Pau Claris i Casademunt
Encyclopedia
Pau Claris i Casademunt (ˈpaw ˈkɫaɾis; January 1, 1586 – February 27, 1641) was a Catalan
lawyer, clergyman
and 94th President of Catalonia at the beginning of the Catalan Revolt
. On January 16, 1641, he proclaimed the Catalan Republic
under the protection of France.
. His paternal family was from Berga
, and both his grandfather, Francesc, and his father, Joan, were prominent jurist
s in Barcelona. His mother was Peronella Casademunt. Pau was the youngest of four brothers, and his older brother, Francesc (most likely named for his grandfather), was a lawyer and had a strong influence on his brother's path toward politics. Pau Claris' family belonged to the Barcelonese bourgeois and had significant economic and administrative power.
While it is possible that his education may have been more extensive, it is only clear that Claris received a doctorate in civil law
and canon law
from the University of Barcelona
, and studied the course during the period between 1604 and 1612.
On August 28, 1612, Pau Claris was appointed to work in La Seu d'Urgell
, the seat of the Bishop of Catalonia. On September 25 of the same year, he was appointed canon
, and was assigned to the Diocese of Urgell
.
(Corts catalanes), which opened on March 28 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 if 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 ducat
s, caused the immediate departure of the king to Madrid
.
It was not until 1632 that the Parliament resumed, although with the same members as in 1626. On this occasion, the rebellion against the Spanish crown was evident, led by a brilliant generation of lawyers, such as Catalan Joan Pere Fontanella, who was the legal adviser of the Generalitat and the Consell de Cent
, and played a role in the crisis in relations between Catalonia and the Crown, which ended with the secession of 1640.
In 1632, Claris was appointed by his arm to treat the subject of an election and on July 15, 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
. As a result of a papal concession
that granted the king of Spain a tenth of the revenues of the Church in Spain that served as a subsidy to the Crown, popular unrest virulently erupted in the diocese of Vic under the guidance of the archdeacon, Melcior Palau i Boscà, and the impassioned support of two canons of Urgell, Jaume Ferran and Pau Claris.
The kidnapping of ecclesiastical property in Vic by the Royal Court 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 Councils of Tarragona
. In the year 1636, in spite of the neutralizing efforts of the archbishop of Tarragona, the Spaniard Antonio Pérez, he achieved approval of a provision whereby all sermons in the Principality were in Catalan.
As a church member, Claris went on to preside over meetings of the Government. According to Elliott, the Viceroy in Santa Coloma tried in vain to bribe Claris and Tamarit, people uncomfortable about their role in the service of the king.
Claris found a Generalitat
with very grave economic problems, resulting from years of mismanagement, and conflict that opened with the Spanish Crown accusing the generality of smuggling
, due to a breach of the edicts of 1635 and 1638, which prohibited any kind of trade with France because of the Thirty Years' War
. The intervention of the sheriff
Montrodón, commissioned by the Viceroy of Santa Coloma, to the warehouses of Mataró
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 for the years 1639 and 1640, of 50,000 pounds annually.
Behind this new effort was the eagerness of Philip IV
, and the Count-Duke of Olivares to add all the lands of the Spanish Crown to the effort to contribute financially to the expenses incurred in the Thirty Years War, that already had devastated Castella. Catalonia had never felt this conflict of expansionist roots to be its own, as the Catalans never had expected anything. Olivares, to counterbalance this situation, wanted to move the conflict (or at least, it already seemed it) and so on July 19, 1639, the French besieged and took the Fort de Salses
in the Roussillon
. This initiated a very severe struggle between the Count-Duke and the Generality to increase its 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 the day of Epiphany in 1640. However, the cost in human lives and in money for the country had been so great that the situation became explosive.
or War of the Reapers. Although it remains a controversial issue among historians, it seems that they could have already started in the month of May of 1640. Pau Claris had summoned the general court on September 10 of 1640, but simultaneously and without consulting to the cities, would have begun the contacts with the French.
On September 7 of 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
with Bernard Du Plessis-Besançon, delegated by Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu on behalf of Louis XIII of France
, 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 Free Republic
under the protection of the French king.
The personal assumption of power by Claris' staff from September of 1640, appeared to be total. The Junta General de Braços was summoned and set up as the ruling institution of the new situation, the commitments with France and the secession
were made official, and public debt was issued for funding the military expenses.
On October 20 of 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.
, the Marquis of Los Vélez, invaded Catalonia from the south. On December 23, Pau Claris raised the alarm and declared war against Philip IV of Spain. The victorious advance of the Castilian troops for Tortosa
, Cambrils
, Tarragona
, and Martorell
forced the Board of Arms and Consell de Cent
to yield to the French pressures, and on January 16 and January 17, the board 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 brought Claris to have to liquidate the republican project and proclaim Louis XIII the Count of Barcelona on January 23 in 1641, three days before the Battle of Montjuïc
that noisily defeated the Castilian forces and stopped the attack in Barcelona on January 26 of 1641.
On February 20, 1641, Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt
, a substitute of Du Plessis, came to Barcelona with powers of Captain General of all the armies fighting in Catalonia. That same day, Claris fell gravely ill, and the following day received the last rites
.
Pau Claris died the night of February 27 in 1641. In spite of the fact that he acted less than a year that presented problems of health, the theory of a possible poisoning circulated since the first moment (the letter from Roger de Bossost to Cardinal Richelieu) and modern investigations support this possibility.
Claris was placed in the family crypt of the chapel of Christ Church of Sant Joan de Jerusalem in Barcelona. Unfortunately, in 1888, in the context of reforms for the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona, the church was demolished.
published Panegíric a La Mort De Pau Claris De Francesc Fontanella.
, there is the Carrer de Pau Claris. It starts in Avinguda Diagonal and ends in Plaça Urquinaona.
Many other towns in Catalonia will have dedicated streets and squares to his recognition.
and repositioned in 1977. Right from the outset and with the 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 of the brink of independence.
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
lawyer, clergyman
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and 94th President of Catalonia at the beginning of the Catalan Revolt
Catalan Revolt
The Catalan Revolt affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France , thereby splitting the...
. On January 16, 1641, he proclaimed the Catalan Republic
Catalan Republic
The Catalan Republic also known as the Catalan State, is an unrecognized state claimed by the Catalan independentism or nationalism. The Catalan Republic has been proclaimed at least four times:* In 1641, by Pau Claris....
under the protection of France.
Early years
Claris was born in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. His paternal family was from Berga
Berga
Berga is the capital of the comarca of Berguedà, in Catalonia, Spain.- History :Berga derives its name from the Bergistani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area before the Roman conquest. The Bergistani were first subdued by Hannibal in 218 BC...
, and both his grandfather, Francesc, and his father, Joan, were prominent jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
s in Barcelona. His mother was Peronella Casademunt. Pau was the youngest of four brothers, and his older brother, Francesc (most likely named for his grandfather), was a lawyer and had a strong influence on his brother's path toward politics. Pau Claris' family belonged to the Barcelonese bourgeois and had significant economic and administrative power.
While it is possible that his education may have been more extensive, it is only clear that Claris received a doctorate in civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
and canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
from the University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...
, and studied the course during the period between 1604 and 1612.
On August 28, 1612, Pau Claris was appointed to work in La Seu d'Urgell
La Seu d'Urgell
La Seu d'Urgell is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of Bishop of Urgell, one of the Andorra co-princes...
, the seat of the Bishop of Catalonia. On September 25 of the same year, he was appointed canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
, and was assigned to the Diocese of Urgell
Diocese of Urgell
The Diocese of Urgell is a Roman Catholic diocese in Catalonia, Spain, with origins in the fifth century AD or possibly earlier. It is based in the region of the historical Catalan county of Urgell, though it has different borders...
.
Political career
In 1626, Claris was elected as a representative of the church at the Parliament of CataloniaParliament of Catalonia
The Parliament of Catalonia is the unicameral legislature of Catalonia. It is formed by 135 members , who are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolution and call of elections by the President of Catalonia, by universal suffrage in proportional lists with four...
(Corts catalanes), which opened on March 28 amid a troublesome political situation after the new king of Spain, Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
, would not ratify the Catalan constitutions
Catalan constitutions
The Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of Barcelona . The first constitution was promulgated by the court of 1283. The last ones were promulgated by the court of 1702...
, due to tax reasons and the question if royal officers had to follow the Catalan law
Usages of Barcelona
The Usages of Barcelona were the customs that form the basis for the Catalan Constitutions. They are the fundamental laws, furs , and basic rights of the Catalonia, dating back to their codification in the twelfth century....
. 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 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s, caused the immediate departure of the king to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.
It was not until 1632 that the Parliament resumed, although with the same members as in 1626. On this occasion, the rebellion against the Spanish crown was evident, led by a brilliant generation of lawyers, such as Catalan Joan Pere Fontanella, who was the legal adviser of the Generalitat and the Consell de Cent
Consell de Cent
The Consell de Cent 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 hundred ....
, and played a role in the crisis in relations between Catalonia and the Crown, which ended with the secession of 1640.
In 1632, Claris was appointed by his arm to treat the subject of an election and on July 15, 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 is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
. As a result of a papal concession
Concession (politics)
In politics, a concession is the act of a losing candidate publicly yielding to a winning candidate after an election, when the overall result of the vote has become clear.-Refusal to concede:...
that granted the king of Spain a tenth of the revenues of the Church in Spain that served as a subsidy to the Crown, popular unrest virulently erupted in the diocese of Vic under the guidance of the archdeacon, Melcior Palau i Boscà, and the impassioned support of two canons of Urgell, Jaume Ferran and Pau Claris.
The kidnapping of ecclesiastical property in Vic by the Royal Court 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 Councils of Tarragona
Council of Tarragona
The Council of Tarragona was held by Archbishop John of Tarragona, on 6 November 516. This council assembled all the bishops of his province, thus becoming the first provincial council of Tarragona....
. In the year 1636, in spite of the neutralizing efforts of the archbishop of Tarragona, the Spaniard Antonio Pérez, he achieved approval of a provision whereby all sermons in the Principality were in Catalan.
The presidency of the Generalitat
On July 22 in 1638, Pau Claris was elected ecclesiastical deputy of the Diputació del General. The other members chosen with Claris were: Jaume Ferran (also canon of Urgell), Rafael Ancient and Rafael Cerdà as auditors of the Ecclesiastical Arm, Military and Royal, respectively, and Francesc of Tamarit and Josep Miquel Quintana as deputies of the Military and Royal Arms.As a church member, Claris went on to preside over meetings of the Government. According to Elliott, the Viceroy in Santa Coloma tried in vain to bribe Claris and Tamarit, people uncomfortable about their role in the service of the king.
Claris found a Generalitat
Generalitat
Generalitat is the name of the autonomous systems of government of two of the present Spanish autonomous communities: Catalonia and the Valencian Community. The term is also used for the government of the semi-autonomous comarca of Val d'Aran, the Generalitat a l'Aran.Generalitat refers to all...
with very grave economic problems, resulting from years of mismanagement, and conflict that opened with the Spanish Crown accusing the generality of smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
, due to a breach of the edicts of 1635 and 1638, which prohibited any kind of trade with France because of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The intervention of the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Montrodón, commissioned by the Viceroy of Santa Coloma, to the warehouses of Mataró
Mataró
Mataró is the capital and largest city of the comarca of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, to the north-east of Barcelona. , it...
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 for the years 1639 and 1640, of 50,000 pounds annually.
Behind this new effort was the eagerness of Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
, and the Count-Duke of Olivares to add all the lands of the Spanish Crown to the effort to contribute financially to the expenses incurred in the Thirty Years War, that already had devastated Castella. Catalonia had never felt this conflict of expansionist roots to be its own, as the Catalans never had expected anything. Olivares, to counterbalance this situation, wanted to move the conflict (or at least, it already seemed it) and so on July 19, 1639, the French besieged and took the Fort de Salses
Fort de Salses
The Fort de Salses is a Spain fortress in the commune of Salses-le-Château, situated in the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
in the Roussillon
Roussillon
Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
. This initiated a very severe struggle between the Count-Duke and the Generality to increase its efforts in the war. Finally, the deputies agreed to send Francesc de Tamarit
Francesc de Tamarit
Francesc de Tamarit i de Rifà was a Catalan politician and military leader notable for his service during the Catalan Revolt and particularly at the Battle of Montjuïc in 1641 where a force made up mainly of Catalan Militia defeated a much larger Spanish army.The son of Pere de Tamarit, he was...
to the front of a new draft of soldiers to recover the castle of Salses, which was achieved on the day of Epiphany in 1640. However, the cost in human lives and in money for the country had been so great that the situation became explosive.
The Revolt
In spite 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 Catalan RevoltCatalan Revolt
The Catalan Revolt affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France , thereby splitting the...
or War of the Reapers. Although it remains a controversial issue among historians, it seems that they could have already started in the month of May of 1640. Pau Claris had summoned the general court on September 10 of 1640, but simultaneously and without consulting to the cities, would have begun the contacts with the French.
On September 7 of 1640, the representatives of the Generality of Catalonia, Francesc de Tamarit
Francesc de Tamarit
Francesc de Tamarit i de Rifà was a Catalan politician and military leader notable for his service during the Catalan Revolt and particularly at the Battle of Montjuïc in 1641 where a force made up mainly of Catalan Militia defeated a much larger Spanish army.The son of Pere de Tamarit, he was...
, Ramon de Guimerà, and Francesc de Vilaplana, nephew of Claris, signed the first Pact of Céret
Céret
Céret is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is the capital of Vallespir historical Catalan comarca.-Geography:...
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 of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
, 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 Free Republic
Catalan Republic
The Catalan Republic also known as the Catalan State, is an unrecognized state claimed by the Catalan independentism or nationalism. The Catalan Republic has been proclaimed at least four times:* In 1641, by Pau Claris....
under the protection of the French king.
The personal assumption of power by Claris' staff from September of 1640, appeared to be total. The 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
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
were made official, and public debt was issued for funding the military expenses.
On October 20 of 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.
Catalonian Republic
On November 24, the Spanish army under Pedro FajardoPedro Fajardo
.Pedro Fajardo de Zúñiga y Requesens , Viceroy of Valencia, 1631–1635, Viceroy of Navarre, 1638–1640, dismissed Viceroy of Catalonia, 1640–1642, to be replaced as Viceroy of Catalonia by Pedro Antonio de Aragón, 1642–1644, Ambassador at Rome, and Viceroy of Sicily, 1644 - Palermo, Sicily, 3...
, the Marquis of Los Vélez, invaded Catalonia from the south. On December 23, Pau Claris raised the alarm and declared war against Philip IV of Spain. The victorious advance of the Castilian troops for Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...
, Cambrils
Battle of Cambrils
The Battle of Cambrils or the Massacre of Cambrils took place in December 1640 during the Catalan Revolt.The revolt had started in May–June 1640 and as a reaction the Spanish Army had occupied Tortosa in Catalonia in September...
, Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
, and Martorell
Martorell
Martorell is a town near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Devil's bridge.It has three railway stations - one on the RENFE line from Manresa to Sant Vicenç de Calders called "Martorell", and three on the FGC line from Barcelona to Manresa called "Martorell-Vila",...
forced the Board of Arms and Consell de Cent
Consell de Cent
The Consell de Cent 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 hundred ....
to yield to the French pressures, and on January 16 and January 17, the board 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 brought Claris to have to liquidate the republican project and proclaim Louis XIII the Count of Barcelona on January 23 in 1641, three days before the Battle of Montjuïc
Battle of Montjuïc (1641)
Battle of Montjuïc took place on 26 January 1641 during the Catalan Revolt. A Spanish force under Pedro Fajardo launched an attack on a Catalan rebel force, made up mainly of Miquelet militias led by Francesc de Tamarit, and their French allies....
that noisily defeated the Castilian forces and stopped the attack in Barcelona on January 26 of 1641.
Death
Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt
Philippe, comte de la Mothe-Houdancourt , Duke of Cardona, was French Viceroy of Catalonia and a Marshal of France who fought in the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:...
, a substitute of Du Plessis, came to Barcelona with powers of Captain General of all the armies fighting in Catalonia. That same day, Claris fell gravely ill, and the following day received the last rites
Last Rites
The Last Rites are the very last prayers and ministrations given to many Christians before death. The last rites go by various names and include different practices in different Christian traditions...
.
Pau Claris died the night of February 27 in 1641. In spite of the fact that he acted less than a year that presented problems of health, the theory of a possible poisoning circulated since the first moment (the letter from Roger de Bossost to Cardinal Richelieu) and modern investigations support this possibility.
Claris was placed in the family crypt of the chapel of Christ Church of Sant Joan de Jerusalem in Barcelona. Unfortunately, in 1888, in the context of reforms for the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona, the church was demolished.
Honors
The same year of his death, Francesc FontanellaFrancesc Fontanella
Francesc Fontanella was a Catalan poet, dramatist, and priest.He studied law and was granted a degree in Civil and Canon law in 1641. Until 1652 he lived a courtesan life in Barcelona and began writing love poetry and wrote his two dramatic works: Tragicomèdia d'Amor, Firmesa i Porfia and Lo...
published Panegíric a La Mort De Pau Claris De Francesc Fontanella.
Streets
In Barcelona, in the district of EixampleEixample
The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns , constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
, there is the Carrer de Pau Claris. It starts in Avinguda Diagonal and ends in Plaça Urquinaona.
Many other towns in Catalonia will have dedicated streets and squares to his recognition.
Monuments
In Barcelona, several monuments have been raised to him, the best known of which is the statue located at the end of the Passeig de Lluís Companys, by Rafael Atché i Ferré and which was dedicated in 1917, withdrawn and saved during the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and repositioned in 1977. Right from the outset and with the 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 of the brink of independence.