AZPURU Y XIMENES, THOMAS

AZPURU Y XIMENES, THOMAS. - Spanish prelate, b. in Saragossa in 1713, d. in Rome in 1772. He was canon of Murcia, auditor of the Roman Rota for Spain, and chargé d'affaires of the King of Spain at the Holy See. He was granted many benefices and decorations; he published numerous pamphlets; but his major work was that which he rendered to the Bourbon kings in their persistent aim to suppress the Jesuits. He was, however, unable to see his work crowned with success, for he died one year before Clement XIV, whose election he had so greatly assisted with Azara, published the famous brief. In 1758 he had been elected bishop of Tortosa, and in 1770 he was made bishop of Valencia, though he never took possession of that see. His correspondence, which remains unpublished, is of great interest. As an agent, Charles III had appointed him his ambassador to the Pope.