Juan Martínez Silíceo (1486–1557) was a

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

Biography

Juan Martínez Silíceo was born in Villagarcía de la Torre in 1486, the son of Juan Martínez Guijeno, a poor laborer, and Juana Muñoz. His last name is also given as Guijarro. Martínez studied

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

in Llerena, a small town near Villagarcía de la Torre, and then studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. To support himself, he served as a

sacristan A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretal ...

in the parish church in his home town. He then became the tutor of two sons of a gentleman in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. He then moved on to the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

to complete his studies. Afterwards, he became

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

at the ''Colegio de San Bartolomé'',

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

. After he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, he became a professor of

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

. He then became the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

theologian of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of the Cathedral of Coria. In July 1534, he was named tutor to Philip, Prince of Asturias, later becoming the prince's

almoner An almoner () is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. The title ''almoner'' has to some extent fallen out of use in English, but its equivalents in other languages are often used f ...

and

confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...

. On 23 February 1541 he was elected

Bishop of Cartagena The Diocese of Cartagena () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the city of Cartagena in the ecclesiastical province of Granada in Spain.consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

as a

later that year. (He did not, however, enter his see until 1544.) In 1543, Prince Philip despatched him to

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

to retrieve the prince's fiancée, Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal. On 8 January 1546 he was promoted to the metropolitan see of Toledo.

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

made him a

cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 20 December 1555. He received the

red hat Red Hat, Inc. (formerly Red Hat Software, Inc.) is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises and is a subsidiary of IBM. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North ...

and the

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

Santi Nereo e Achilleo Santi Nereo ed Achilleo is a fourth-century basilica churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, located in via delle Terme di Caracalla in the rione Celio (rione of Rome), Celio facing the main entrance to the Baths of Caracalla. It has been the tit ...

on 1 February 1556. He became a renowned mathematician for his time after publishing "Arithmética", firstly printed in Paris and afterwards all across Spain. Apart from "Arithmética" he also publish "Arte calculatorio". He died in

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

on 31 May 1557. He was buried in the church of the ''

Colegio de Doncellas Nobles The Colegio de Doncellas Nobles is a former girls' school in Toledo, Spain, Toledo (Castile-La Mancha, Spain). It was founded in 1551 by the archbishop of Toledo and cardinal Juan Martínez Silíceo. The project, which had as its patron the king ...

'', a girls' school he had founded in Toledo.

''Limpieza de sangre'' Statutes and Anti-Semitism

Siliceo successfully fought to impose the ''

limpieza de sangre (), also known as (, ) or (), literally 'cleanliness of blood' and meaning 'blood purity', was a racially discriminatory term used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires during the early modern period to refer to those who were considered ...

'' ("purity of blood") statutes on the

Archdiocese of Toledo The Archdiocese of Toledo () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Spain.

in order to exclude the

Conversos A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...

, those Spaniards descended from Jews who had converted to Catholicism, from holding official positions within the Church hierarchy. He used both theological and racist arguments in order to convince

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, King of Spain as well as the Pope to approve the exclusionary, racist rules. French scholar of

Anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, the late

Leon Poliakov Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fr ...

describes Siliceo as precursor of modern anti-semitic ideas: the idea that Christ appeared among the Jews because of their "perversity" and "as to the Jewish origins of the Mother of God, the theology of Siliceo simply ignored them...anticipating the 'Aryan Christ' of Nazi theology."Poliakov, Leo, The History of Anti-Semitism, Volume 2, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pages 225-227

References

Works

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Siliceo, Juan 1486 births 1557 deaths Burials in the Province of Toledo 16th-century Spanish cardinals Academic staff of the University of Salamanca 16th-century Spanish philosophers