Within the township, there are many remains of some Roman villages. However, the origins of Renau and the old nucleus of Peralta are found in the Reconquest, in the 12th.century. It seems that Peralta and Renau were given to the Montoliu family, although it is also true that Guillem de Claramunt had some rights over the area, as it is told in a document dated in 1161. This is the first written reference about the village of Renau.

During the first years, Renau and Peralta were not an administrative entity by themselves. It was no until 1477 when the testament of Joan Gabriel de Montoliu gave the place to the Monastery of Santes Creus. The Monastery had this ownership until the first years of the 19th.century, when the "Señoríos" (domains of the Sirs) were extinct.

Related to Renau, we know that in the 14th.century it was linked to the Sirs of El Catllar, which was the family in law with the Montoliu family. They and the following generations appear as the Sirs of the place. On the other hand, in the donation of Joan Gabriel de Montoliu to the Monastery of Santes Creus, only appeared as Sir of Peralta, and there is no reference to Renau.

Due to some disputes in the family, in 1682 it was ordered the auction of the Barony of Renau. It was bought by Francesc Perelló, who came from Tàrrega, in 1685. When he died, his wife Raimunda de Perelló i Roger de Llúria inherited it. In his turn, she gave it to her second husband, the Noble Don Joan de Pinós i de Rocabertí, Chevalier of the "Hábito de San Juan de Jerusalén" when she died in 1717. He proposed to found a command of the Order, and he managed to do it in 1725 under the name of "Comanda de Renau o de Pinós".

Relative to the wars that affected Renau during its history, we have to mention the burnt of the castle at the end of the "Guerra dels Segadors", as a punishment for rebelling against the Austria's Monarchy.

Peralta and Renau were members of the Comuna del Camp, although they were not very active in it. Peralta belonged to it in the 15th.century, Renau in the 16th.century.

The two places formed two municipalities after the extinction of the "Señoríos". They became only one after they fused in 1842.

We want to point out the demographic evolution of the village. After the demographic explosion of the 18th.century, the number of inhabitants started to decrease until Peralta was uninhabited, and there were only sixty-five inhabitants left in Renau. This is the actual situation, which converts it in one of the smallest municipalities of Catalunya.

Renau celebrates its Mayor Feast on the third Sunday of July. The Votive Feast in honour to the Mare de Déu del Lloret is celebrated on the second Sunday of December.

Parish Church of Santa Llúcia. It was built during the second half of the 18th. century. Inside the church, there is an artistic processional cross made of silver in the 17th. or 18th.centuries. The Hermitage of La Mare de Déu del Lloret (Gothic-Flemish statue) built in the later years in the 17th.century.

- Veciana i Aiguadé, Josep / Francesc Cortiella i Odena.- Guia de Renau.- Tarragona : Diputació, 1982.
- Gran Geografia Comarcal de Catalunya.