Belluga y Moncada, Luis Antonio

BELLUGA Y MONCADA, LUIS ANTONIO. - Spanish cardinal and theologian, b. at Motril in 1662, d. at Rome in 1743. He established the Congregation of the Oratory at Cordova. Bishop of Cartagena (1705), captain general and viceroy of Valencia, he armed a battalion of 4,000 men to fight against the rebels of Murcia, supporters of the archduke of Austria. When, however, Pope Clement XI recognized the latter as king of Spain, he took the side of the Holy See (1709), and with a memorial to Philip V he sought to induce him to desist from reprisals against Rome, concerned that the already disordered religious situation of his country might be aggravated (1712). For the reform of ecclesiastical discipline he brought about in 1723 the bull Apostolici ministerii, known as the "Bellugana" bull. Created cardinal, he renounced in 1724 the bishopric and retired to Rome, where he continued to work on behalf of religion and his country, as protector of the Spanish nation. He wrote many dissertations in defense of the Holy See, of its rights and of the infallibility of the Pope. There also remain by him 2 vols. of pastoral letters and various manuscripts preserved in Rome and Madrid.

Renata Orazi Ausenda