was the single central archive of the Crown from 1318-1348, in which the Courts of Zaragoza created the Archive of the Kingdom of Aragon. In 1419 also was created the Royal Archives of Valencia, where were deposited the funds of the courts of economic control of the administration of the kingdom and the Rational Master File of the Kingdom of Valencia.

After the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 - 1714), was appointed head of archive (1740 - 1783) Javier Garma, who tried to create an authentic Archive of the Crown of Aragon gathering in the Royal Archives of Barcelona, all funds of the royal administration of the territories of the former Crown of Aragon. The Garma project inspired the policy of Prosper Bofarull and Mascaro, chief of the archive between 1814 and 1849, and creator of the current General Archive of the Crown of Aragon

From 1318 until 1993, the archive had headquarters in Palau del Lloctinent part of Palau Reial Major (the Royal Palace in Barcelona), and from that date it was partly transferred to Almogàvers building, so it now has two locations: the historical one of the palace for protocol events, exhibitions and courses, while the new is for research and care.

The Board of Trustees was created on January 20, 2007 (Spanish: Patronato del Archivo de la Corona de Aragón) in the Lieutenant Palace in Barcelona, by the presidents of Catalonia, Jose Montilla, Aragon Marcelino Iglesias, of Valencia Francisco Camps and the Balearic Islands Jaume Matas, and the Minister of Culture Carmen Calvo.

More information on the English and Catalan Wikipedia pages.

The website is