Josep Perarnau

Josep Perarnau i Espelt (born 1928 in Avinyó, Bages) is a Catalan priest, theologian and historian. He studied theology in the Pontifical University of Salamanca, University of Rome and Munich. He became a priest in Barcelona. When the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia was created, he was appointed director of the seminary of theology. In this position, he worked on his historical researches. He is a member of the Institute of Catalan Studies, and in 1990, was appointed as a numerary member.

He is deeply interested in the Middle Ages history, and has studied mediaeval manuscripts, specially the ones of Catalan authors. From his position as director of the Arxiu de textos catalans antics (ATCA) (Archive of Ancient Catalan Texts) of the Institute of Catalan Studies he has made valuable researches of unpublished works of the Middle Ages of authors such as Ramon Llull or Arnau de Vilanova.

He has gathered all the forgeries that the 14th century inquisitor Nicolau Eimeric used in order to decree the existence of more than a hundred heresies in Ramon Llull's texts.

Josep Perarnau was awarded with the Serra d'Or Critics Prize about research, 1993; the Cultural Heritage National Prize, 1996; and the Narcís Monturiol Medal, 1998. These two last awards were given by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan regional government). On 28 April 2009, he received an honorary degree from the University of Barcelona.

External links

• Information about Josep Perarnau in the Institute of Catalan Studies website. (in Catalan)
• Article in the Great Catalan Encyclopedia. (in Catalan)