Ramón José de Arce was born in Selaya, Cantabria in 1757.[3] He was educated at the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca of the University of Salamanca.[3] After university he became an official in the Finance Ministry of the Real Junta de Juros.[3] He then became a member of the Council of Castile.[3]
Spain was invaded by the First French Empire in 1808, becoming a client state of the French Empire. A series of sermons that Arce delivered during the occupation were widely believed to be pro-French.[5] As such, after Spain regained its independence during the Peninsular War in 1814, there was pressure on Arce to resign. He resigned his archbishopric and patriarchate on July 15, 1816.[6] He subsequently lived in exile in Paris, where he died on February 16, 1844.[5]
