Pau Claris i Casademunt (; 1 January 1586 – 27 February 1641) was a Catalan lawyer,

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and 94th President of the Deputation of the General of Catalonia at the beginning of the Catalan Revolt. On 16 January 1641 he proclaimed the Catalan Republic under the protection of France.

Biography

Early years

Claris was born 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 ...

(then in the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...

, part of the

Spanish Monarchy The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

). His paternal family was from

Berga Berga () is the capital of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' (county) of Berguedà, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered by the municipalities of Cercs, Olvan, Avià, Capolat and Castellar del Riu. History Berga de ...

, and both his grandfather, Francesc, and his father, Joan, were prominent

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

s in Barcelona. His mother was Peronella Casademunt. Pau was the youngest of four brothers, and his older brother, Francesc, was a lawyer who had a strong influence on his brother's path toward politics. The Claris family belonged to the Barcelonan

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

and had significant economic and administrative power.Grau, Jaume. ''Pau Claris. Una vida amb misteris'' (in Catalan). ''Sàpiens'' arcelona núm. 121, octubre 2012, p.54-57. . While it is possible that his education may have been more extensive, it is only clear that Pau Claris received a doctorate in civil law and

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

, and that he studied the course during the period between 1604 and 1612. On 28 August 1612 Claris was appointed to work in

La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; , formerly ''Urgell'') is a town located in Alt Urgell county in Alt Pirineu, Catalonia, Spain. The town is also the head of its judicial district and the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the co-princes of Andorra. It is ...

, the seat of the Bishop of Urgell and

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. On 25 September the same year, he was appointed

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, and was assigned to the

Diocese of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Catalonia (Spain) and the Principality of Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,Corts Catalanes'' (

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...

), which opened on 28 March amid a troublesome political situation after the new king of Spain, Philip IV, would not ratify the Catalan constitutions, due to tax reasons and the question of whether royal officers had to follow the Catalan law. The Catalan church had been exhausted by the royal taxes and was against the practice of nominating bishops from Castile to Catalan dioceses. The refusal to pay a tax of 3,300,000

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s caused the immediate departure of the king to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. It was not until 1632 that the Parliament resumed, although with the same members as in 1626. At this time the rebellion against the Spanish crown was evident, led by a brilliant generation of lawyers, such as Joan Pere Fontanella, who was the legal advisor of both the ''Generalitat'' and the ''

Consell de Cent The Consell de Cent (, meaning in English "Council of One Hundred") was a governmental institution of Barcelona. It was established in the 13th century and lasted until the 18th century. Its name derives from the number of its members: one hund ...

'' (municipal government of Barcelona). In 1632, Claris was appointed by the Ecclesiastical Arm of the government to treat the subject of an election, and on 15 July the estate appointed eighteen people - the ''Divuitena'' - that would form the role of the Executive Board. The most remarkable political episode of this period of Claris' life were the riots of

Vic Vic, vic or VIC may refer to: People and fictional characters * Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name * V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper Places * Vic, Spain, a town and ...

. As a result of a papal concession that granted the king of Spain a tenth of the revenues of the Church in Spain, popular unrest virulently erupted in the diocese of Vic under the guidance of the archdeacon, Melcior Palau i Boscà, with the impassioned support of two canons of Urgell, Claris and Jaume Ferran. The seizure of ecclesiastical property in Vic by the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

caused revolutionary demonstrations, with defamatory libel and threats of subversion in the field during the spring and summer of 1634. Despite pressure from the bishop of Girona, the Council of Aragon only dared to imprison a dissident deacon, Pau Capfort. Finally, the conflict delayed the payment of the tenth until the end of November. In 1630 and 1636, Claris attended the church's Councils of Tarragona. In 1636 he achieved approval of a provision whereby all sermons in the Principality would be in the Catalan language, in spite of the neutralizing efforts of the archbishop of Tarragona, the Spaniard Antonio Pérez.

The presidency of the ''Generalitat''

On 22 July 1638 Pau Claris was elected ecclesiastical deputy of the ''Diputació del General''. The other members chosen with Claris were Francesc de Tamarit and Josep Miquel Quintana as deputies of the Military and Royal Arms, and Jaume Ferran (also a canon from Urgell), Rafael Antic, and Rafael Cerdà as auditors of the Ecclesiastical, Military, and Royal Arms, respectively. As the church deputy, Claris presided over the meetings of the ''

Generalitat Generalitat (, literally in English 'Generality') is the name of two major medieval and early modern political institutions and their modern-day analogues in Kingdom of Spain. The ancient Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia we ...

''. According to historian J. H. Elliott, Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma and Viceroy of Catalonia, tried in vain to bribe Claris and Tamarit, individuals uncomfortable about their role in the service of the king. Claris found a government with very grave economic problems, resulting from years of mismanagement, and conflict that opened with the Spanish Crown accusing the ''Generalitat'' of

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

, due to a breach of the edicts of 1635 and 1638 that prohibited any kind of trade with France because of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The intervention of the

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Montrodón, commissioned by Dalmau de Queralt to the warehouses of

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, north-east of Barcel ...

and Salses, triggered the conflict, in which the lawyer Joan Pere Fontanella again played a prominent role in favor of the theses of the Members of the Government. Although the city of Barcelona was initially reluctant, it sided with the Members in 1639, especially because of the decision of the Crown to establish a general recovery from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

of 50,000 pounds annually for the years 1639 and 1640. Behind this new effort was the eagerness of Philip IV and the Count-Duke of Olivares to have all the lands of the Spanish Crown contribute financially to the expenses incurred in the Thirty Years' War, which had already devastated Castile economically. Catalonia had never felt that this conflict was its own. Olivares, to counterbalance this situation, wanted to launch a front against France from Catalonia with Catalan help. On 19 July 1639 the French besieged and took the Fort de Salses in

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...

. This initiated a severe struggle between the Count-Duke and the ''Generalitat'' to increase the Catalan efforts in the war. Finally, the deputies agreed to send Francesc de Tamarit to the front of a new draft of soldiers to recover the castle of Salses, which was achieved on 6 January 1640 (the feastday of the Epiphany). However, the cost in human lives and money for the principality was so great that the situation became explosive.

The Revolt

Regardless of the actual date that contacts with France began, it would end with the formation of a Catalan-French alliance that confronted the Spanish Crown and gave rise to the so-called

Reapers' War The Reapers' War (, ; , ), also known as the Catalan Revolt or Catalan Revolution, was a conflict that affected the Principality of Catalonia between 1640 and 1659, in the context of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War of 1 ...

or Catalan Revolt. Although it remains a controversial issue among historians, it seems that they could have already started in the month of May 1640. Pau Claris had summoned the general court on 10 September 1640 but simultaneously, and without consulting the cities, would have begun the contacts with the French. On 7 September 1640 the representatives of the Generality of Catalonia, Francesc de Tamarit, Ramon de Guimerà, and Francesc de Vilaplana, nephew of Claris, signed the first Pact of

Céret Céret (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. It is the capital of the historic Comarques of Catalonia, Catalan comarca of Vallespir. Geography The town lies in ...

with Bernard Du Plessis-Besançon, delegated by Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu on behalf of

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

, for which Catalonia had received military support aimed at facing the Castilian offensive commanded by the Count-Duke of Olivares, who had already decided to intervene in Catalonia. It is believed that in front of the Castilian military pressure, Claris was seen to be progressively driven to accept a counter-course to French pressure, in which Catalonia would separate itself from the Spanish Monarchy and would take the form of a

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under the protection of the French king. The personal assumption of power by Claris' staff from September 1640, appeared to be total. A Council of Arms ('' Junta General de Braços'') was summoned and set up as the ruling institution of the new situation, the commitments with France and the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

were made official, and public debt was issued for funding the military expenses. On 20 October 1640 Du Plessis-Besançon went to Barcelona, and some days afterwards, he signed the first pact of confraternity and military aid from France to Catalonia, by which France was engaged to defend the Principality.

Catalan Republic

On 24 November the Spanish army under

Pedro Fajardo Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...

, the Marquis of Los Vélez, invaded Catalonia from the south. On 23 December Pau Claris raised the alarm and declared war against Philip IV of Spain. The victorious advance of the Castilian troops through

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

, Cambrils,

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

, and

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality, county, and city that forms part of the Baix Llobregat Comarques of Catalonia, comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Pont del Diable, Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobr ...

forced the Council of Arms and ''

'' to yield to the French pressures, and on 16 and 17 January respectively, the Junta and ''Consell'' accepted the proposal to constitute Catalonia into a republic under the protection of France. But again the pressure of the Castilians who approached Barcelona, and the French pretensions toward Catalonia, brought Claris to have to end the republican project and proclaim Louis XIII the

Count of Barcelona The count of Barcelona (, , , ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as Prince#Prince as generic for ruler, p ...

on 23 January 1641, three days before the Battle of Montjuïc in which the French and Catalan armies defeated the Castilian forces and stopped the attack in Barcelona.With the "Treaty of the Pyrenees" signed on 7 November 1659, ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. France gained Roussillon (including Perpignan) and the northern half of Cerdanya which was separated from Catalonia as result of the Catalan revolt and Pau Claris international politics tacticism.

Death

On 20 February 1641 Claris fell gravely ill, the same day that Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt arrived in Barcelona with the powers of commander-in-chief of all French and Catalan armies. The following day Claris received the

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

, and he died on the night of 27 February. Despite the fact that he had health problems for at least a year, the theory of a possible poisoning circulated since the first moment, as noted in a letter from Roger de Bossost, Baron d'Espenan, to du Plessis-Besançon; some modern investigations support this possibility.Marimon, Sílvia. ''Va ser assassinat Pau Claris?'' (in Catalan). ''Sàpiens'' arcelona núm. 45, juliol 2006. .Simon, Antoni. ''Nova llum sobre l'assassinat de Pau Claris'' (in Catalan). ''Sàpiens'' arcelona núm. 74, desembre 2008, p. 6. . Claris was placed in the family crypt of the chapel of the Holy Christ in the Church of Sant Joan de Jerusalem in Barcelona. Unfortunately the church was demolished in 1888 as part of the urban reformation for the upcoming Universal Exhibition of Barcelona.

Monuments and Honors

In Barcelona, several monuments have been raised to Claris, the best known of which is the statue located at the end of the Passeig de Lluís Companys. Created by Rafael Atché i Ferré and dedicated in 1917, it was withdrawn and saved during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and repositioned in 1977. Right from its dedication, but with interruptions due to the war and the subsequent political persecution of the Catalan culture, the place has become a meeting point and commemoration of the political sensitivities on the brink of Catalan independence. In Barcelona, in the district of

Eixample The Eixample (, ) is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 at ...

, there is the Carrer de Pau Claris. It starts in

Avinguda Diagonal Avinguda Diagonal (; in Spanish language, Spanish: Avenida Diagonal) is the name of one of Barcelona's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence th ...

and ends in Plaça Urquinaona. Many other towns in Catalonia have streets and squares dedicated to his recognition. There is also a school in his name on the Passeig de Lluís Companys in Barcelona. The same year of his death, Francesc Fontanella published ''Panegíric a La Mort De Pau Claris De Francesc Fontanella''.

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Claris I Casademunt, Pau 1586 births 1641 deaths Politicians from Barcelona Presidents of the Government of Catalonia People of the Reapers' War Principality of Catalonia