Ramón José de Arce y Rebollar (1757 – 1844) was a Spanish churchman who served as Archbishop of Burgos from 1797 to 1801; as Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition from 1797 to 1808; as Archbishop of Zaragoza from 1800 to 1816;[1][2] and as Patriarch of the West Indies from 1806 to 1815.
Biography
editRamón José de Arce was born in Selaya, Cantabria in 1757.[3] He was educated at the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca of the University of Salamanca.[3] After university he became an official in the Finance Ministry of the Real Junta de Juros.[3] He then became a member of the Council of Castile.[3]
He was appointed Archbishop of Burgos on December 18, 1797,[4] and was appointed Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition at the same time. He was consecrated as a bishop on March 4, 1798.[4] He was translated to the Archbishopric of Zaragoza on July 20, 1801.[4] He was appointed Patriarch of the West Indies on August 26, 1806.[4]
Spain was invaded by the First French Empire in 1808, becoming a client state of the French Empire. A series of sermons that Arce delivered during the occupation were widely believed to be pro-French.[5] As such, after Spain regained its independence during the Peninsular War in 1814, there was pressure on Arce to resign. He resigned his archbishopric and patriarchate on July 15, 1816.[6] He subsequently lived in exile in Paris, where he died on February 16, 1844.[5]
