Amat, Felix

Amat, Felix a Spanish ecclesiastical historian, was born at Sabadell, in the diocese of Barcelona, Aug. 10, 1750. He entered the Church in 1767, and, after taking his doctor's degree at Granada in 1770, was made professor of philosophy and librarian in the episcopal seminary at Barcelona. He afterwards became director of the seminary, and in 1803 was made archbishop of Palmyra by the pope, and in the same year abbot of St. Ildefonso by king Charles IV. Being suspected of favoring the French cause against the Spanish. he was compelled to leave Madrid in 1812, and in 1814 was banished to Catalonia. He died in a Franciscan convent, near Salient, Sept. 28,1824. His chief work is his Tractado de la Iglesia de Jesu Cristo, or ecclesiastical history from the birth of Christ to the close of the 18th century (Madrid, 1793-1803). Besides, he wrote Observaciones sobre la Potestad Eclesiastica (Barcelona, 1817-1823); published under the pseudonym of Don Macario Padua Melato: — Seis Cartas a Irenico (ibid. 1817): — Deberes del Cristiano en Tiempo de Revolucion (Madrid, 1813). These last two works were published by the nephew of the author.