Pau Claris

Timeline

1. 1612–1638Urgell (La Seu d'Urgell) · UrgellClaris entered the principality's politics with clerical and legal training. In 1627 he became a visitator of the Generalitat; at the Barcelona Cortes of 1632 he defended cathedral property and opposed the king's imposition of tithes on the clergy. From 1634 to 1636 he clashed with the newly appointed, pro-royal Bishop of Urgell, Pau Duran, and became the core of clerical opposition in tax-resistance incidents at Vic, Girona, and Urgell.
2. 1638–1640Barcelona · BarcelonaElected in July 1638 as president of the Generalitat for the 1638–1641 three-year term, he formed a leadership with figures such as Francesc de Tamarit of the military estate to resist Olivares' "Union of Arms" conscription, quartering, and tax increases. After the Battle of Salces, quartering grew more burdensome, relations between the Generalitat and the court broke down, laying the institutional groundwork for the Corpus Day uprising of 1640.
3. 1640–1641Barcelona · BarcelonaAfter the "Bloody Corpus Day" of 7 June 1640, in which the viceroy was killed, the uprising broke out in full. Claris convened the estates and, through his relatives and Tamarit, negotiated with Richelieu's representatives. On 12 December a military assistance pact was concluded in Barcelona; on 23 December war was declared on Philip IV. The Marquis of Los Vélez advanced Castilian forces from the south, occupying Tortosa, Tarragona, and elsewhere, and Barcelona was imperiled.
4. 1641Barcelona · BarcelonaOn 16–17 January the estates accepted the establishment of a republic under French protection. After the defeat at Martorell, on 23 January Claris recognized Louis XIII as Count of Barcelona in exchange for French troops. On 26 January the Franco-Catalan forces repelled the Castilians at Montjuïc and Barcelona was relieved. He fell gravely ill in late February and died on the night of the 27th; his successors could not maintain his personal authority, and the principality became more deeply dependent on France.