Religion, revolt, and the creation of regional identity in Catalonia, 1640--1643 (Spain)

The decade of the 1640s was a time of social and political upheaval that affected every country in Europe. Specific studies of revolts in England, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Sweden have identified the presence of a religious component that shaped the identities of rebellious factions and served to maintain a spirit of opposition throughout these crises. Although the religious element of the 1640 Catalan revolt has been overlooked, the regional clergy played an enormous role in sustaining what was essentially a revolt in the name of religion.; The burning of the Sacrament in two small villages began the revolt; the Catalan church's continued financial donations continued resistance through the critical first two years of war, long enough to turn the rural rebellion into a revolution. Clerics wrote many of the early pamphlets justifying secession, helping to tie the provincial Church more closely to the insurrection. During the winter of 1640--1641, facing imminent defeat at the hands of the royal army, monks, friars, and priests sought neither repentance nor forgiveness, but rather prayed for divine deliverance from their attackers.; Following the unexpected rebel victory at Montjuic in January 1641, the enthusiasm of the Catalan clergy for the revolution did not diminish. Throughout the campaigns of 1641 and 1642, the first estate gave great sums of money to finance Catalan soldiers as well as their French allies in their fight against Castile. Furthermore, despite the untimely death of Pau Claris, other clerics filled important positions of leadership in the new Franco-Catalan government, serving as judges, administrators, tax collectors, and even heading a new Inquisition in Barcelona. Eventually, growing numbers of Catalan clergy would turn against the revolutionary regime, using their money and their positions as leaders in society to win the hearts and minds of many back to their allegiance to Philip IV.; A study of the many roles filled by the ecclesiastics of Catalonia during the first three years of their revolution is critical in helping one to understand more completely one of the last specifically religious revolts in Europe.