Juan Tomás de Rocaberti (Joan Tomàs de Rocabertí in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

, 4 March 1627 – 13 June 1699) was a

theologian.

Biography

Rocaberti was born into a noble family at Perelada, in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

. Educated at

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

, he entered the Dominican convent there, receiving the habit in 1640. His success in theological studies at the convent of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

secured for him the chair of theology in the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ca-valencia, Universitat de València ; also known as UV) is a public research university located in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest surviving universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Vale ...

. In 1666 he was chosen provincial of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to s ...

, and in 1670 the General Chapter elected him general of the order. The celebrated Dominican Vincent Contenson dedicated to him his ''Theologia mentis et cordis''. In 1676 he was appointed by Carlos II of Spain first Archbishop of Valencia, and then governor of that province. In 1695 he was made inquisitor-general of Spain. He obtained the canonization of Sts. Louis Bertrand and

Rose of Lima Rose of Lima (born Isabel Flores de Oliva; 20 April 1586 24 August 1617) was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the poverty stricken of the city throu ...

, the solemn beatification of

Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

, and the annual celebration in the order of the feast of Bl.

Albert the Great Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his life ...

and others. Historian

John Langdon-Davies John Eric Langdon-Davies (18 March 1897 – 5 December 1971) was a British author and journalist. He was a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and the Soviet-Finnish War. As a result of his experiences in Spain, he founded the Foste ...

described Rocaberti as a "fanatical ascetic, he never wore linen or silk, he only ate vegetables and fish, his bed was more like a martyr's rack than a high ecclesiastic's resting place."Langdon-Davies, John. (1962). ''Carlos: The Bewitched, the Last Spanish Hapsburg, 1661-1700''. J. Cape. p. 204 Rocaberti died at Madrid.

Doctrine

Rocaberti, Juan Tomás de – De Romani pontificis authoritate, 1691 – BEIC 14308071

Rocaberti is best known as an active

apologist Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

of the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, against Gallicans and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

s. His first work in the sense was ''De Romani pontificis in temporalibus auctoritate'' (3 vols., Valentia, 1691–94). His most important work is the ''Bibliotheca Maxima Pontificia'' (21 vols., Rome, 1697–1700). In this monumental work the author collected and published in alphabetical order, and in their entirety, all the important works dealing with the primacy of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

from an orthodox point of view, beginning with Abraham Bzovius and ending with Zacharias Boverius. A summary is given in Hurter's ''Nomenclator''.

Works

*''De Romani pontificis in temporalibus auctoritate'', 3 vols., Valentia, 1691–94. ** ** ** *''Bibliotheca Maxima Pontificia'', 21 vols., Rome, 1697–1700.

References

* Sources: ** Quétif- Échard, Script. ord. Prad., II (Paris, 1721), 630, 827; ** Touron, Hist. des hom. Ill. De l'ordre Dom., V (Paris, 1748), 714–26; **

Hugo von Hurter The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings. Friedri ...

, ''Nomenclator literarius recentioris theologiae catholicae'', II: Année Dominicaine, XIII, 785. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocaberti, Juan Tomas de 17th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Spanish Dominicans Masters of the Order of Preachers Archbishops of Valencia 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Spain Grand Inquisitors of Spain 1627 births 1699 deaths People from Alt Empordà