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ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Horta de Valencia peasant revolt 1663

Synopsis
The Horta de Valencia is a historical region neighboring the city. Due to its flat topography and proximity to the Turia River, it has allowed for intensive land use through irrigation since the Middle Ages. The 1663 peasant revolt in this region began in the summer when the Ciutat (municipality) of Valencia, overwhelmed by debts and the pressure of its creditors, attempted to monopolize the meat supply in the neighboring towns under its jurisdiction (the Particular Contribució) to stop the scandalous fraud in the payment of the sisa taxes. Faced with this imposition and the arrest of a local justice and several peasants from Alboraya on June 24, thousands of llauradors rose up in arms on June 25 and 26, blocking supplies and besieging the capital. To avoid a civil conflict, given the shortage of troops, the Viceroy, Marquis of Camarasa, opted for prudence and signed a series of articles exempting the peasants from the taxes. On June 26, the Viceroy forced the Ciutat to capitulate against its will. The following morning, June 27, the insurgents entered the city triumphantly. The exemptions granted to the farmers provoked the outright opposition of the municipality of Valencia, which saw its municipal finances endangered and its jurisdictional authority trampled. Furthermore, the peasants' victory was perceived as a dangerous precedent and a sign of weakness by both the Crown and the Ciutat de València. This shared concern is precisely what drove the push for new negotiations, culminating in an agreement in May 1664 with conditions that were much more acceptable for the economic stability of the city.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 3 days. Name in sources: Revuelta de los Labradores, Motín de los Labradores, Motí dels Llauradors. Location: Valencia Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Peasants. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Fiscal. Leadership: Belenguer brothers and Julià Moliner (rich peasants). Relevance: low.

Further reading
GUIA MARÍN, L. (1982). “La revolta dels llauradors de l'Horta de 1663”, in Estudios dedicados a Juan Peset Aleixandre. Valencia: Universitat de Valencia, 305-326. MARTÍNEZ FERRANDO, J. E. (1944). “El virrey y los labradores. Un episodio de la huerta valenciana en 1663”. Boletín de la Sociedad Castellonense de Cultura, 19, 1-11. PARMA, M. V. (2024). “Unions et germanies: Armed Mobilisation, Plebeian Politicisation and Historical Memory in the Kingdom of Valencia (Fourteenth-Seventeenth Centuries)”. Journal of Early Modern Studies, 13, 123-145.
Cite this entry

Broseta, Miquel Fuertes (2026). "Horta de Valencia peasant revolt 1663", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Encyclopaedia of Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. https://mappingrebellions.com/revolt/horta-de-valencia-peasant-revolt-1663/ (accessed on 04 April 2026).