The decline (14th-18th centuries)

Besides the epidemics and bad harvests at the end of the 15th century there were the wars between the king Joan II and the Generalitat (Catalan government). The town suffered a great decline, the abandoned houses fell down, the walls remained in a bad state and most of the buildings in Montblanc were ruined.

In spite of this some unfinished buildings were then finished and it was constructed the Castlà (the king's military representative) palace. In the 16th century there was a slight recovery and the Desclergue house was enlarged, the Pont Vell was restored and it was constructed the cloister of the hospital of Santa Magdalena.

During the Reapers' War (17th century), part of the wall and the façade of the church of Santa Maria were destroyed, and the archives were burnt. There were many assaults, looting and fires that put an end to the initial greatness of Montblanc, which definitively lost its political and economic weight.