Fiestas and Fervor: Religious Life and Catholic Enlightenment in the Diocese of Barcelona, 1766-1775
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FIESTAS AND FERVOR: RELIGIOUS LIFE AND CATHOLIC ENLIGHTENMENT IN THE DIOCESE OF BARCELONA, 1766-1775 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Andrea J. Smidt, M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Dale K. Van Kley, Adviser Professor N. Geoffrey Parker Professor Kenneth J. Andrien ____________________ Adviser History Graduate Program ABSTRACT The Enlightenment, or the "Age of Reason," had a profound impact on eighteenth-century Europe, especially on its religion, producing both outright atheism and powerful movements of religious reform within the Church. The former—culminating in the French Revolution—has attracted many scholars; the latter has been relatively neglected. By looking at "enlightened" attempts to reform popular religious practices in Spain, my project examines the religious fervor of people whose story usually escapes historical attention. "Fiestas and Fervor" reveals the capacity of the Enlightenment to reform the Catholicism of ordinary Spaniards, examining how enlightened or Reform Catholicism affected popular piety in the diocese of Barcelona. This study focuses on the efforts of an exceptional figure of Reform Catholicism and Enlightenment Spain—Josep Climent i Avinent, Bishop of Barcelona from 1766- 1775. The program of “Enlightenment” as sponsored by the Spanish monarchy was one that did not question the Catholic faith and that championed economic progress and the advancement of the sciences, primarily benefiting the elite of Spanish society. In this context, Climent is noteworthy not only because his idea of “Catholic Enlightenment” opposed that sponsored by the Spanish monarchy but also because his was one that implicitly condemned the present hierarchy of the Catholic Church and explicitly ii advocated popular enlightenment and the creation of a more independent “public sphere” in Spain by means of increased literacy and education of the masses. Examining the types of popular—albeit exterior—religious practices that were the object of reform as well as Climent’s efforts to promote a better understanding of the Catholic faith which focused on interior rather than exterior forms of piety, I argue that by establishing gratis elementary schools, reforming seminary curricula, and mass- distributing books and pamphlets Climent was able to bring “Enlightenment” to eighteenth-century Barcelona. Illustrating the tensions created by the differing enlightened projects proposed by Climent and the Spanish monarchy, Climent was forced to abdicate. Although he had to step down, branded a “Catalan separatist” by the Council of Castile, Climent’s plan for reform and his implementation of that plan had a larger impact on the form the Enlightenment took in Spain and calls for a re-examination of what was perceived as the Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Europe. iii Dedicated to my wonderful, inspiring, and ever-supportive parents, Marilyn Kay Smidt, B.S.N., R.N., M.S.N.; and Corwin E. Smidt, Ph.D. And to my loving husband Richard J. Sittema. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisors, Doctors Dale K. Van Kley and Geoffrey Parker, for their dedication to me and my project, making this dissertation possible. All of the hours writing me letters of recommendation as well as reviewing and correcting grant proposals chapters, and translations will never be forgotten. A special thank-you I extend to Dr. Van Kley for introducing me to Jansenism, the unique conditions of eighteenth-century Europe, and the special case of Bishop Climent of Barcelona. His forethought and consideration provided me with the archival sources from Utrecht and Paris. I thank Doctor Kenneth J. Andrien for his participation in this project and for his support and guidance in all of my years at the Ohio State University. I am grateful to Doctora Montserrat Jiménez Sureda for her invaluable help with my research in the Spanish archives. I am indebted to Doctor William A. Christian Jr. for his interest in and advice on my research. I also wish to thank the friends and faculty in the Department of History at Ohio State University for helping me hurdle the many quarters of graduate school. This research was supported by a grant from the Fulbright Commission (of Spain and the United States), the Elaine and John C. Rule Award, a Tinker travel grant, a Humanities Summer Research grant, and by the Presidential Fellowship of the Ohio State University. v VITA October 23, 1976………………………….Born - Quincy, Illinois, U.S.A. 1999……………………………………….B.A. History & Political Science, Calvin College 2001……………………………………….M.A. History, The Ohio State University 1999-present………………………………Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS Research Publication 1. Andrea J. Smidt, “Piedad e ilustración en relación armónica. Josep Climent i Avinent, obispo de Barcelona, 1766-1775.” Manuscrits. Revista d'Història Moderna, 2002, núm. 20, pp 91-109. 2. Andrea J. Smidt, “Power, Religiosity, and Sexuality in Medieval Spain.” Book review of Cecilia Lagunas’s Abadesas y Clérigos in The Journal of Women’s History 14, no. 3 (Fall 2002), pp 166-7. 3. Andrea J. Smidt, “La teatralidad en la evangelización franciscana: un estudio del uso de performance en la Relación y conçudio de Hernán Gallegos.” Published on-line on the website of the Institute for Latin American Studies of the University of Texas at Austin: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/llilas/students/studentgroups/ilassa/conferences/ilassa2004/pa pers/explorations/index.html FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History (Emphasis on Early Modern European History) Minor Fields: Latin American History Early Modern and Colonial Hispanic Literatures vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………v Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..vi List of Figures..………………………………………………………………………….viii List of Plates……………………………………………………………………………...ix List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………..x Chapters: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1 1. Eighteenth-Century Europe in General and Barcelona in Particular……………11 2. The Life and Times of Bishop Josef Climent i Avinent, Bishop of Barcelona, 1766-1775: A Window into Spanish Piety and Enlightenment…………………64 3. Fiestas and Fervor: Local Religious Life of Barcelonese Parishioners………..131 4. Priests as Part of the Poble in Barcelona……………………………………….224 5. Enlightened Despotism versus Enlightened Catholicism in Barcelona during the Episcopacy of Climent………………………………………………………….331 6. Catholic Reform and Enlightenment in Barcelona, 1766-1775………………..411 Conclusion…...…………………………………………………………………………454 Appendix: Acts of Councils and Synods……………………………………………….470 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………473 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Map of Spain………………………………….…………………………………42 1.2 Map of Archdioceses of Eighteenth-Century Spain…………………………….49 1.3 Map of Eighteenth-Century Diocese of Barcelona……………………………...50 3.1 The Central Location of the Plaça/Plaza in the Barcelonese Community….….152 3.2 Eighteenth-Century Walled City of Barcelona Divided into Its Seven Parishes………………………………………………………………………....190 viii LIST OF PLATES Plate Page 1.4 Nueva Mapa de Cataluña y los Caminos Reales……………………………….51 1.5 La Ciudad desde el Camino de Montjuich……………………………………..53 1.6 Map of the Parish of LaVit……………………….…………………………….60 1.7 Map of Parish of Villasar del Mar……………….…………………………..…61 2.1 Portrait of Josef Climent i Avinent……………………………………………..64 3.3 Processions of the Congregation of the Pure Blood of Jesus Christ…………...200 3.4 Confraternity Headquarters of the Congregation of the Pure Blood of Jesus Christ.………………………………………………………………………….201 3.5 The capità manaya i los armats……………………………………………….210 3.6 Photos of the Gegants of King Jaume I of Catalonia and his Queen………….213 4.1 Map of La Rambla in the Eighteenth Century………………………………...324 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACA Archivo de la Corona de Aragón ADB Arxiu Diocesà de Barcelona AGS Archivo General de Simancas AHCB Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona APP Arxiu de la Parròquia del Pi ASSP Archives du Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice AUB Arxiu de la Universitat de Barcelona BC Biblioteca de Catalunya CC Collection Clément CPR Collection de Port-Royal HUA Het Utrechts Archief x INTRODUCTION The events of eighteenth-century Europe gave rise to many phenomena that marked the end of an age (the “Old Regime”) and the beginning of a new one. From “enlightenment” to absolutism, from colonial empires to democratic revolutions, and from industrialization to a growing middle class, European dynamics were ushering a transition towards a definably “modern” society. Yet, the words “fiesta” and “fervor” do not readily come to mind when considering these eighteenth-century trends. Instead, they evoke less dynamism and perhaps traditional aspects of society. Vibrant communal celebrations on holy days (fiestas) and religious fervor were not new to Europe, and over the centuries different wars and controversies over religious issues had done much to strengthen European religiosity—albeit in a way that created more dividing lines that unifying ones. During the eighteenth century, various European events called fervent religiosity into question, challenging its place in European society. The Enlightenment, specifically in Catholic Europe, has often been associated as such a challenge to religion. Led by