Joaquín Abarca

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joaquín Abarca y Blanque (born May 22, 1778 in Huesca ( Aragon ), † June 21, 1844 in Lanzo near Turin ) was a Spanish prelate. He has served as Bishop of León since 1824 and was later one of the leading supporters of the Spanish pretender Don Carlos during the First Carlist War (1833-1840) .

Life

Joaquín Abarca y Blanque around 1837.

Joaquín Abarca y Blanque studied law at the University of Zaragoza , did a doctorate in civil and canon law and became a lawyer in Zaragoza . Then he entered the clergy and acted as an official of the Diocese of Huesca . In 1820 he was one of those clergymen who opposed the re-enactment of the liberal constitution of 1812 . He was an advocate of absolute royalty and therefore had to flee to France in 1822. After the restoration of absolute monarchy in Spain, he was recalled by King Ferdinand VII . The Spanish ruler rewarded him with a benefice in Tarazona and appointed him Bishop of León in 1824 and a member of the Council of State in 1826. Abarca was an important advisor to the king for six years.

As a result of the change in the law of succession to the throne in favor of Ferdinand's daughter Isabella II , Abarca left the party of Ferdinand VII and went to his younger brother Don Carlos . He was banned from the capital and remained in his parish until the king's death (1833). He then called for a rebellion against the government of Maria Christina , took part in the Carlist uprisings in Vitoria and Logroño , then went to Don Carlos in Portugal and accompanied him from there to England . Here he represented the interests of the pretender, who was soon to return to Spain. In 1836 he was arrested near Bordeaux , where he had wanted to get weapons, by order of the French government and taken to the German border. He then went to Frankfurt , where he lived for a few months. Then he went to London , allowed the Tories to advance significant financial resources, followed Don Carlos with them to the Basque provinces and in 1837 became head of the Carlist ministry. Pope Gregory XVI had appointed him by a decree issued on August 20, 1836 as church leader in the areas ruled by the Carlist. Abarca helped the pretender to organize the army and took care of diplomatic correspondence with the courts of other European states. But he finally fell out of favor with Don Carlos, had to leave Spain towards the end of the First Carlist War in 1839 and went to France . He could not stay there either and went to Italy. He retired to a Carmelite monastery in Lanzo near Turin, where he died in 1844.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Abarca, Joaquín
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abarca y Blanque, Joaquín
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish prelate
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Huesca
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1844
Place of death Lanzo near Turin