Jesús Requejo y San Román (22 February 1880 - 16 August 1936) was a Spanish Catholic militant, theorist of society and politician; the Catholic Church declared him a martyr and a candidate for sainthood. He was locally known in the provinces of Zamora and Toledo for his activity in education, charity and agrarian syndicalism. His key work, Principios de Orientación Social, made some moderate impact among Spanish Catholic intellectuals of the mid-1930s. Politically he evolved from centre-left to extreme right: initially Requejo supported the Romanonista dynastic Liberalism, then he turned towards accidentalist Acción Católica, and finally he joined Carlism. His career climaxed in the mid-1930s; since 1934 he headed the provincial Carlist structures in Toledo and in 1936 he served as a Carlist deputy to the Cortes.
Family and youth
Since early modern era the noble family of Requejo has been related to the region of León,Requejo entry, [in:] HeraldryInstitute service, available here though for centuries none of its representatives distinguished himself in the history of Spain. Things changed in the mid-19th century, when one branch of the Requejos turned into a Liberal “oligarquía dominante” in the province of ZamoraJosé Ramón Milán García, Liderazgo nacional y caciquismo local: Sagasta y el liberalismo zamorano, [in:] Ayer 38 (2000), p. 239 and Miguel Requejo Linares was – apart from being key taxpayer in the province – the chief Sagastino in Zamora.Milán García 2000, p. 240 It is not clear how they were related to the ascendants of Jesús, yet it is confirmed that both branches remained in contact.see e.g. public homeges of Jesús Requejo to Federico Requejo Avedillo, Heraldo de Zamora 03.07.13, available here The father of Jesús, Víctor Requejo Rodríguez, belonged to the middle classJorge López Teulón, “Que no tiemble vuestro corazón”. Llamados a la santidad, Toledo 2013, , p. 190 and served as a court clerkofficially his job was named “secretario del juzgado” in the town of Puebla de Sanabria. He married Josefa San Román San Román;María Julia Rodríguez de Diego Zamorano, Jesús Requejo San Román – “alma de esta empresa”, [in:] Cuadernos de Historia y Cultura Popular 2 (2014), p. 136 none of the sources consulted provides any closer information on her family, though many San Románs held various petty official positions in the countylike juez municipal or alcalde, see e.g. Boletín Oficial de Zamora 13.04.88, available here. The San Román family descended from 15th-century Jewish converts from Zamora, Matilde Gini de Barnatán, Los San Roman de Zamora: desde el siglo XV hasta hoy, [in:] Magen-Escudo 144 (2007), pp. 16-33 and were also of Liberal political preferences.Heraldo de Zamora 06.02.19, available here
The couple lived in the village of Castro de Sanabria; they had 4 children, all of them boys: Antonio, José, Herminio and Jesús.ABC 05.05.39, available here, ABC 25.03.76, available here According to some authors Jesús was the youngest one,Marisol López, Un sanabrés camino de los altares, [in:] La Opinión de Zamora 02.02.10, available here other sources suggest otherwise.Víctor Requejo entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here Jesús spent his early childhood of the 1880s in Castro de Sanabria.López Teulón 2013, p. 190 From a very young age he demonstrated religious zeal and intended to become a priest. At unspecified time he entered the local seminary in Puebla de Sanabria and then moved to another one in Astorga, where he was recorded in 1895Boletín Ecclesiástico del Obispado de Astorga 05.07.95, available here and 1897.Boletín Ecclesiástico del Obispado de Astorga 19.06.97, available here He followed the courses of Humanidades, Filosofía and Teología and was reported as an excellent student.Requejo San Román Jesús entry, [in:] 464Martires service, available here One year prior to completing the curriculum he resigned from ecclesiastic career.Enrique San Juan, Jesús Requejo San Román, un registrador en el santorial, [in:] Registradores de España 53 (2009), p. 83 Eventually he obtained bachillerato with the JesuitsRodríguez de Diego 2014, p. 136 in Cáceres in 1900.El Lábaro 12.05.00, available here He then enrolled at law in Valladolid and majored in 1903.Heraldo de Zamora 05.01.03, available here Requejo continued his academic career studying derecho administrativo in Salamanca.López Teulón 2013, p. 190 In 1906 he obtained doctorado thanks to Repudio en Roma. Religión y Derecho Unidos,Rodríguez de Diego 2014, p. 136 a dissertation rewarded with high grades by the jury and published afterwards.Repudio en Roma was not Requejo’s debut; already during academic period he completed Estudio sociológico-administrativo del municipio de Puebla de Sanabria and published it as a separate booklet, López Teulón 2013, p. 190
In 1906 Requejo married his cousin on the maternal side,Rodríguez de Diego 2014, p. 136 Antonia San Román San Román (1889-1977).Antonia San Román San Román entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here A girl from Puebla de Sanabria,Requejo San Román Jesús entry, [in:] 464Martires service, available here she was daughter to a local tax collector,Boletín Oficial de Zamora 18.05.96, available here; he was married to Francisca San Román Arias, Francisca San Román Arias, [in:] Geneanet service, available here Manuel San Román Moran.Antonia San Román San Román entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here The couple settled in Puebla; it is not clear how initially they made a living, yet at least since 1908 Jesús has been noted in the press as the local Sanabrian abogado,Heraldo de Zamora 03.04.08, available here acting as attorney at the turn of the 1900sBoletín Oficial de Zamora 08.02.09, available here and 1910s.Boletín Oficial de Zamora 27.10.11, available here Jesús and Antonia had one child,López Teulón 2013, p. 184 Antonio Requejo San Román (1907-1936); he graduated in law in Madrid and was preparing to pass the notary examsLópez Teulón 2013, p. 187 when soon after outbreak of the civil war he was detained and executed with his father. None of Jesús’ siblings and further relatives became a public figure; his brother Antonio was an entrepreneur, José served as fiscal and Herminio grew to high post official in mid-Francoism.Imperio 30.09.58, available here
Restoration
The Requejo family was of Liberal ideasMilán García 2000, p. 240, compare also Heraldo de Zamora 03.07.13, available here, Federico Requejo Avedillo entry, [in:] Real Academia de Historia service, available here and the young Jesús initially adhered to the same political current. In the early 20th century he commenced collaboration with Heraldo de Zamora, the key liberal newspaper in the province.Juan José Nervión Chamorro, El Heraldo de Zamora como fuente para la investigación en Historia Contemporánea, [in:] Academia service, available here His first contributions identified come from 1903 and are related to electoral campaigns of Fabriciano Cid, local cacique of liberal monarchist left;Heraldo de Zamora 23.03.03, available here following the death of Sagasta, the Requejo father and son declared themselves supporters of conde de Romanones.Heraldo de Zamora 29.04.03, available here In the mid-1900s Jesús Requejo acted as sort of a local Sanabrian correspondent of Heraldo.Heraldo de Zamora 06.05.05, available here His political ideas were somewhat heterodox. On the one hand, reportedly due to interest in social justice raised by the Jesuits,López Teulón 2013, p. 190 he lamented underprivileged position of the workers, on the 1st of May encouraged them that “querer es poder” and claimed that “their day will come”.Heraldo de Zamora 01.05.06, available here On the other, in 1907 he formed part of Comité Conservador in the town.Heraldo de Zamora 05.02.07, available here In 1908 he was already recognized locally, and during town feasts he spoke right after the mayor, delivering grandiloquent lectures on historical traditions of the town.Heraldo de Zamora 03.04.08, available here
In 1909 Requejo was elected to the ayuntamiento of PueblaHeraldo de Zamora 04.05.09, available here and proved a fairly active councillor.Boletín Oficial de Zamora 20.08.09, available here The same year he entered the Cuerpo de Aspirantes al NotariadoLa Reforma 15.02.09, available here and indeed soon became a notary.El Siglo Futuro 03.04.09, available here In 1912 – still serving as a local attorney – he passed exams to become a property registrar.Heraldo de Zamora 03.05.12, available here; Requejo’s ascendance to registrador was hailed by friendly press as a triumph of youth, see Heraldo de Zamora 12.06.12, available here In August he was posted to Bande (Orense province),San Juan 2009, p. 83 but he agreed a swoop and in October 1912 he was reassigned to his native Puebla de Sanabria.Rodríguez de Diego 2014, p. 137 Due to new duties he resigned from the town hall.Heraldo de Zamora 31.10.12, available here In 1913 he was officially admitted to “claustro de doctores” at the University of SalamancaEl Adelanto 31.12.13, available here and since then he appeared as “doctor en derecho”.Heraldo de Zamora 13.05.14, available here In the mid-1910s he already acted as member of the jury which examined applicants for academic teaching positionse.g. in 1914 for catedra vacante in Universidad de Granada, Heraldo de Zamora 30.07.14, available here and took part in nationwide semi-scientific congresses.in 1915 Requejo took part in Congreso nacional de Doctores in Madrid, Heraldo de Zamora 24.04.15, available here
In the late 1910s and early 1920s Requejo remained related to the liberalismo dinástico faction, active in the network of Romanonistas like Antonio Rodríguez Cid,Heraldo de Zamora 27.05.13, available here Santiago Alba Bonifaz,Heraldo de Zamora 25.11.16, available here Fernando López MonisHeraldo de Zamora 09.02.18, available here or Ismael Calvo Madroño.Heraldo de Zamora 14.04.19, available here; in 1921 Requejo presided over local commemorations of Ismael Calvo on 2nd anniversary of his death, Heraldo de Zamora 23.04.21, available here Apart from his registrador and attorney jobsBoletín Oficial de Zamora 07.08.14, available here he was increasingly engaged in social initiatives.e. g. he tried to mobilize the rural proletariat into action, concluding by the “Adelante, hijos de los campo!” cry, Heraldo de Zamora 19.02.15, available here In 1915 he co-founded Sindicato Agrícola Católico Sanabrés and engaged in Federación Agraria Católica of Zamora. In 1916 he worked to ensure cheap credit by co-founding a local Banco AgrícolaHeraldo de Zamora 25.11.16, available here and started to discuss agrarian policy in specialized Madrid periodicals.1918 in Madrid a specialized periodical La Liga Agraria published Requejo’s article Nuestra política agraria, advertising the author as a perfectly competent professional, as registrador expert on issues related to rural property, Heraldo de Zamora 13.09.18, available here In 1917 he raised support for Liberal educational initiatives;Heraldo de Zamora 04.05.17, available here in 1918 he briefly served in Madrid as “secretario particular de la subsecretaria”; he worked on a public education project, sponsored by López Monis.Heraldo de Zamora 14.09.18, available here In Puebla Requejo founded a dormitory for the poor and tried to set up a secondary school; in 1920 he donated 5,000 ptas for a future educational institution in the townHeraldo de Zamora 01.10.20, available here and funded grants for aspiring young teenagers from poor families.Rodríguez de Diego 2014, p. 137, San Juan 2009, p. 84 In the early 1920s he was a well-recognized county personality, active in numerous bodies and assuming prestigious roles during local events.Heraldo de Zamora 20.02.23, available here
Dictatorship