Rafael Casanova i Comes
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Rafael Casanova i Comes (* around 1660 in Moià ; † May 2, 1743 in Sant Boi de Llobregat ) was a Catalan lawyer and politician. He supported Charles VI during the War of the Spanish Succession . , Holy Roman Emperor, as a candidate for the Spanish crown. Rafael Casanova was in September 1714 "El Conseller en cap", acting chairman of the self-government council of the city of Barcelona during the siege of this by Bourbon troops. On September 11, 1714, he became the protagonist of the city's defense. September 11th, the day of the defeat and fall of Barcelona, is known today as “La Diada” , the official national holiday of Catalonia .
Life and career
Rafael Casanova i Comes was born around 1660 as the son of Rafael Casanova i Solà, landowner from Moià, and Maria Comes i Sors from Granollers as one of the couple's eleven children in Moià. The father held various positions in Moià. Among other things, he was mayor and arbitrator of the place. The family traded grain and wool and was wealthy. The inheritance was reserved for the eldest brother, Brother Francisco Casanova. Rafael Casanova went to Barcelona, where he studied philosophy as well as civil and canon law at the university and earned a doctorate. As a resident of Barcelona, he married Maria Bosch i Barba on July 22, 1696, daughter from a wealthy house in Sant Boi de Llobregat . Maria Bosch's first husband, the doctor Josep Campllonch i Puig, had died. In 1697, Maria Bosch gave Rafael extensive powers to manage the assets of the Barcelona pharmacist family. The marriage initially resulted in two sons, Francesc and Rafael. Maria Bosch died on December 29, 1704 giving birth to twins Pau and Theresa. The two twins also died a few days later. Son Francesc did not survive childhood either.
Between 1704 and 1705 Casanova worked as a lawyer for the parish in Moià. In the course of the War of the Spanish Succession , Casanova was appointed third councilor of Barcelona on January 25, 1706 . He replaced Jacint Lloreda , who had recently passed away. In April 1706 the first siege of Barcelona by Bourbon troops began. On May 22, 1706, Francesc Nicolau de Sanjoan, the first councilor of the city of Barcelona, died. The city was now run by the second councilor, Francesc Gallart and Rafael Casanova. The Bourbon siege was broken and the attack on Barcelona repulsed. Charles VI., With his Spanish alias Karl III., Made Casanova an honorary citizen of Barcelona. As such, he took part in the royal meetings, including the last meeting on June 30, 1713. In this meeting the question was discussed whether the Catalan principality should submit to Philip V of Spain or whether the threatened Catalan constitution should continue to be defended . The latter option of resistance and defense to the last resort was chosen.
Casanova had previously become a member of the five-person Defense Council, whose task it was to examine the feasibility of the defense strategy of the Catalan military chief Antoni de Villarroel. On November 30, 1713, Casanova was appointed Conseller en Cap , the council chairman of the self-government of Barcelona. On February 26, 1714, the supreme military authority of all of Catalonia was transferred to him. On July 29, 1714, he proclaimed the mobilization of all men from the age of 14 by decree. During this time, the city of Barcelona was under massive cannon fire. The situation in the city was devastating. The Supreme Commander of the Bourbon Armed Forces, General Berwick , on September 3rd called for the unconditional surrender of the city. Casanova himself campaigned in his ranks for efforts to enter into a truce of 12 days, which should enable him to reorganize his troops and help from troops from Mallorca. In Barcelona, however, the prevailing opinion was to hand over the city. In the early morning of September 11th, Casanova and his people started a final counterattack at Portal Nou (at the new city gate) with the flag of Santa Eulalia, the historical flag of the city of Barcelona . He was wounded in the thigh by a bullet. He was taken to the Collegi de la Mercè hospital . For fear of reprisals from Philip V's troops, the rumor was spread that he had died in the hospital. He was secretly housed in his wife's parents' house in Sant Boi de Llobregat, where his son Rafael now lived. However, the Catalan architect and historian Albert García Espuche pointed out that this representation is untenable. First of all, he would probably have been searched first in his son's house in Sant Boi de Llobregat. In addition, after Albert García Espuche, Casanova was demonstrably back in Barcelona on October 19, 1714, and this was probably also known to the new rulers of Bourbon.
After the city surrendered, the self-government of Catalonia and Barcelona was suspended. Rafael Casanova was stripped of all his political and military positions. His property was confiscated. In 1719, after asking for royal forgiveness, he was given amnesty. He was able to work as a lawyer again. After the Peace of Vienna in 1725 he was able to regain his confiscated land, which had considerable economic value. In 1730 he transferred the family fortune to his son Rafael on the occasion of his wedding. Until 1737 he continued to work as a lawyer. He died on May 2, 1743 in Sant Boi de Llobregat. He was buried there in the parish church of Sant Baldiri.
post mortem
The character Rafael Casanova i Comes became a great icon in Catalan history. In 1863, 150 years after the War of Succession, the city of Barcelona named a street after him. In 1888 the city erected a monument to Rafael Casanova. It honored him as the last conceller en cap , as the last defender of the Catalan and Barcelona self-government. During the two Spanish dictatorships in particular, that of Primo de Rivera from 1923 to 1930 and that of Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975, this monument achieved the status of a symbol for the restoration of the Catalan institutions of self-government. During both dictatorships, this monument was removed from Barcelona. In 1977 the memorial was placed again near the spot where Rafael Casanova was wounded by the absolutist Bourbon troops. Every year on September 11th, the national holiday of Catalonia, representatives of most of the Catalan parties and representatives of the most important cultural and social institutions in Catalonia lay wreaths and flower arrangements here.
In the house where he was born in Moià and in the historical-archaeological museum El Born in Barcelona, where extensive excavations of the districts destroyed by the Bourbons have been exposed, rooms have been set up that present and honor the historical person Rafael Casanova.
literature
- Enciclopèdia Catalana: Casanova i Comes, Rafael . In: Gran enciclopèdia catalana. 1st edition. tape 4 . Enciclopèdia catalana, Barcelona 1973, ISBN 84-85194-04-7 , p. 527 (Catalan, reprinted 1977).
- Enciclopèdia.cat: Rafael Casanova i Comes. Retrieved September 17, 2018 (Catalan).
Web links
- Generalitat de Catalunya, Patrimoni Cultural: Casa Museo Rafael Casanova (museum in the house where Rafael Casanova was born in Moià). Retrieved September 17, 2018 (Catalan).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Albert García Espuche was the first director of the El Born Center in Barcelona, which uncovered parts of the city destroyed by the Bourbons and made them accessible to the public as a historical museum.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Casanova i Comes, Rafael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Catalan lawyer and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1660 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Moià |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 2, 1743 |
| Place of death | Sant Boi de Llobregat |