REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW

2019, VOL. 21, NO. 1, 27–46

https://doi.org/10.1080/14622459.2019.1568371

The Adoption of Humanism in Catholic Spain (1470-1520)

Martin Biersack
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Munich, Germany

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
This article re-evaluates the role and impact of Italian humanism in Humanism; Spain; Catholic
Spain, where scholars trained in Italy occupied the most important Kings; Renaissance reception
teaching posts of Latin in universities and schools from the 1470s.
As a result, within one or two generations the entire educational
system in Spain had been transformed by humanism. By
reconstructing what humanism meant for different groups in
society, its successes, as well as its limitations, are explained. Latin
was important for the academic and governing elites. Additionally,
humanism provided them with a cultural code, which – primarily
in its aesthetic dimension – enabled them to differentiate
themselves from others. However, the humanists’ aspiration to be
on a par with nobles and equal in authority to lawyers and
theologians was rejected. Noble blood, traditional legal attitudes
and religious orthodoxy stood firm against a culture based on
classical language and letters. Theologians in particular rejected
the humanists’ interest in pagan mythology.

Introduction
In 1492, the leading Spanish humanist, Elio Antonio de Nebrija (1441/44–1522), declared
that it was he who had started to restore Latin in Salamanca and that before this, no one in
Spain would have been in a position to do so. He believed everyone who had mastered
Latin should be grateful to him because he alone could be credited with having banished
medieval grammars.1 This assertion is somewhat surprising, not only because Nebrija wil-
fully ignored the pre-humanist Latin tradition, but also because there had already been two
Italian humanists teaching Latin in Salamanca before he arrived in 1473. In the 1460s,
Nicolao Antonio held a personal chair of Poetry, where he taught Virgil and Cicero. In
1473 he was followed by Pomponio Mantuano, who was probably the author of a Latin
grammar which in many ways resembles Nebrija’s, being also based on the work of
Lorenzo Valla (1407‒1457) and Quintilian.2
Thus, what was new about Nebrija was probably not that he was the first to teach Latin
in Spain, nor even that he was the first to teach humanist Latin there, but that he was the
first who actively drew attention to, and promoted, the gap that separated medieval Latin
teaching from humanist Latin, based on the classics from antiquity. The stylistic difference

martin.biersack@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
1
Nebrija, Diccionario, f. a1. Cf. Pacheco, “Nebrija.”
2
Olmedo, Nebrija en Salamanca, 42–5.

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

28 M. BIERSACK

may have been viewed by non-humanist scholars of the fifteenth century as merely show;
however, for Nebrija, and for humanists in general, what they considered the correct style
was crucial.3 In order to distinguish the aesthetic experience of medieval from classical or
humanist Latin, the humanists learned to understand classical language and literature in
the context of a time different from their own and the barbarian past. In this historical
understanding the very essence of the Renaissance can be seen: historicizing the aesthetic
experience, which then led to the reconstruction of antiquity as a cultural alternative.4
The humanists presented themselves as arbiters of this cultural alternative, which
offered not only useful, but essential knowledge to the kingdom, society and mankind.
Consequently, they claimed a better status and broader authority than had been given
to Latin teachers before. But resistance to the humanists was widespread in Castile. It
arose not only from older Latin teachers, who were not familiar with classical Latin, but
also from noblemen and administrators or lawyers [letrados], whose self-image was not
based on their knowledge of language and literature, but on their ancestry and wealth,
or their legal competence. Humanism was subject to most resistance in Castile, mainly
from the religious orthodoxy. This questioned whether humanist philologists should be
entitled to comment on religious texts.
Humanist philologists began their triumphal march through Spanish universities and
schools of Latin exactly at the time when the mixture of Christian, Jewish and Muslim
culture, which had co-existed on the Iberian Peninsula, visibly came to an end with the
beginning of the Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews as well as the conquering of
Granada in 1492. Could the culture of classical antiquity provide an alternative at this
time? The fundamental problem concerning the reception of humanism ‒ how it was poss-
ible to be Christian and simultaneously a passionate advocate of pagan antiquity and its
literature ‒ was felt throughout Europe. It was especially strong in the last third of the
fifteenth century in Castile.
This study aims to better our understanding of the reception of Italian humanism in
Castile in the years of the Catholic Monarchs. It analyses the role the humanists gave to
their knowledge with which they claimed a new status for themselves and their scholarship
in society. Furthermore, the study considers the response of the noble and legal culture
and especially religious orthodoxy to the humanists’ aspirations, how traditional elites
accepted as well as transformed and limited the role of humanism

The instrumental approach to humanism in the fifteenth century

Castile had a strong tradition of educational reform in the fifteenth century during which
attempts were made to provide clerics, civil servants and noblemen with the knowledge
needed to carry out their duties. The Castilian Church was instrumental in this, as it
tried to control the suitability of cathedral dignitaries and bishops by introducing require-
ments to limit the access to these positions to those with a university degree.5 In addition,
efforts were undertaken to secure a minimum level of knowledge of Latin, even for ordin-
ary priests.6 Nevertheless criticism about ignorance among clerics did not disappear until
3
Witt, ‘In the Footsteps of the Ancients,’ 22; Moss, Renaissance Truth, 2; Aldea Vaquero, “La poesía latina del humanismo
español.”
4
Witt borrows the term ‘cultural alternative’ from Greene, The Light in Troy, 90.
5
Azcona, La elección y reforma, 96.
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 29

the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, even if this did not reflect reality. The real problem
was that after two centuries of reform there were still clerics who were illiterati – an absol-
utely intolerable situation at the end of fifteenth century.7
The crown was also interested in its functionaries being qualified for office. The letra-
dos, university trained lawyers of Roman or Canon law, were by definition “lettered” or
“men of knowledge.”8 During the reign of John II (1406–1454), Henry IV (1454–1474)
and the Catholic Monarchs, a university degree in law became a pre-requisite to exercise
certain offices in the royal administration.9 The number of posts which could only be
occupied by letrados also increased due to the bureaucratization of the administration
under the Catholic Monarchs, thus academic study was more and more attractive for
those who wanted to secure a place in the crown’s service.10 The growing demand for uni-
versity-trained lawyers and clerics during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries conse-
quently led to a growing demand for Latin schooling in Spain. In order to address this
situation, the church, the monarchy and town governments (cabildos) founded schools
of Latin all around Spain.11 These provided the infrastructural framework for the
diffusion of the humanist educational programme in Spain during the last third of the
fifteenth century.
However, Latin schools were only relevant for non-aristocratic pupils or for the sons of
the lower nobility who wanted to enter the church or royal services and so had to study law
or theology. Latin was not required for the sons of wealthy noble families. These acceded
to royal offices by right of birth. Nevertheless, it was not acceptable for a nobleman of
fifteenth-century Castile to be illiteratus. A minimum knowledge of religion, ethics,
history and rhetoric was also necessary although this knowledge was non-academic and
vernacular.12 This changed towards the end of the century when the nobility integrated
Latin into its education. Three reasons may have influenced this development: first, the
interest of some noblemen in classical culture; second, the example of the Catholic Mon-
archs, who encouraged their sons and daughters to learn Latin (even Queen Isabella took
lessons); third, the importance of Latin in foreign affairs, in which the nobility often inter-
vened, for example within the royal council or through prestigious embassies.13
According to the Italian humanist, Lucio Marineo Sículo (1460–1533), who served as a
Latin teacher at the Royal Chapel from 1497, Queen Isabella contracted well paid and
highly regarded teachers to provide Latin to the young pages, ladies and choir boys
who served at court.14 The most important Latin school at court, however, was run
from 1492 by Peter Martyr d’Anghiera (Sp.: Pedro Mártir de Anglería) (1457‒1526), an
Italian humanist, formerly a member of the Roman Academy of Pomponio Leto and
later famous as the first historiographer of the New World. Maybe he had his Roman tea-
chers in mind when he described his school as being like a Platonic Academy in which

6
Arranz Guzmán, “La cultura en el bajo clero,” 594–7.
7
Rucquoi, “La formation culturelle du clergé,” 253–62.
8
Maravall, “Los ‘hombres de saber’,” 345–80.
9
Phillips, “University Graduates,” 482.
10
Kagan, Students and Society, 132–3.
11
As a result, the percentage of Latin students among the whole population in sixteenth-century Spain is said to have been
the largest compared to other European nations, see Kagan, Students and Society, 200; Guijarro González, “Centros de la
cultura urbana,” 243–56.
12
Rodríguez Velasco, “De prudentia,” 69.
13
Beceiro Pita, “La valoración del saber,” 124–5.
14
Nieto Soria, “La Capilla real,” 21; Marineo Sículo, De rebus Hispaniae, 64.
30 M. BIERSACK

sons of the highest nobility and even young noblemen like the dukes of Braganza, Villa-
hermosa or Cardona studied the classics.15
The reception of Latin teaching and classical or humanist literature in Castile during
the fifteenth century was utilitarian. It corresponded with the conviction that the
command of Latin was necessary not only to study at university or to become a cleric,
but also to govern, be it in the royal administration or in the King’s council, to lead in
the military, and to govern the estate of noblemen. Latin schooling served as moral
instruction. It provided knowledge of history, rhetoric and education as well as encoura-
ging students to read and write in Latin. The first humanists who occupied posts in the
educational system of Castile and Spain, in municipal schools of Latin, the royal court,
noble households and universities were probably not chosen because they brought a
new and better programme of Latin teaching from Italy – the studia humanitatis. They
occupied posts because they could teach Latin and because the content of their classes,
texts of Roman authors, was generally accepted as being valuable for the moral education
of their students.

Aesthetic experience and humanitas: humanism in the classroom

The introduction of philological humanism and the ideal of humanist studies into Spain in
the 1470s by Nebrija, or as the model of education for the nobility in the 1480s and 90s by
Peter Martyr, did not immediately cause a break from the traditional Latin instruction of
the day. Language skills and ethics had been the principal reasons for schooling even
before humanism reached Spain, and they were certainly also the special aim of humanist
education. But its instructions could offer more, and the profound transformation of the
Spanish educational system within two generations cannot simply be explained by the
instrumental approach to humanism. This only explains why humanism was able to
enter the educational institutions so easily. The rapid spread of humanism and the resist-
ance it faced from the very beginning can, nevertheless, be explained by the difference
between the instrumental approach to Latin schooling and its new role offered by the
humanists, namely Latin in the classical style, and the pedagogical ideal of the dedication
to language and literature as humanitas.
Naturally, with the undertaking to purify Latin along the lines of classical models, the
humanists were confronted by powerful adversaries at the university. The older professors
of Latin who taught in (for Nebrija) a ‘barbarian style’, could not accept the rejection of
their Latin by the newcomer. Nebrija thus described his attempts to introduce humanist
Latin to Salamanca and via Salamanca to the whole of Spain as a struggle. He said that
when fighting his adversaries, he had to take the university as though it were a fortress.16
Nebrija finally triumphed – not because he had convinced all of his adversaries, but
because he found followers among the young generation of Latin teachers and scholars,
who in the last quarter of the fifteenth century were now familiar with humanism.
They willingly followed Nebrija because his claims helped them to distinguish themselves
from Latin teachers who were not-humanist trained and as such they were able to secure
their position in society. The cultivation of classical Latin forged a collective identity
15
Biersack, “La Escuela de Palacio,” 1333–53; cf. Cf. Szmolka Clares, “La preocupación por la cultura.”
16
Nebrija, Diccionario, f. a2v–a3r.
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 31

among the humanists, which excluded those whose Latin was not based on the classics.
Whoever was not able to write like Cicero or Virgil was labelled a barbarian, be they
teacher, cleric, lawyer or nobleman.17
From the 1480s on, when Nebrija published his Introductiones latinae, in which he
described his humanist programme, he became an archetype of the new humanist Latin
teacher. Whilst Italians mostly referenced Petrarch, Spanish humanists had now discov-
ered the founding figure of their movement in Nebrija.18 The earliest examples of such
humanists’ praise originate from Nebrija’s Portuguese colleague in Salamanca, the
Greek scholar, Aires Barbosa (1460–1540), as well like Italian humanists Peter Martyr
and Lucio Marineo Sículo, resident in Spain, who described Nebrija as the conqueror of
barbarity.19 References to Nebrija increased later as his former pupils referred to their
master.20 By doing so they positioned themselves in the movement of restoration, not
only of Latin but of scholarship and culture as a whole – something which gave legitima-
tion and value to their own work as teachers. This was the beginning of a self-awareness of
the humanist movement in Spain – a process which had already begun in Italy in the 1440s
when humanists started to write global accounts of their movement.21
As a result of the classes of humanists such as Nebrija, Marineo Sículo, Antonio Biax-
ander (known also as Flaminio Sículo, c.1460‒1513) and Alonso de Proaza (1445‒1519) in
Salamanca, Latin teachers trained in the humanist tradition increasingly occupied posts in
Latin schools all over Spain. In addition, humanist Latin schooling spread because huma-
nists went to the printing press in order to promote their linguistic reform programme.
Nebrija’s Introductiones latinae became the basic manual for Latin instruction throughout
Spain and the most successful Latin school book for a long time. Soon after more humanist
grammars and schoolbooks, which were influenced by Nebrija, were published elsewhere
in Spain.22
At the very latest by the beginning of the sixteenth-century pupils everywhere learned
according to Nebrija’s Introductiones or similar humanist grammars, or even directly with
Valla’s Elegantiae. Humanist Latin became the standard for educated Spaniards, aca-
demics such as theologians, lawyers and medical doctors as well as non-academic mer-
chants or pharmacists if they had been to a school of Latin. Moreover, in response to a
request from Queen Isabella, Nebrija even translated the Introductiones, so that religious
women who lacked the help of a preceptor could learn Latin on their own.23 In the case of
schools at noble courts, women even took classes24 and became Latin teachers.25

17
Bernstein, “Group Identity Formation,” 379.
18
Mazzocco, “Petrarch,” 215–42.
19
Marineo Sículo praised Nebrija in 1494 in his De Hispaniae laudibus; see Olmedo, Nebrija en Salamanca, 124–5. On Peter
Martyr, see Marineo Siculo’s poem “De barbaria fugata” (1498), in Marineo Siculo, Epistolarum, 41–3. For more praise of
Nebrija by humanists, see Antonio, Bibliotheca hispana nova, 132–9.
20
Hernán Núñez de Toledo, for example, considered himself a pupil of Nebrija and described his teacher as the one who
drove barbarism from Spain. Following him in this struggle, he hoped to use the education he had acquired in Italy for
the benefit of Spain; see Núñez de Toledo, Las Trezientas, 1499, f. 3v and 1505, f. 83r.
21
Baker, Italian Renaissance Humanism, 17; Biersack, Mediterraner Kulturtransfer, 120–2.
22
Rico, Nebrija frente a los bárbaros, 99–133.
23
Nebrija, Las Introductiones latinas, f. 2r.
24
The daughters of the Catholic Monarchs learned Latin with humanists as did the daughters of the count of Tendilla, María
de Mendoza and María Pacheco, and the hereditary daughter of the marqués del Cenete, Mencía de Mendoza, who were
celebrated by humanists for their extraordinary scholarship; see Marineo Sículo, Epistolarum familiarum, 694. For praise
of Diego de Sigi, secretary of María Pacheco, see Rodríguez Villa, “La viuda de Padilla,” 67. Mencía de Mendoza probably
received a humanist education in Spain before she moved to the Low Countries; cf. García Pérez, “Mencía de Mendoza,”
639–58.
32 M. BIERSACK

Men and women trained by humanists became aware of stylistic differences between
classical and medieval Latin and accepted the former as the aesthetic norm. The commit-
ment of humanist Latin education to aesthetics familiarized pupils with aesthetic questions
that went beyond language and literature to include architecture, arts and performances.26
However, humanist restoration of Latin was much more than just a philological or sty-
listic approach to purify Latin. Following the beliefs of Valla, Nebrija conceived of Latin as
the foundation stone of state and religion. No one could correctly understand the Bible,
laws, or treatises in medicine if their Latin were inadequate What is more, Latin was
the key to ‘arts which are called the humanities because they belong to humans if they
are human.’27 The idea of Latin studies as the studia humanitatis was not only a pedago-
gical ideal conceiving of the humanities as the very essence of human mankind; it was a
claim for the pre-eminence of humanist scholarship over other faculties.
Spanish Latin teachers, therefore, gratefully accepted and transmitted the ideal of the
studia humanitatis in classrooms, speeches and writings. The praise of letters became
commonplace in Salamanca as well as in Alcalá in the orations held at the beginning of
the academic year. These orations were influenced by Valla, Nebrija and also by the key
text in praise of letters, Pico della Mirandola’s Oratio de hominibus dignitate.28 Peter
Martyr also aimed to convince his pupils from the nobility at court of the value of huma-
nities. Real nobility ensued from the exercise of letters – not from wealth or lineage.29
Hernán Núñez de Toledo (1475–1553), who around 1500 served as the teacher for the
sons and daughters of the count of Tendilla at the Alhambra, tried the same. He con-
sidered ‘the study of letters and virtue’ as the most important occupations of mankind,
which should be held in higher esteem than others.30

Humanitas versus noble blood and wealth

The concept of the studia humanitatis was particularly interesting for the nobility. During
the fifteenth century, letrados [administrators and jurists] had questioned its supremacy in
political matters. The letrados sent noblemen to war but denied them the right to govern
because, according to their academic opponents, nobles did not have sufficient knowledge
of the law, language and moral philosophy – all the academic knowledge that was a letra-
dos’ privilege – to carry out the duties in an office in the royal council or high adminis-
tration.31 The concept of the studia humanitatis gave legitimacy to the nobles in the
face of this questioning of their suitability for government. In addition, the studia huma-
nitatis was especially attractive because it encompassed a cultural code which was rela-
tively easy to acquire, at least it was not necessary to enrol at a university, something
that the nobility did not do. But if they had studied the studia humanitatis, this provided
25
At the court of the Catholic Monarchs, Luisa de Medrano was educated by an unknown humanist and then later became
professor of Latin at the University of Salamanca and therefore the first woman to occupy a chair in Spain; see Oettel,
“Una catedrática,” 289–368. Nebrija’s daughter, Francisca, who succeeded her father in Alcalá is another remarkable case
of a humanist woman. For more such examples at the time of the Catholic Monarchs, see Segura Graíño, “Las mujeres
escritoras,” 286–7.
26
Roeck, “Kulturtransfer,” 15.
27
Nebrija, Las Introductiones latinas, f. 1v.
28
Rico, “Laudes litterarum,” 895–914.
29
Martire d’Anghiera, Epistolario, nos. 46, 115 and 136.
30
Núñez de Toledo, Las Trezientas, f. 2r.
31
Rodríguez Velasco, “De prudentia,” 122–3.
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 33

noblemen with the opportunity to present themselves as lettered, knowing a form of Latin
that was superior to that of academic lawyers. In fact, humanism went even further than
providing increased opportunities; it created a habit, a way of life which, on the one hand,
eliminated social boundaries and created a res publica of letters that included all those edu-
cated in humanities. On the other hand, it excluded those without such training. Huma-
nitas put the educated noble on a par with the scholar, but separated him from a noble
untrained in letters or a lawyer trained only in the law.32
Thus, the studia humanitas gave legitimacy to the nobles and at the same time bolstered
the claims of humanists to be of equal status to a man of noble birth through their
common humanitas. That noble status could come from academic activity was not all
down to the humanists, however. From the time of Alphonse X, law professors of the Uni-
versity of Salamanca had the right to be treated like nobles.33 But the concept of the huma-
nitas, as it related the value of a person to their ability in letters, questioned the estate-
structured society of the day. It certainly did not reflect the social reality of the time,
and in Spain especially it clashed with a divergent concept which was a central tenet of
aristocratic culture and which gained even more strength in the early-modern period.
This was the purity of noble blood. In contrast to the ideas of the humanists, Spanish
nobles justified social pre-eminence not only through personal virtue or culture, but
also through lineage. The importance of blood was displayed publicly by genealogies or
by restrictions on entering specific offices or religious and military orders. Whoever
wanted to take up such a position had to demonstrate hidalguía (noble ascendancy)
and limpieza de sangre (purity of blood).34
For humanists, friendship was another way to establish themselves in a high position
within the social hierarchy of society. If a humanist was accepted as a friend by a
famous scholar or a wealthy nobleman, he could publicly enhance his prestige. The
more learned or noble the friends, the more the prestige – on the condition that it was
possible to demonstrate publicly that this friendship existed.35 The best medium to do
so was the letter. Peter Martyr and Marineo Sículo published their correspondence to
show their close relationship with many nobles and important clerics. By doing so they
ultimately not only demonstrated their own social standing but also that of their social
group, the humanists. For Peter Martyr, it was easier to gain friendship with noblemen,
possibly because at the court school he came into close contact with his noble pupils,
but more likely because he was of noble origin himself. Marineo Sículo, however, who
was not of noble birth, wrote a lot of letters to noblemen and even dedicated poems to
some of them despite not getting an answer in most cases. His correspondence is, there-
fore, more of a testimony of his rejection by Spanish noblemen than of what it was meant
to be: proof of his acceptance by them.36

32
Walther, “Funktionen des Humanismus,” 14–15.
33
Fleisch, Sacerdotium – Regnum – Studium, 258.
34
Enrique Soria Mesa speaks of a real genealogical fever in golden age Spain; see Soria Mesa, La nobleza, 300.
35
Treml, Humanistische Gemeinschaftsbildung, 86–90.
36
Marineo also wrote without ever getting an answer to the duke of Alba, to the viscount of Altamira, to the son of the
count of Benavente, to the marquis of Vélez, to Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba known as ‘Gran Capitán’, and to the sons
of the marquis of Denia. Nevertheless Marineo Sículo could reveal in his Epistolarum familiarum letters of important
noblemen who wrote to him amicanbly. An example was Alfonso de Aragón, illegitimate son of King Ferdinand, and
archbishop of Saragossa, and Fadrique Enríquez, admiral of Castile. Prince John and King Ferdinand also answered
his letters. However, the difference in social standing between Marineo Sículo and his correspondents made treating
them like amici impossible.
34 M. BIERSACK

Of course, historians have to be careful with the self-fashioning of humanists who pub-
licly demonstrated their friendship with nobleman and therefore their prestige by letters,
poems or dedication of work.37 Maybe they stylized their relationship with nobles, which
in reality may have been one of a client as well as friendship.38 But there were nobles who
like the marquis de Priego, Pedro Fernández de Córdoba y Pacheco (1470–1517), accepted
the ideal of the humanitas and treated men whose only wealth was their scholarship as
friends. He had a literary friendship with the humanist, Juan de Vilches, when the
latter was still a young student of Latin. Whenever the marquis came to Antequera in
his function as an Alcalde (judge), he spent hours with Vilches, talking about poetry.39
The humanist Antonio de Morales was under the patronage of Priego in a special way.
He bought him a house in Cordoba, which was known to have belonged to Seneca. The
marquis gave it to Morales because, as he claimed, a wise man of Cordoba had once
lived in it and again a wise man should do so.40 Marineo Sículo also gained the friendship
of Priego. He declared the marquis to be his pupil and wrote at his request the Liber de
Parcis, in which he explained the meaning of the Fates to him.41

Language versus law

The humanists wanted to reverse the traditional hierarchy of the faculties at the end of
the study of the liberal arts. According to Lorenzo Valla, grammar deserved the most
prominent place over and above all other disciplines. Like him, Nebrija wanted to
achieve a greater acceptance of his profession as Grammaticus from the lawyers, that
is the letrados. The teachers of grammar around him joined this attempt to raise their
status and described themselves, as Aires Barbosa did, as the true letrados. To bolster
the humanists’ claims of primacy over the faculty of law as well as to demonstrate the
importance of a grammarian’s work in the field of the lawyers, Nebrija published a
Iuris civilis lexicon. Of course, the letrados refused to better the standing of Latin teachers
within the hierarchy of the universities or in the royal administration, which would have
resulted in worsening their own position. The law opened the door to royal services, not
the humanitas. Nevertheless, they gratefully welcomed Nebrija’s efforts to reform Latin
teaching. As a result, important officials at the court of the Catholic Monarchs accepted
the studia humanitatis as the basic education for their children; however the ultimate
destination of their sons was to study law.42 For example, the royal treasurer Gabriel
Sánchez sent his sons to the court school of Peter Martyr and stipulated in his will in
1505 that his son Gabriel should study law. For this purpose, he granted him the
money necessary to cover the related expenses such as board or books.43 The same hap-
pened to Juan de la Caballería, grandson of the vice-chancellor of Aragón, Alonso de la
37
Kipf, “Humanistische Freundschaft im Brief,” 496.
38
On the relation between humanist friendship and patronage, see Beer, The Poetics of Patronage, 112–14. On the dis-
course of friendship in Spain see Núñez Bespalova, “El mecenazgo nobiliario,” 173–5.
39
Vilches, El humanista Juan de Vilches, 337–9.
40
Morales, La Coronica general de España, f. 245v.
41
Marineo Sículo, Los ‘ Carminum libri,’ 115–16, and Ramos Santana, “El ‘In Ciceronis librum de fato’,” 394–5.
42
Examples of court officials who chose Marineo Sículo as the teacher for their sons were Juan Velázquez, Contador mayor
[chief treasurer], and the powerful secretary of King Ferdinand, Miguel Pérez de Almazán; cf. Rummel, “Marineo Sículo,”
705; and Marineo Sículo, Epistolarum familiarum, XVI, 7. See also Peset, “Humanismo en las facultades de leyes.
43
Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid), Consejo, leg. 37.779, f. 6r.
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 35

Caballería. His teacher until he went to university to study law was the humanist Alfonso
de Segura, a pupil of Marineo Sículo.44
The lack of real importance of the humanities for a career in royal service prompted
disillusioned criticism of their value by the humanist Gaspar de Barrachina. He wrote
to Marineo Sículo, claiming that classical studies had only brought him the office of sec-
retary, not that of councillor, which he had aspired to, and so he advised his sons to study
law, which was much more useful for advancement.45 In so doing he contradicted the
humanist teacher Juan Sobrarias, who in a poem dedicated to Barrachina, had praised
language as the most valuable treasure of mankind as it led to supreme glory.46 He was
also critical of the self-fashioning of Nebrija, who was proud that he had gone to Italy
not in pursuit of church benefices or the study of law as his Spanish compatriots had,
but in pursuit of classical learning.47 Barrachina’s criticism of the lack of opportunities
for professional humanists was well-founded. During the reign of the Catholic Monarchs,
more and more lawyers obtained offices in the administration and councils. Poets, orators
and historiographers, however, were limited to posts as Latin teachers, secretaries or pos-
itions in the service of the crown’s representation.48
The generation of lawyers of the last quarter of the fifteenth century who were still not
educated by humanists adopted an instrumental approach to humanism. They accepted
the studia humanitatis as propaedeutic for study, maybe as the best way to learn Latin
and ethics, but they did not accept it in the way the humanists had conceived: as being
the most valuable expression of true humanity.49 However, as they chose humanists for
the education of their sons, and as these later, while they studied in Salamanca or
maybe in Bologna, were exposed to humanist teaching in more depth during the propae-
deutic arts courses, humanism became an important part of their school and university
education. It therefore may also have influenced their lives as lawyers and councillors.

Grammar and poetics against Catholic orthodoxy

The humanists’ claims also extended to theology. However, whilst humanist grammar was
still able to assert itself in language teaching in the first half of the sixteenth century, it was
exceedingly difficult for the humanists to hold their ground against the theologians in
making their claim that humanism was the path to knowledge and truth. This was a
different kind of resistance, which was more dangerous than the quarrels with unreason-
able teachers of grammar and lawyers on the question of ridding the tradition of medieval
Latin of its failings. The question of interpretational competence of texts with theological
relevance questioned the authority of the church.
Yet in the first half of fifteenth century, Alonso de Cartagena (1384–1456), chancellor of
the Castilian king, and bishop of Burgos, had a discussion with the Florentine humanists.
He doubted that a good teacher of grammar could really understand all texts written in
Latin. On the contrary! He felt sure that even good grammarians understood very little

44
Marineo Sículo, Epistolarum familiarum, XI, 17.
45
Ibid., III, 7.
46
Maestre Maestre. Humanismo alcañizano, 450.
47
Nebrija, Diccionario, f. 2r–v.
48
Gil Fernández, Panorama social, 231–54.
49
Ibid., 229–30 and 299–356.
36 M. BIERSACK

of theology and law, although these were written in Latin.50 For the bishop, theology was
the prerequisite to interpret religious texts, as scholasticism was for philosophical texts.
Humanists, however, wanted to highlight the importance of philological work in the
field of theology as well.
Nebrija’s interest in the philologists’ work on the Bible and in Valla may have its origin
in his teacher Pedro de Osma (c.1427‒1480). The theologian of the University of Sala-
manca had prepared some corrections to the Vulgate and possibly knew Lorenzo
Valla’s Collatio Novi Testamenti.51 Following Valla and Osma, Nebrija started to amend
errors in the Vulgate. This was considered an impertinence by theologians, so that
General Inquisitor Diego de Deza confiscated Nebrija’s manuscript.52
However, theologians did not reject the humanist programme out of hand. They con-
ferred them the right to amend sacred texts, but only under their guidance. Philology had
to serve theological aims, not act as an autonomous tool used by grammarians to interpret
and change the established meaning of the Bible. This attitude towards philology is best
expressed in Cardinal Cisneros’s project, the Polyglot Bible. From 1502 onwards, scholars
of Latin, Greek and Hebrew worked on a revision of the text of the Bible. But they did not
work together to improve the text since a revision of the Vulgate using the older testimo-
nies of the Greek or Hebrew texts was not foreseen. Nebrija, as a philologist, was opposed
to this method of working on the Vulgate without drawing on testimonies of the other
languages and clashed over this question with Cardinal Cisneros. For the latter, the
Vulgate was the ultimate source, which, like Christ among the thieves, had to be put in
the centre between the Greek and Hebrew texts.53 Nebrija therefore left the project
disappointed.54
Nevertheless, there were theologians trained by humanists in Spain who shared Nebri-
ja’s understanding of philological work on the Bible. One was Francisco de Mendoza, son
of the count of Tendilla, pupil of Hernán Núñez at the Alhambra and later bishop of Jaén.
He tried to introduce the Greek scholar, Francisco de Encinas, to Charles V in Brussels.
Enzinas, who had known Luther and Melanchthon in Wittenberg, produced a new
Spanish translation of the New Testament for which he sought the protection of the
Emperor. Unfortunately, however, it was the wrong time for vernacular translations of
the Bible. The Inquisition eventually put Enzinas into prison.55
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, philological work did not enjoy the same level
of interest within the Spanish clergy as it had with Bishop Mendoza and, to a certain
extent, Cardinal Cisneros. Instead of criticism of the sources and the restoration of
texts as close as possible to their original form, the clergy often showed more interest in
the pragmatic use of classical languages. This contrast came to light in 1511 with an
appointment to the chair of Hebrew at the University of Salamanca. Salamanca had
already been seen as one of the universities which should establish a chair of Hebrew,
Greek and Arabic like Oxford, Paris, Bologna and Rome at the Council of Vienne in
1311. This chair had been neglected for a long time. It was not until the interest in

50
Cartagena and Mascagna La Rethorica, 32.
51
Nieto, El Renacimiento, 7–72.
52
Bataillon, Érasme et l’Espagne, 29–32.
53
From the prologue of the Polyglot Bible, quoted by Carbajosa, “El texto hebreo,” 97.
54
On the working method of Nebrija and his clash with Cisneros, see Bonmatí Sánchez, “La Filología Bíblica,” 47–63.
55
Bergua Cavero, Francisco de Enzinas, 70–1.
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 37

philology grew at the end of the fifteenth century that chairs for Greek and Hebrew were
established. In 1511, when the chair for Hebrew was vacant, a converso, Alonso de Zamora,
who was a native speaker, applied for the position. He was competing against Hernán
Núñez de Toledo, who could teach Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. Nebrija was in
favour of appointing Hernán Núñez because he knew his knowledge of Latin and
Greek and trusted his humanist education. However, for the theologians Fray Alonso
de Peñafiel and Fray Alonso de Valdivielso, it was not the theoretical, philological knowl-
edge of the language that was important but how it was used. For this reason Zamora was
ultimately appointed for his practical knowledge of Hebrew.56 He, however, left Salamanca
in the same year and took up the chair of Hebrew in Alcalá, which completed the Colegio
trilingue there.
The chair of Arabic that had been planned for Alcalá was also not filled. However, the
study of Arabic was not forgotten on the Iberian Peninsula due to the high percentage of
Arabic speakers in the population. As early as 1505, Fray Pedro de Alcalá had published an
Arabic grammar in Granada following the wish of Archbishop Hernando de Talavera
(1428–1507), a friar of the Order of Jerome, and former confessor of Queen Isabella.
The grammar was a perfect example of the fruitful reception and adaptation of humanist
thought with a religious objective in Castile around 1500. Nebrija had taken Lorenzo
Valla’s idea of language as companion to power and applied this to the situation in
Castile. As Valla claimed political Rome had fallen but it still existed in the form of the
Latin language. The restoration of classical Latin would therefore bring about the return
of Roman rule. Nebrija took up this idea with his Castilian grammar. In this case,
however, unlike Valla, he was dealing with Castilian and not Latin, so that for the first
time (with his grammar) a vernacular language was being treated in the same way as a
classical language. In this comparison the Spain of the Catholic Monarchs took the
place of the Roman Empire.57
Valla’s original idea went through a further transformation with Pedro de Alcalás’s
Arabic grammar – this time in the service of religion. Philosophy of language was substi-
tuted by missionary zeal and Latin or Castilian by Arabic. What remained of Nebrija’s
original idea was the knowledge of how to write the grammar of a vernacular language.
From Valla remained the high value placed on language as a means of communication
able to transform reality as well as the belief that language was an instrument of
influence, power and missionary work.
Instead of using Nebrija’s understanding as grammaticus, Peter Martyr used his abilities
as a poet to demand a say in religious matters. He followed the ideas of the theologia pla-
tonica and the theologia poetica, according to which classical philosophy, mythology and
poetry bore the same truth that was later confirmed in Christianity. The theologians’
interpretation of Christian revelation was the same as the humanists’ interpretation of
classical philosophy, mythology and poetry.58 As poeta vades the humanist had privileged
access through divine inspiration to truths hidden to others. Like the priest in the Catholic
Church, so the poet among scholars became the mediator of the divine.

56
Bataillon, “L’arabe à Salamanque,” 1–7.
57
Asensio, “La lengua compañera del imperio,” 399–413.
58
Trinkaus, In Our Image, 683–760.
38 M. BIERSACK

This view was strongly contested at the court of the Catholic Monarchs by the theolo-
gian, Diego Ramírez de Villaescusa (1459–1537), who criticized Peter Martyr. The latter
taught classical philosophy and mythology at the court school, both of which were
viewed critically from the point of view of orthodox Christianity because of their pagan
content. Peter Martyr defended his position by questioning the privileged position of theo-
logians and priests. He rejected Villaescusa’s criticism in a letter in which he told him that
every man could accede to and understand God, even children or the ancients, who called
him Jupiter and depicted him with a sceptre in his left hand and an eagle in his right.59
Treating Christianity and the beliefs of the ancients as being equal also meant legitimizing
the humanist dedication to pagan knowledge and defending the standing of a humanist as
being equal to that of a theologian or a priest.60
Peter Martyr’s position was close to Pelagianism as ultimately it meant that man could
save his own soul through reason alone and without ecclesiastical mediation. This could
hardly stand its ground against orthodox attacks, and it does not seem likely that the syn-
cretistic views of Ficino, Pico della Mirandola and Peter Martyr flourished in Spain. The
duke of Alba probably removed his oldest son García from Martyr’s school because of the
pagan mythological content of the classes.61 The duke obviously preferred a more ortho-
dox humanist education and later chose in Fray Bernardo Gentile and Juan Boscán huma-
nists who seemed to fulfil his expectations for the education of his grandson, the future
grand duke of Alba.
Although Nebrija and Barbosa were convinced of the importance of philological work
on sacred texts, they also had reservations about teaching the pagan content of classical
literature in the classroom. To combine Christian thought with acceptable Latin style,
they started to use works of Roman Christian authors of late antiquity such as Prudentius,
Sedulius and Arator in addition to the classics. What seemed to be desirable from the point
of view of orthodoxy was nevertheless questioned in 1512 by the faculty of theology in Sal-
amanca. Their reaction to humanists’ attempts to interpret religious authors was anger.
The theologians of Salamanca were happy for the humanists to interpret Ovid and
Virgil, but not Christian religious texts. That was reserved for them. The university
visitor who had to settle the dispute was Villaescusa, who had criticized Martyr for the
use of pagan mythology in class. Consequently, he not only allowed the humanists to
use Christian authors in class, he even obliged them to do so.62
Alvar Gómez de Ciudad Real (1488–1538) also worked with the same combination of
classical form and Christian content. As a true humanist, the pupil of Peter Martyr was
convinced of the importance of poetry and Latin style; but like Nebrija, he did not want
to express Christian truth in pagan garb. His Thalichristia, a version of the Gospels
which imitated the style of Virgil, followed, according to Nebrija’s prologue, Pico della
Mirandola’s theologia poetica in combining poetry and religion. Alvar Gómez, however,
turned it into Christian content, whereas Pico’s way of understanding poetry and religion
had been syncretistic.63

59
Martire d’Anghiera, Epistolario, no. 151.
60
Kristeller, Humanismus und Renaissance 2, 102.
61
Martire d’Anghiera, Epistolario, no. 153.
62
Olmedo, Nebrija en Salamanca, 44–5.
63
Alcina Rovira, “Erasmismo y poesía,” 200–3
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 39

All in all, the primacy of religion meant that in Spain, in contrast to Italy, the philolo-
gical projects of Nebrijas, his students and colleagues were chiefly drawn from the church
fathers and Christian poets of late antiquity and not from the works of classical authors.
Whether this happened due to their own religious conviction or whether it was a precau-
tionary measure to protect themselves from ecclesiastical orthodoxy remains an open
question.64
Hernando de Talavera also had reservations about the employment of mythological
subject matter in Christian contexts. Even though he was not a humanist himself, he
knew about the new ideas coming from Italy. Peter Martyr possibly served as a transmitter
of these ideas, as he not only formally became a member of the cathedral chapter in
Granada, but also exchanged letters with Talavera. In his library, Talavera had works
by classical poets such as Virgil, Horace and Ovid next to Ficino’s Opera platonis.65 To
date Talavera has to be considered the first scholar in Spain to own Plato’s works in the
Florentine edition. But in line with his religious order, he had an orthodox and unassum-
ing view of study. In contrast to the beliefs of the studia humanitatis, he considered the
desire for too much knowledge as curiositas and therefore a sin. He accepted that everyone
had to know what they needed for their profession, but no more. Study served a purpose
for Christian social and political life, but was not an end in itself.66 In line with this, the
friar favoured schooling at the royal court and also introduced humanist teachings for
clerics in Granada. Nevertheless, he rejected the idea that the priests of his dioceses – prob-
ably as result of their humanist education – be allowed to employ pagan mythology in their
sermons to express Christian truth. He believed preaching should be simple and offer vir-
tuous and saintly messages based on the Holy Scripture.67
Talavera’s instrumental use of humanist education and his rejection of both pagan
mythology and the idea of study as humanitas is particularly important because of his
influence as a patron and educator of clerics who later, after their stay with Talavera at
court or in Granada, would occupy positions in the Church all over Spain during the
first half of the sixteenth century. One of Talavera’s protégés was Villaescusa, another
Alonso Fernández de Madrid, who praised Nebrija for his work in having banished bar-
barism from Spain. He later translated Erasmus’s Enchiridion into Spanish, in which he
gave an insightful view of his, and probably his patron Talavera’s, understanding of
pagan philosophy. In the Enchiridion, the Dutch humanist praised the Platonists
because they, despite being pagans, came close to Christian revelation through reason
alone. Fernández de Madrid, however, added in his translation a short comment on
this passage stating that because of the Platonists’ closeness to Christianity, ‘it is more
dangerous to know them.’68
Despite the strong reservations of religious orthodoxy against pagan philosophy and
mythology, they may have influenced sixteenth century Spain more deeply than so far
known. This is probably the case for the (neo-)Platonic writings of Ficino, Plato and
Hermes Trismegistos which largely circulated in their fifteenth and sixteenth century edi-
tions in Spain.69 They found, for example, a prominent place in the libraries of Peter

64
García de la Concha, “La impostación religiosa,” 123–45.
65
Aldea Vaquero, “Hernando de Talavera,” 513–47
66
Talavera, “Breve e muy provechosa doctrina,” 58.
67
Talavera, Vida de Jesucrist, f. 214r.
68
In Erasmus, Enquiridion, 134. The quotation was added by Fernández de Madrid to the original of Erasmus.
40 M. BIERSACK

Martyr’s pupils Mondéjar and Priego, but also in the library of the University of Sala-
manca, or in book shops in Barcelona.70 Another pupil of Peter Martyr, Pedro Fajardo,
marquis de los Vélez (1478‒1546), symbolically demonstrated his inclination towards
pagan mythology and syncretism. In a room called de las herejías [on the heresies] he
is depicted in the uniform of a Roman officer who took part in Emperor Titus’s
triumph in Rome.71 Pedro Fajardo probably saw himself in the Roman tradition and
wanted to be seen as such – that is, as a Roman aristocrat. To the orthodox, the mytho-
logical references to the triumph looked like heresy, thus the room deserved its name.
The marquis de Priego was open-minded towards pagan mythology. He had a friendship
with a troubadour and poet called Cereza, who wore a green tunica and prayed to pagan
gods in order to bless the grapevines and thus better the wine of Montilla.72 The marquis
of Mondéjar’s interest went even beyond classical mythology. According to the Belgian
humanist, Nicolas Clénard, Luis Hurtado de Mendoza (c.1489–1566) sent out his ships
in order to look for books of Arab mysteries, which by that time were already forbidden
in Spain.73
The impact of Renaissance Platonic philosophy in Spain is still a field in which much
research has to be done. It is possible that there was influence on the alumbrado move-
ment.74 Platonic thoughts are also widely present in the Spanish golden age of literature:
influences can be found in the poetry of Garcilaso de la Vega, Juan Boscán, Francisco de
Aldana, Fernando de Herrera, in Cristóbal de Villalón’s theory of love, Jorge de Monte-
mayor, or in historians such as Antonio de Guevara or Pedro Mexía.75 Hermetic elements
can also be found in Spanish mystics of the golden age such as Francisco de Aldana, Fray
Luis de León and San Juan de la Cruz.76
Philosophical lectures given by the humanists in Salamanca may have prompted phi-
losophical and moral relativism among the students. Out of Salamanca’s academic
milieu of the late fifteenth century arose the text which perhaps best reflects these spiri-
tually troubled times: La Celestina, written by the humanist-educated law student, Fer-
nando de Rojas.77 A learned friend of Peter Martyr at court, the Castilian noble,
Hernando de Vega, was also interested in philosophical relativism. Like many Platonists
he doubted that humans had the ability to discover an uncontested absolute truth. More-
over, every philosophy, even Christian revelation, seemed to be only an imperfect
approach to it. Thus, his friend, Peter Martyr, advised him in a letter that it would be
dangerous for him to go further than the revealed truth of Christian faith. He might
find a dragon instead of the diamond (that is, the Christian faith) which he already
holds in his hands. In addition, he advised only to look for the truth in the prescribed
way because, as he warned, the fires shining from the Inquisition were a clear indication
of what happened to those who looked for truth elsewhere.78

69
Byrne, Ficino in Spain, 16–49.
70
Bécares Botas, “Compras de Libros,” 83–135; Documentos para la historia de la imprenta, nos. 242 and 394.
71
Espín Real, “El Alcázar de los Velez,” 101–6.
72
Algabe and Jiménez Martín, Vida del Marqués, 36–8.
73
Clénard, Correspondance, no. 61, dated 17 Janaury 1542, to Emperor Charles V.
74
Márquez Villanueva, Los Alumbrados, 192.
75
Rallo Gruss, Humanismo y Renacimiento, 50–108.
76
Byrne, El ‘Corpus Hermeticum.’
77
DiCamillo, “Etica humanística y libertinaje,” 69–73.
78
Martire d’Anghera, Epistolario, no. 398.
 REFORMATION & RENAISSANCE REVIEW 41

Conclusions
In the last quarter of the fifteenth century, humanism came to Spain as a pedagogical
movement spread by Latin teachers who aimed to transform society through the teaching
of Latin language and letters. Within one or two generations it had penetrated all edu-
cational institutions in Spain, from municipal or cathedral Latin schools to aristocratic
private schools and universities. This profound transformation of the educational
system can be described as a real cultural revolution, led by a new type of Latin teacher,
the humanists, whose first and most influential representative in Spain was Nebrija. Neb-
rija’s concept of Latin teaching as the studia humanitatis offered Latin teachers both a way
to distinguish themselves from their predecessors and also a reason to claim a different
status of their knowledge, and their role as its transmitters within society. As a result of
their ability as teachers, philologists, historians and poets they aimed to be equal in stand-
ing to nobles and in competencies to lawyers and theologians.
Francisco Rico described the humanists’ project as a dream (sueño) because it was
neither realistic nor achievable.79 The other estates were simply not willing to concede
the status they claimed for themselves and their learning. But still they accepted humanist
Latin teaching as propaedeutic for study or as part of the education of noblemen. This is
why we can say humanism ultimately was successful in Spain as well as in the rest of
Europe, not in the way the humanists had dreamed of, but in a subtler and maybe
effective way. Spanish noblemen, theologians and lawyers still relied on lineage, wealth
or academic studies of theology and law to define their status and justify their competen-
cies, but the studia humanitatis became part of their school and university education and
as such it created a habit, a way of life. There are many signs which show the deep impact
of humanism on men who were not professional scholars of languages, an impact which
went beyond an instrumental approach, fashion or distinction, and demonstrates a
genuine interest in and identification with classical culture and humanist scholarship.
Examples of such humanist practices were the search for manuscripts of Arabic mysteries
by the marquis of Mondéjar, Bishop Francisco de Mendoza’s promotion of biblical philol-
ogy, and the marquis of Priego’s dedication to humanist literature and scholarship. Finally,
the Spanish golden age of literature, as well as being a triumph of Spanish vernacular,
cannot be understood without humanist influences and models. The Lazarillo de
Tormes, the poetry of San Juan de la Cruz and Fray Luis de León as well as La Celestina
show that their authors were deeply familiar with humanism.80
Most examples discussed in this article refer to noblemen, bishops or humanist scho-
lars. This is, however, not an adequate representation of what may have been the true
impact of Renaissance culture between clerics and letrados. This partial view is in part a
result of the documentary material available. It is much easier to reconstruct the life of
a noble than that of an ordinary priest, cathedral dignitary, royal judge or treasurer
(and of course, as Nauert has stated, the Renaissance was mainly an elite phenomenon,
which makes it difficult even if it is desirable to study its impact on ordinary people).81
Nevertheless, there are certain reasons why noblemen more actively opened themselves
up to humanist culture than clerics or letrados. The latter studied at universities. Their

79
Rico, El sueño del humanismo.
80
For the adaptation of Italian Latin humanism by Spanish vernacular authors, see Coroleu, Printing and Reading, 111–22.
81
Nauert, Humanism and Renaissance, XIII.
42 M. BIERSACK

culture was not only humanist, but also academic, influenced by the study of law or theol-
ogy – and neither lawyers nor theologians accepted the claim of the pre-eminence of
humanism. For noblemen, on the contrary, humanism was an opportunity to present
themselves with a culture superior to that of their academic and aristocratic rivals who
questioned their social standing.82
The importance of the study of law for politics and having noble blood for status limited
the humanists’ position in society but did not influence humanism itself. In contrast,
theology restricted humanism in terms of its content. It attacked the use of classical
mythology in class, the Neo-Platonist equating of ancient philosophy and mythology
with Christianity, or the application of philological methods to the Bible. Yet humanists
often broke through these limitations, sometimes in a ludic manner. An example was
the poet Cerezo, who blessed the vineyards of Montilla by invoking the ancient gods. For-
tunately, the Inquisition did not become aware of these practices, as Alonso de Algaba
anxiously remembered years later in the biography of his master, the marquis de Priego.83

Acknowledgment
I would like to thank Jane Mortimer in the English Department of the LMU Munich for her help in
editing the text.

Notes on contributor
Martin Biersack is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Early Modern History in the
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany. His focus is on Renaissance, Spanish and
Spanish-American studies on which he has a number of publications.

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