Josep Climent i Avinent (also known as José Climent; 11 March 1706 – 25 November 1781) was a Spanish

bishop of Barcelona The Archdiocese of Barcelona () is a Latin metropolitan archbishopric of the Catholic Church in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i S ...

Life

Born at

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (in ), or simply Castellón (), is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea. Th ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, he studied and afterwards professed theology at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

, worked for several years as parish priest, and was consecrated Bishop of Barcelona in 1766; he resigned his see in 1775. His episcopal activity was directed to the founding of hospitals, the establishing of free schools, and the diffusion of knowledge among the people by means of low-priced publications. His controversial pastoral instructions contributed largely to his reputation. That of 1769, on the renewal of ecclesiastical studies, caused him to be denounced to the court of

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

for having eulogized the Church of Utrecht; but a commission composed of archbishops, bishops, and heads of religious orders, appointed to examine his case, returned a decision favourable to him. The sway he held over his people was shown by his success in quelling an uprising in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

against

military conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

; but this only served still further to render him suspect to the suspicious court. He refused, on conscientious grounds, a promotion to the wealthy See of Málaga, and withdrew to his native place. His life was published in Barcelona in 1785. He died at Castellón de la Plana in 1781.

Works

He translated into Spanish several works, among them Fleury's ''Moeurs des Israelites et des Chrétiens''.

References

Louis Gabriel Michaud Louis-Gabriel Michaud (; 19 January 1773, Castle Richemont – 8 March 1858) was a French writer, historian, printer, and bookseller. He was notable as the compiler of ''Biographie Universelle'' (1811–). Life He became a lieutenant on 15 Jul ...

, , (Paris, 1843–66)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Climent i Avinent, Josep 1706 births 1781 deaths People from Castellón de la Plana Bishops of Barcelona 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Spain