In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Was Juan Luis Vives a Disciple of Erasmus? CARLOS NORElqA MODERN SCHOLARSHIPis becoming increasingly aware of Eramus' influence upon the European thought of the sixteenth century. The books of Bataillon, Renaudet, P. S. Allen, de Voeht, and Am6rico Castro, among others, have disclosed the magnitude of the Erasmian revolution, a Some important aspects of it, however, am still very much in need of clarification. Such are, for instance, the relations of Erasmus with two humanists whose Catholic orthodoxy has been both seriously questioned and zealously defended, Thomas More and Juan Luis Vives.z The present article deals exclusively with the latter. There is no doubt that Vives was an important part of the Erasmian attempt to prevent the religious polarization which Trent and Augsburg perpetuated with their dogmatic distinctions. In this sense one can agree with Renaudet in calling Vives '% disciple authenfique de la science et de la pens6e 6rasmienne." a On the other hand, the publication of Vives' letters to Cranevelt and a careful study of his x Marcel Bataillon's Erasme et l'Espagne (Paris, 1937) will be quoted from the second edition (Mexico City, 1966) of the Spanish translation by A. Alatorre, Erasmo 3' Espaha, which contains worthwhile corrections by the author himself. Bataillon has also written two interesting articles: "Du nouveau sur J. L. Vives," Bulletin hispanique, XXXII (1930), 97-144, and "Encore Erasme," Bulletin hispanique, XXVII (1925), 239-242. Augustin Renaudet, Prdrd/orme et Humanisme ~ Paris pendant les premieres guerres d'Italie (1494-1517) (2nd ed.; Paris, 1953). Also, Erasme: Sa pensde religieuse et son action d'apr}s sa correspondance (1518-1526) (Paris, 1926). P. S. Allen published eleven volumes of Erasmus' correspondence with a superb critical apparatus under the title Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (Oxford, 1916-1947). Hereafter cited as EE, volume, number of letter, verse. Also, The Age o/ Erasmus (Oxford, 1914). Henry de Voeht, Monumenta Humanistica Lovaniensia (Lonvain, 1934). Am6rico Castro, The Structure o/ Spanish History, trans. E. L. King (Princeton, 1954). Also, "Lo Hisp,'~ico y el Erasmismo," Revista de Filologia Hispdnica (Buenos Aires), II (1940), 1-34; IV, 1-66. 2 On Thomas More see James K. MeConica, English Humanists and Reformation Politics (Oxford, 1965), Appendix II: "The Recusant Traditions of Thomas More," pp. 285294 . According to Jacobus Brucker, Historia critica Philosophlae ([6 'vols.; Leyden, 1746] II, 78, 83), Vives was a protestant in disguise; Friedrieh A. Lange, Luis Vires ([Leipzig, 1897], pp. 183-186),maintains that Vives' sympathy for the Reformation explains the popularity of his devotional books among Protestants and Socinians. On the latter, see Angel Losada, "Juan Luis Vive.sen la actualidad international," Revista de Filosofla, VII (1952), 152. Most Spanish scholars on the other hand, following Men6ndez y Pelayo, Estudios de critiea hist6rica y literaria ([2nd. ed.; Buenos Aires, 1944], p. 8), defend the view that Vires was a "fervorosisimo cat61ico." s Erasme, p. 128. [263] 264 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY more philosophical books point to an independence of character and thought which cannot be narrowed down to the relationship described by Renaudet.4 The purpose of this article is to emphasize both the impact of Erasmian influence upon Vives and the originality of Vives' thought. Vives' early education was exposed to the same cultural trends from which the Philosophia Christi received its inspiration. Already as a gymnasiast in Valencia the young Vives took an active part in the debate over the liberal ideas of Nebrija, the man who, according to Bataillon, introduced into Spain the biblical criticism of Valla and thus became a forerunner of Erasmus himself.5 In fact the story goes that Vives was put up by one of his most conservative teachers to declaim against Nebrija, the only Spanish scholar he would constantly recommend in his more mature years.6 Probably, the example of Nebrija's troubles with the Inquisition and with the more clerical Cisneros was one of the most powerful reasons Vives chose not to live in Spain.7 Because of this self-imposed exile, Vires cannot be described as a leader of the Spanish Erasmian movement, although his personal relation with Erasmus was, from the very beginning, an important link between the Northern Humanist and his enthusiastic Spanish...

pdf

Share