Before the arrival of the Romans, our area Conflent was inhabited by the people of Cérètes. Certain historians think that the name of Joch comes from the language of these people and more precisely from the word "diuko" meaning tiredness of ox, allusion to the high geographical situation of the place... of others think that the name of the village comes from the Celt "jukk" meaning hill or height.
A Roman way "the strada confluentana" connecting Roussillon to Cerdagne crossed the plain of Joch; one can suppose that the Romans built, to supervise this road, a station on the escarpée hill where currently the castle is.Under the Visigoths who succeeded the Romans, Joch became the seat of vicomté of Conflent.
These Viscounts were in charge of the administration of Conflent and one can think that Joch had perhaps already had this administrative role during the Roman domination.The history of these Viscounts is confused; it is not even known if they resided regularly at Joch. One of the first Viscounts whom we know had as a name Eldesind, it is quoted into 869. We meet then the Isarn Viscount listed in 955 and until 968. His/her Bernard son then his Arnald grandson succeeded to him but since 1010 one does not find any more Viscounts particular in Conflent
It is probable that Arnald not having a heir yielded its rights to his sister, married to Seniofred Viscount of Cerdagne; their Bernard son became thus Viscount of Cerdagne and Conflent. In 1035, Bernard lends oath and homage for the castle of Joch to the count de Cerdagne his lord; it is the first known written mention of Joch.These Viscounts will disappear and to XIIe century the seigniory of Joch belongs into undivided to two families: families of Urg and Castellbo (the counts de Cerdagne and their heirs counts to Barcelona then kings d' Aragon preserving the right of high justice on the seigniory). .
The family of Castellbo (very related to Cathares) did not play a great part in the history of the village, it is not the case of the family of Urg with which one owes some decisions of first importance.Thus, in 1173, Galceran d' Urg obtains from king d' Aragon the right to have a fortification out of ground or masonry. But one will appoint especially the date of 1282; this year there, Gueralda d' Urg and her husband Arnau de Cortsavi authorize the inhabitants of Joch, Finestret, Saorla (three villages of the baronnie) and those of Vinçà, Rigarda and Vilella to build a channel to bring water of the Lentillà river and to thus be able to sprinkle their properties of the plain of Joch.In 1298, Pierre de Fenollet cousin of Gueralda d' Urg acquires the seigniory of Joch; the brook is not finished yet, for lack of finances. After long negotiations between the lord and the villagers, work began again in 1301 and dice the following year water of Lentillà ran like today with the foot of the castle. Indeed, in April 1302, the inhabitants of the baronnie admit duty grinding their grains in the mills which them lord Pierre de Fenollet has in Joch. The mills were located close of the cascades at the place known as "lo salt".
The family of Perellos Having married the heiress of the family of Castellbo and having bought other half of the seigniory of Joch with André de Fenollet, Ramon de Perellos became in 1357 the single lord of our village. Later in 1365 it supplemented its possession by acquiring of king d' Aragon the rights of high justice of the baronnie. Ramon de Perellos decided to make build the new enclosure of the village "the fortsa" in order to protect the inhabitants from the incursions of the Large Companies, bands of mercenaries coming from France who plundered and ruined the villages of Conflent. The construction of "the fortsa" lasted of 1361 to 1368, these are the ramparts that one can still see nowadays.His/her Eléonore daughter called "the injury of Joch" succeeded to him, it remained in possession of the seigniory during more than sixty years (of 1384 with its death in 1459). About 1440, it managed to increase the baronnie considerably by acquiring the places of Rigarda, Glorianes and Sahilla. Married twice but never not having had children, it was his nephew Bernard de Perapertusa who inherited his goods, he then settled with the castle of Joch.
They are the lords who marked the history of the baronnie the most, they made castle of Joch their main home until in the years 1650. Their blazon "of gold to the chief bent of very in charge of three sand rhombuses" can be rightly considered as the blazon of the village. Thus let us quote the barons de Joch resulting from this family: Grandson of Bernard, Gaston de Perapertusa writes his will with the castle of Joch on February 25, 1505, wishing to be buried in the parish church.François de Perapertusa, his son, becomes one of the most powerful lords of the area. Having, in addition to the baronnie of Joch, various places in Fenouillèdes (Prats, Sequera, Trevillac, Rabollet.. etc) it acquires, moreover, in 1543 the seigniory of Ground. Antoine de Perapertusa succeeds to him about 1554 and dies in 1583, his/her Jacques son having remained in Barcelona lasting summer 1591 there contracted the plague and died in September when it decided, alas too late, to flee the city.Pierre de Perapertusa, brother and successor of Jacques are most famous of our barons.Il were born and were baptized at the village in January 1573. Become lord of Joch, it drove out in October 1592, with the assistance from its vassal, five to six hundred Lutherans of France who had besieged the town of Vinçà and began plundering of it.In 1600, the king of Spain granted to Pierre de Perapertusa the title of Viscount of Joch. To celebrate this great event, the new Viscount authorized the inhabitants of Joch to establish with their profit the rights of measuring, tavern, hotel trade, bakery and saltings. Pierre de Perapertusa had to die in Barcelona about 1624 but it is only on May 20 1635 which its body was brought back to Joch and was buried in the church of the village, where already his/her parents rested, in a tomb with the foot of the furnace bridge of the Virgin.Antoine de Perapertusa, second Viscount of Joch, wire of Pierre is mentioned in many documents of 1624 until 1652, it remains with the castle with all his family and his servants, going away sometimes to go to Spain and more particularly to Barcelona where it had considerable goods. In 1651, it made increase the vault St Pierre and St Paul of the castle. This vault nowadays became particular house, it remains only the gate about it. When in 1659, with the treaty of the Pyrenees, Roussillon became French the Viscounts of Joch definitively left Conflent to settle in the Catalan capital.
Antoine de Perapertusa dies in 1676, his heirs become completely foreign then in Joch. They are however always the lords and are made there represent by their prosecutors.In 1756, the countess of Aranda, viscountess de Joch, heiress of Perapertusa, agree to financially help the community of Joch for the construction of the new church. His/her son the Count d' Aranda, large of Spain and friendly personnel of Voltaire, is the last Viscount of Joch; in 1776 it made gift of six hundred books to finish the construction of the church.
One cannot evoke this period, altogether rather calm in the village, without speaking about François Molins. Resulting from the one of the easiest families of the village (one can still see their house in the fortsa with the date 1623 engraved on the gate) François Molins who was a priest very quickly became a burning partisan of the new ideas born from the French revolution; he wrote in connection with the feudal rights: "these odious rights of Ancien Régime which excited the people with a revolution whose freedom was the happy result". In 1792, contrary to the majority of the members of the clergy of the area it lent oath to the nation and the constitution issued by the national assembly; who more is, in 1798, it became mayor while remaining cleaned village! In 1802 there had to choose between these two functions and decided to remain mayor of the village and this until 1816. At the time of the sale of the goods of the clergy it acquired the old presbytery (current town hall of Joch) and made its residence of it.In the first years of the XIXe century the castle and its dependences were them also sold, parcelled out in various pieces, with several inhabitants of the village.
In 1867 one undertook to build the current bell-tower by raising the small pinnacle of origin. The bells and the clock were delivered in 1870.During the XIXe century, the most important problem was that of the instruction of young people. The first school of Joch was located close of the church in a room well too small to accomodate all the children of the village (it is currently the room of the third age). One thus decided into 1880 to build a new school; work lasted two years and in 1882 the school of Joch could receive 56 pupils: 29 girls and 27 boys. The population having strongly decreased throughout XXe century, the school of the village closed its doors in 1967. This demographic fall started to be felt dice the end of the war of 1914 during which twenty young men of the village found death; a monument built close to the school pays homage to them. Joch which, in the middle of the XIXe century had counted to 320 inhabitants, saw his population dropping unceasingly to reach 120 people in the years 1980 and it is only for some time that fortunately a certain increase in the number of inhabitants is felt: 146 with the last census.
"Més enllà del mar m'espera, Conflent, en un corn de mon;
Més enllà del mar, ma terra amb el sol que hi riu damunt."
F.Català. Camins