Joseph Sáenz de Aguirre, OSB (24 March 1630 – 19 August 1699) was a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, and learned

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Biography

De Aguirre was born at

Logroño Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...

, in

Old Castile Old Castile ( es, Castilla la Vieja ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions along the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: San ...

. He entered the congregation of

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

. He directed the studies in the Monastery of St. Vincent of Salamanca for fifteen years, and became its

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

. He then qualified in dogmatic theology and inaugurated the course in

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

at 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 ...

. He was councillor and secretary of the

Holy Office The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...

and president of its congregation of the province of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. His work against the Declaration of the Gallican Clergy of 1682 won him a cardinal's hat and the warm eulogy of

Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Poli ...

. His correspondence with

Bossuet Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), French bishop and theologian, uncle of Louis * Louis Bossuet Louis Bossuet (22 February 1663 – 15 January 1742) was a French parle ...

shows how vigorously he combated Quietism. His excessive labors undermined his health, and for many years he suffered from

epileptic Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

seizures. He died suddenly from a stroke of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

. He was buried in the Spanish Church of St. James 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 ...

, and his heart was deposited in

, as he had requested.

Works

His more important works are on philosophical and theological subjects, but he also produced valuable writings on ecclesiastical history, commentaries on the theology of

St. Anselm Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after Aosta, his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his Abbey of Bec, monastery, was an Italian Benedictines, Benedictine monk, abbot, ...

, two volumes of miscellanea, and a book to prove that the ''

De Imitatione Christi ''The Imitation of Christ'', by Thomas à Kempis, is a Christian devotional book first composed in Medieval Latin as ''De Imitatione Christi'' ( 1418–1427).''An introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious studies'', by Orlando O. Esp� ...

'' was by the Benedictine,

Jean Gerson Jean Charlier de Gerson (13 December 1363 – 12 July 1429) was a French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Co ...

. His principal works on philosophy are: *"Philosophia Nova-antiqua" etc., a defense of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

and

St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known ...

against their opponents (Salamanca, 1671-2-5, 3 in fol.) *"Philosophia Morum" etc. (Salamanca, 1677; Rome, 1698), a commentary in four volumes on

Aristotle's Ethics Aristotle first used the term ''ethics'' to name a field of study developed by his predecessors Socrates and Plato. In philosophy, ethics is the attempt to offer a rational response to the question of how humans should best live. Aristotle regarded ...

. *"De virtutibus et vitiis disputationes ethicae in quibus disseritur quidquid spectat ad philosophiam moralem ab Aristotele traditam" (Salamanca, 1677; 2d ed. enlarged, Rome, 1697; 3d. ed. Rome, 1717). His principal theological works are: * A treatise on the

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, especially the Guardian Angels, which he prepared as his

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

for the degree of

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

. *"S. Anselmi Theologia, commentariis et disputationibus tum dogmaticis tum scholasticis illustrata" (Salamanca, 1678–81, 2d ed. Rome, 1688–90). The third volume, "De natura hominis pura et lapsa", is especially directed against

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by t ...

. *"Auctoritas infallibilis et summa Cathedrae Sancti Petri", etc. (Salamanca, 1683), a learned refutation of the four articles of the Declaration of the Gallican Clergy of France in 1682. *"Collectio maxima conciliorum omnium Hispaniae et novi orbis", etc. (Salamanca, 1686).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saenz d'Aguirre, Jose 1630 births 1699 deaths Academic staff of the University of Salamanca 17th-century Spanish cardinals Spanish Benedictines 17th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians 17th-century Spanish philosophers