Juan Maldonado (Maldonatus, Maldonation) (1533 in
Casas de Reina
Casas de Reina is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2005 census (INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Instit ...
,
Llerena,
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
– 5 January 1583 in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
) was a Spanish
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
theologian and
exegete
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...
.
Life
At the age of fourteen or fifteen he went to the
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...
, where he studied Latin with two blind professors, who, however, were men of great erudition. He also studied Greek with
Hernán Núñez
Hernán Núñez de Toledo y Guzmán (Valladolid, 1475 - Salamanca, 1553) was a Spanish humanist, classicist, philologist, and paremiographer. He was called ''el Comendador Griego'', ''el Pinciano'' (from Pintia, the Latin name of Valladolid) or ...
(el Pinciano), philosophy with
Francisco de Toledo
Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ( Oropesa, 10 July 1515 – Escalona, 21 April 1582), also known as ''The Viceroyal Solon'', was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Often regarded as the "best of Peru ...
(afterwards a cardinal), and theology with Padre
Domingo Soto. He declared, as late as the year 1574, that he had forgotten nothing he had learned in grammar and philosophy. Having finished his course of three years in the latter of these two studies, Maldonado would have devoted himself to jurisprudence with a view to the exalted offices of the magistracy; but, persuaded by one of his fellow-students, though to the disgust of those upon whom he was dependent, he turned his attention to theology - a choice of which he never repented. Having studied the sacred sciences for four years, and passed through the examination and exercises of the doctorate, he taught philosophy, theology, and Greek for some time in the University of Salamanca. The register of the Salamanca College of the Society states that he was admitted there in 1558 and sent to Rome to be received. He took the Jesuit habit in the Novitiate of San Andrea, 19 August 1562, was ordained priest in the following year, and for some months heard cases of conscience in the Roman College.
The
Collège de Clermont
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
having been opened in Paris, Maldonado was sent thither in the autumn of 1563. In February, 1564, he commenced lecturing on Aristotle's ''
De Anima
''On the Soul'' (Greek: , ''Peri Psychēs''; Latin: ''De Anima'') is a major treatise written by Aristotle c. 350 BC. His discussion centres on the kinds of souls possessed by different kinds of living things, distinguished by their different op ...
''. From 1565 to 1569 he lectured in theology. His health beginning to fail, a year of rest followed, during which (1570) he gave missions in
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
, where
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
was prevalent, and he was so successful that the people of
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
petitioned for a Jesuit College.
From 1570 to 1576 he again lectured in theology, also delivering conferences to the court, by royal command, and effecting the conversion of various Protestant princes. At the instance of the
Duc de Montpensier, he proceeded to
Sedan, to bring back to Catholicism the Duchess de Bouillon (the duke's daughter), who had become a Calvinist. He held, in her presence, some very notable disputations with Protestant preachers. During the absence of the provincial, he also acted for some months as vice-provincial, when his uprightness was vindicated in an action brought against him by the heirs of the President de Montbrun de Saint-André, and in the case of the novice Jannel, who entered the Society in opposition to his parents' wishes. The Parliament proclaimed his innocence.
In consequence of rivalries on the part of the professors of the university, the pope assigned him to teach theology at Toulouse, but this was prevented by the Calvinists, who blocked the roads leading thither and he withdrew to Bourges to write his "Commentary on the Gospels". In 1578-79 he was visitor of the French Province of the Society, and then returned to continue his labours at Bourges. The province chose him, in 1580, as elector at the fourth general congregation, at Rome, where he delivered the opening discourse.
Acquaviva, having been elected general, ordered him to remain at Rome, and
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
appointed him to the commission for revising the text of the ''
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
''.
In 1583, fifteen days before his death, when he had not yet completed his fiftieth year, he delivered to the general his unfinished commentaries. He died in Rome on 5 January 1583, aged 49.
Teaching
Theology in Paris had fallen into decay through the prevalence of philosophical quibbles and barbarous Latin; this Maldonado remedied, giving due precedence to Scripture, the Fathers, tradition and the theologians, relegating the philosophers to the lowest place, and keeping useless questions within bounds; he spoke Latin elegantly, and drew up a scheme of theology more complete than that which had been in use, adapting it to the needs of the Church and of France. The lecture-room and, after it, the refectory were found to be too small; Maldonado therefore carried on his classes, when the weather permitted, in the college courtyard. Nobles, magistrates, doctors of the Sorbonne, college professors prelates, religious, and even Huguenot preachers went to hear him, engaging their places in advance, and sometimes arriving three hours before the beginning of the lecture. Bishops and other great personages living away from Paris employed copyists to transmit his lectures to them.
In 1574 the university accused him of impugning the
Immaculate Conception of Mary
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth wh ...
. This was untrue, as he held only that the doctrine was not as yet an article of faith, but that one might properly take a vow to defend it;
Pierre de Gondi
Pierre de Gondi, cardinal de Retz (1533–1616) was a French bishop and cardinal of the Gondi family.
Life
Born in Lyon, he was a brother of Albert de Gondi (two of whose sons, Henri and Jean-François, succeeded Pierre as bishop of Paris) and a ...
,
Bishop of Paris
The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...
, decided in his favour (January, 1575). Again, he was accused teaching that the pains of
purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
last ten years at most. What he really taught was that the duration of those pains is unknown and it would be rash to attempt to determine it, however, he favoured the opinion of Soto, that in some cases purgatory did not last longer than ten years.
Being an excellent theologian, well grounded, at Salamanca, in Latin and Greek, having also learned Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic, and Arabic in Paris, and knowing all that was then known of ancient history, the Fathers and the false interpretations of the heretics, Maldonado became, according to the opinion of Kuhn, superior to most exegetes of his time, and inferior to none. In
Cornely
Karl Josef Rudolph Cornely (19 April 1830, at Breyell in Germany – 3 March 1908, at Treves), was a German Jesuit biblical scholar.
Life
Formation
On the completion of his classical studies he matriculated at Münster in Westphalia to ...
's opinion, his "Commentaries on the Gospels" are the best ever published. He excelled, according to Simon, in explanation of the literal sense; according to Andres, in his comprehension of the text and in gathering the aptest and truest sense, leaving no difficulty unexamined.
Maldonado has played a major role in French
demonology
Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or pseudoscience. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may b ...
. He was of the opinion that a storm of demons is followed by the spread of heresy (Protestantism). Heresy degenerates in atheism and magic. Demons use heretics to deceive mankind. In his view, the denial of demons is as great a sin as atheism. Witchcraft and heresy are connected by curiosity. "More women than men are witches, since women are more curious."
Works
*"Commentarii in quatuor Evangelistas", early editions: Pont-a-Mousson, 2 vols., folio 1596-97 (Lyons, 1598, 1607, 1615); (Mainz, 1602, 1604); (Paris, 1617, 1621); (Brescia, 2 vols., 4o, 1598), (Venice 1606); modern editions: (Mainz, 5 vols., 8o, 1840; 2 vols., 1853–63; id., 1874); (Barcelona 10 vols., 1881–82); "Commentary on St. Matthew" in
Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a u ...
, "Curs Script."
*"Disputationum ac controversiarum decisarum et circa septem Ecclesiae Romanae Sacramenta" (2 vols., Lyons, 1614).
[This work is incorrect and was placed on the Spanish Index in 1667; but not on the Roman Index. Dubois and Faure published a corrected edition in "Opera varia theologica" (3 vols., folio, Paris, 1677), together with "De libero arbitrio, gratia, peccato originali, providentia, justitia, justificatione"; a disputation "De Fide", the existence of which is doubted by ]Sommervogel
Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclope ...
.
*"De Caeremoniis Tractatus", I -CCX, in Vol. III of Zaccaria's "Biblioth. ritual." Simon gives extracts in "Lettres choisies."
Apocryphal are:
*"Traicté des anges et demons", a translation of some of Maldonado's expositions collected by one of his pupils
*"Summula R. P. Maldonati", a compilation made by
Martin Codognat, placed on the Index, 16 December 1605.
Manuscripts, exegetical and theological, attributed to Maldonado, are preserved in many libraries of France (especially the National), Switzerland, Italy, and Spain; many of them are copies made by his pupils.
References
*Prat, Maldonat et l'Universite de Paris au XVIe siecle (Paris, 1856)
*Salygni, La Vie du P. Jean Maldonat in Apend aux Memoires du Pere Broet (Le Puy, 1885)
*Nieremberg, Honor del Gran Patriarca S. Ignacio de Loyola (Madrid, 1649), 453-55
*Hyver, Maldonat et les commencements de l'Universite de Pont-a-Mousson (Nancy, 1873)
*Alcazar, Chrono-Historia de la Compania de Jesus en la Provincia de Toledo, II (Madrid, 1710), 42- 45
*Barrantes, Aparato Bibliografico para la Historia de Extramadura (Madrid, 1875), 46O-468
*Astrain, Historia de la Compania de Jesus en la Asistencia de Espana, II (Madrid, 1905), iv-xi
*Fouqueray, Histoire de la Compagnie de Jesus en France, I (Paris, 1910), 572 etc.
*
Hugo von Hurter
The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings.
Friedric ...
, ''Nomenclator literarius'' (Innsbruck, 1892),1-89
*
Sommervogel
Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclope ...
, Bibliothèque de la Companie de Jesus, V (Paris, 1894), col. 403-412; IX, col. 631
*Diaz y Perez, Diccionario de Extremenos Ilustres, II (Madrid, 1884), 6.
Notes
External links
Source
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonada, Juan
1533 births
1583 deaths
16th-century Spanish Jesuits
16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians
University of Salamanca alumni
Jesuit theologians
Roman Catholic biblical scholars
Lycée Louis-le-Grand teachers