Dues institucions peculiars del clergat català a l’Edat Moderna i llur possible implicació política: els concilis provincials tarraconenses i la Congregació Claustral benedictina

Abstract

Two peculiar institutions of the Catalan clergy in the Early Modern Age and their possible political involvement: the provincial councils of Tarragona and the Benedictine Conventual Congregation

The article examines the historical trajectory of two institutions of medieval origin during the Early Modern Age: the Provincial Councils of Tarragona and the Tarraconense and Cesaraugustana Conventual Congregation of the Benedictine Order. The analysis of their frequency, regulation and composition shows that both are peculiar, as it does not seem easy to find comparable institutions in the European Church of the time. Finally, we introduce some reflections on their possible relationship with the political history of Catalonia. In the case of the provincial councils, due to its similarity to the ecclesiastical estate of the Catalan Courts, its role in the distribution of royal taxes on the clergy and the difficulties posed by the publication of the conciliar constitutions. In the case of the Benedictines, because for more than a century they resisted strong pressure from the Crown to join the observant Congregation of San Benito de Valladolid and because the king knew that they were a key instrument of the Royal Patronage in Catalonia.