Rafael Cervera (1563/64-1633): Between the Spanish monarchy and Catalan institutions

Abstract

The Barcelona politician and historian Rafael Cervera is the author of Historia de Cataluña (History of Catalonia); a Spanish translation of the Crónica (Chronicle) of Bernard Desclot dating from 1616. Desclot’s Crónica was the last of the so-called Four Great Chronicles to be printed. The reasons for this delay and the particular circumstances of the historical moment in which it appeared – on the eve of the tensions between Spain and Catalonia that drew the country into the Guerra dels Segadors (Catalan Revolt) – have never been studied before. The article explores the life of Cervera, revealing that he was a member of the so-called erudite circle of Barcelona of 1620-1630, which undertook to rescue the glories of imperial times from oblivion with the clear intention to defend the Catalan position.