Alonso Tostado (also ''Al(f)onso Fernández de

Madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...

'', variously known as ''Alphonsus Tostatus'', ''Tostatus Abulensis'', and in Spanish as ''El Tostado'' or ''El Abulense''; ca. 1410His year of birth is unknown; it is often estimated as c. 1410, or in some publications as c. 1400–1410;
Retratos de Españoles ilustres
', Madrid (1791) gives 1415. – 3 September 1455) was a Spanish theologian, councillor of John II of Castile and briefly

bishop of Ávila A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

. His

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

stated "Wonder of earth, all men ''can'' know he scanned." A leading scholar of his generation, he is particularly known as an early theorist on

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

; in his ''De maleficis mulieribus, quae vulgariter dicuntur bruxas'' (1440) he defended the possibility of flying witches based on biblical exegesis.

Life

Alonso's father, also called Alonso Tostado, was a ploughman. The nickname '' Tostado'' refers to a ploughman's tanned or sunburnt complexion. After a course of grammar under the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

s he entered 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 t ...

, where, besides

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

, he studied civil and canon law,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, and the other branches then comprised in the curriculum of a university. By great application joined to an unusually brilliant mind and an extraordinarily retentive

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remember ...

, he accumulated such a vast store of knowledge that his contemporaries styled him a wonder of the world. At 22 he began to lecture on a wide variety of subjects to large audiences attracted by his learning. Later he assisted with distinction at the

Council of Basle The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

. During a visit to the

papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

court at

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

in 1443, he was denounced to

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

as having publicly defended a heretic and some rash propositions, but in an explanatory letter he assured the pontiff of his orthodoxy. On his return to Spain, in 1444, he was appointed Grand Chancellor and councillor of John II of Castile. In 1454, shortly before his premature death (likely in his forties or early fifties), he was named Bishop of

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m ab ...

. His sepulcher in Avila was carved by Vasco de la Zarza in 1518.

Works

In his ''Defensorium'', written against Juan de Torquemada and other critics, he gave utterance to views derogatory to the authority of the pope. Besides a Spanish commentary on the chronicles of

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

and other minor works, he wrote commentaries on the historical books of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

as far as

Second Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

, and on the Gospel according to St. Matthew. These are diffuse, containing many digressions on

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

tic and other subjects. Tostado's works exercised a significant influence on the Jewish Bible commentator and statesman Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508).Solomon Gaon, The Influence of the Catholic Theologian Alfonso Tosado on the Pentateuch Commentary of Isaac Abravanel (Ktav & Sephardic House, 1993). An edition of his works in 13

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

volumes was published at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1507 and 1547; a more complete edition in 24 folio volumes appeared at the same place in 1615, and another in 27 folio volumes in 1728.

References

* Bechtel, F.
Alonso Tostado
''

The Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' (1912). *Fontanus, Franciscus (ed).''Alphonsi Tostati Hispani ... Opera nuperrime vetustissimo originali configurata'' (1615)
google books
. *Hansen, Joseph, ''Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung in Mittelalter'', Bonn: Carl Georgi, 1901. *Gaon, Solomon, The Influence of the Catholic Theologian Alfonso Tostado on the Pentateuch Commentary of Isaac Abravanel (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav & Sephardic House, 1993). *Suarez P.L., ''Noematica biblico-mesianica de Alfonso de Matrigal, Obispo de Avila (1400-1455)'', Madrid (1956). *Tomás González Rolán/Antonio López Fonseca: Fernández de Madrigal, Alfonso: Breuiloquium de amore et amicitia = Tratado de amor y amiçiçia. I, De amore. Estudio y edición crítica bilingüe de los textos latino y romance. Madrid: Guillermo Escolar 2021, ISBN 978-84-18093-74-6.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tostado, Alonso 1455 deaths University of Salamanca alumni Academic staff of the University of Salamanca Spanish Christian theologians 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Castile