Not to be confused with the Spanish town of Montserrat, Valencia

Montserrat, Valencia

Montserrat , also known as Montserrat d'Alcalà, is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain....

 or the Caribbean island of Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...

.

Montserrat was a former département of the First French Empire

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

 in present day Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It was created on 26 January 1812 on Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

's annexation by the French Empire. Its subprefectures were Manresa

Manresa

Manresa is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographic centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged around the basilica of Santa María de la Seo....

 and Vilafranca del Penedès

Vilafranca del Penedès

Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca, is the capital of the comarca of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish spelling of the name, Villafranca del Penedés, is no longer in official use...

. Its prefecture was Barcelona and had only one holder, Achille Libéral Treilhard, from February 1812 to March 1813, when the department was merged with that of Bouches-de-l'Èbre

Bouches-de-l'Èbre

Bouches-de-l'Èbre was a former département of the First French Empire in present day Spain. It was created on 26 January 1812 on Catalonia's annexation by the French Empire...

 to form the department of Montserrat-et-Bouches-de-l'Èbre

Bouches-de-l'Èbre-Montserrat

Bouches-de-l'Èbre-Montserrat was a department of France created in Spain on 7 March 1813 by merging the departments of Bouches-de-l'Èbre and Montserrat. This merger was established by decree but never published in the Bulletin des lois, leaving its judicial status uncertain. The department was...

(though the civil administration of the area was suppressed and replaced by a military government).

Sources

Les modifications intérieures et extérieures du Premier Empire