Josep Romaguera (; 1642–1723) is the author of the only emblem book ever published in the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...

, the Atheneo de Grandesa. His work consists of

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and

sermons A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

. His writing is typical of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. Romaguera was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

during the Catalan Revolt (Guerra dels Segadors) against Castile in 1642 and lived until 1723, according to the epitaph of him published in the manuscript ''Historia Eclesiástica del principado de Cataluña'' by the

Mercedarian The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order est ...

historian Pere Serra i Postius. There is no known mention of him in public life until he began his ecclesiastical career in 1661, the date of his first benefice; he served both in the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

and as a

Canon Law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

Professor at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

. Romaguera’s publications, apart from the ''Atheneo'', include sermons preached in Castilian on various Saints’ festival days; his other works, including apparently the second and/or third volumes of the ''Atheneo'', are lost. According to the epitaph by Postius, Romaguera was a renowned preacher and intellectual, and also represented the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the Courts convened by

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

in 1701–1702. For Postius, Romaguera was a unique individual, "One of the most famous men that Catalonia has had in Letters, Prudence and Government at the end of the previous Century and beginning of the present one. For he was a very elegant orator in Verse as well as Prose. He was an ingenious, sententious, sweet, gallant and brilliant Catalan poet, as his book shows" ranslation of Spanish original(f.104r). Romaguera was known as a defender of the Catalan language, and indeed in the Prologue to the ''Atheneo'' he states that his book is an attempt to give "an inspiration to Catalan pens."

References

*Romaguera, Josep. ''Atheneo de grandesa sobre eminencias cultas, cathalana facundia, ab emblemmas illustrada''. Barcelona: Joan Jolis, 1681. acsimile: Barcelona, Lletra Menuda, 1980 *Serra y Postius, Pedro, O. Merc.: ''Historia Eclesiástica del principado de Cataluña. S. XVIII. Biblioteca Universitària de Barcelona, MS 186-97'', Tomo XII.

External links

Images and Discussion of the ''Atheneo'' at an Online Exhibition curated by the Museu Frederic Marès, Barcelona
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romaguera, Josep 1642 births 1723 deaths Writers from Barcelona Catalan-language writers Catalan-language poets Baroque writers