Augustinian, teacher, diplomat Born in the late 13th century to a prominent family in Valencia, Oliver's parents obtained for him an education in
grammar and
Latin. Sometime before 1310, he became an
Augustinian canon at the
Church of Saint Augustine in Valencia. He then went to the
University of Paris to study theology and philosophy, obtaining his doctorate and subsequently a teaching position. Oliver returned to Valencia in or shortly before 1320 and received a chair teaching the
Sentences of
Peter Lombard at the local studium (the forerunner of the
University of Valencia). In 1320, he was named
prior of the Augustinians of Valencia. He was promoted to
definitor and then, on 7 October 1329,
superior of the province of Aragon, according to the contemporary Augustinian historian
Jordan of Quedlinburg. Oliver first began to work for the Aragonese crown in the early 1330s, when he served as King
Alfonso IV's envoy to Pope
John XXII. Since this fell during the
Avignon Papacy, he spent these years in
Avignon. On Saint Augustine's Day (28 August) 1331, he preached a sermon before John and the
College of Cardinals. On
Passion Sunday (13 March) 1334, he preached again before pope and cardinals. In 1333 and again in 1336, he was among those theologians called upon to examine the pope's
controversial theology of beatific vision.
Bishop of Huesca On 1 October 1337, Pope
Benedict XII appointed him
bishop of Huesca and
Jaca. He was the first Augustinian bishop in Spain. On 30 October, the pope gave him the right to receive episcopal
consecration at the hands of a bishop of his choosing. In September 1340, Oliver visited the
cathedral of Jaca to establish regulations for its governance and afterwards convoked a diocesan
synod at Huesca. In July 1341, Oliver was dispatched by King
Peter IV to negotiate with King
James III of Majorca and his ally, King
Philip VI of France, to prevent a war between Aragon and Majorca. He was back in Spain to attend a provincial synod in
Zaragoza in April 1342. At the synod, he raised the issue of the
archdeaconry of the valley of
Onsella, which belonged to Huesca but was in the possession of the
diocese of Pamplona. He returned to Avignon in 1343, but Pope
Clement VI sent him back on a diplomatic mission to Peter IV with Cardinal
Bernard d'Albi. In 1345, Peter IV asked the pope to make Oliver a cardinal as a reward for his peacemaking efforts between Aragon and Majorca, but to no avail. In the
Chronicle that Peter IV wrote, he praises him as "one of the greatest masters of theology then in the world".
Barcelona and Tortosa On 12 January 1345, while Oliver was in Avignon, Clement
translated him from Huesca to
Barcelona. Oliver was still in Avignon on 21 March (Feast of
Saint Benedict), when he preached a sermon in front of the pope. He sent a
procurator to take possession of the see on his behalf and did not arrive in Barcelona in person until 16 June. He swore to uphold the diocesan constitution the following day. In July, he dealt with some controversies regarding the practice of
apostolic poverty at the
Franciscan convent in
Vilafranca del Penedès. On 19 August 1345, he held a diocesan synod at which he promulgated a new constitution. On 13 April 1346, he named procurators, Antoni de Colell and Domènec Martínez, to undertake his
ad limina visitation. His tenure at Barcelona was short. On 26 June 1346, Clement again translated him, this time to
Tortosa. Oliver arrived in Tortosa on 12 August 1346. On 21 May 1347, he laid the cornerstone of the current
cathedral of Tortosa. On 28 May, with the cooperation of the
cathedral chapter, he promulgated a new diocesan constitution with a pastoral focus. In early 1348, the government of the
Principality of Catalonia sent him as their emissary to negotiate between the
Union of Valencia and the crown to prevent a civil war in the Crown of Aragon. He fell ill with
bubonic plague on his return journey. He died on 14 July 1348, a victim of the
Black Death. He was buried in the chapel of Saint Candida in the cathedral of Tortosa. ==Writings==