D ESPUIG Y DAMETO, Antonio. - Cardinal, born into a noble family in Palma de Mallorca on 31 March 1745, died in Lucca on 2 May 1813. An exemplary priest of vast learning, he promoted studies in his homeland and served as rector of its university (1783–85). In 1785 he came to Rome as auditor of the Roman Rota, and 179 of his decisions were published. Returning home, he became bishop of Orihuela (1791), archbishop of Valencia (1795), and archbishop of Seville (1796), but resigned two years later for health reasons and, more importantly, political intrigue, receiving in exchange the title of Patriarch of Antioch and several public offices from the king.
In April 1797 he was sent again to Rome as a member of a special commission appointed by the king to assist Pope Pius VI during the critical circumstances caused by the French invasion. Indeed, he provided substantial support to the papal court during the Pope’s exile from March 1798, and after the Pope’s death (22 August 1799) he defrayed the funeral expenses and subsidized the conclave in Venice that elected Pius VII. Beloved by the new Pope, on 11 July 1803 he was created cardinal with the title of S. Callisto. After a journey home, where he organized a library and museum with archaeological objects recovered from his estate at Ariccia (Rome), he returned to Rome in May 1807, became archpriest of S. Maria Maggiore, and papal vicar, remaining constantly at the Pope’s side and even accompanying him into exile in Paris. For reasons of health he obtained permission to return to Italy, and died shortly afterward. He published a small work on the earthquake that devastated Calabria in February 1783, of which he had been an eyewitness (Naples 1783; Palma de Mallorca n.d.), and a life of his fellow citizen Caterina Tho-más (Palma de Mallorca 1816 and 1864), whose beatification he had secured (she was canonized in 1930). Many manuscripts and letters are preserved in Palma in the archive of his family.