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The history of Perpignan starts in the tenth century. The city is believed to have been founded by Pere Pinya (Pierre Pigne). After the Arab invasion, Pepin the Short, then Charlemagne, finally reconquered the region around 811; it is then that the Carolingian era began and with it - the construction of several villages on the plain of Roussillon, including Perpignan. It did not take long for Perpignan to become the capital of Roussillon.

Perpignan became a partly self-governing commune in 1197 and in 1258 it was freed from French feudal rights. In 1276 the city was already capital of the Kingdom of Mallorca and was about to see its golden age in the upcoming years, thanks to manufacture, leather work, goldsmiths' work, and other luxury crafts.

With the annexation of the Kingdom of Majorca by Peter IV of Aragon in 1344 Perpignan was once again integrated into the County of Barcelona. The centuries to come were marked by turbulent development and rule of France and Castile. In 1659, in the climax of the Thirty years war, Perpignan became part of the French territories and remained there ever since.