Juan Luis Vives

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Luis Vives. Underneath the signatureJuan L. Vives.jpg
Juan Luis Vives (statue in Madrid , P. Carbonell ) .

Juan Luis Vives ( Valencian and Catalan Joan Lluís Vives , German Johannes Ludwig Vives , Latin Ioannes Lodovicus Vives ; born March 6, 1492 in Valencia , † May 6, 1540 in Bruges ) was a Spanish humanist , philosopher and teacher.

Life

Vive's parents were forcibly baptized Jews. The father was burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition . The mother's bones were dug up again from the Christian cemetery 24 years after her death and subsequently burned after a car dairy. As a child of Marranen , the humanist, European and social reformer suffered a sad fate in the shadow of the Spanish Inquisition.

Vives studied philosophy and theology at the Sorbonne in Paris from 1509 to 1512 , where he came into contact with the ideas of humanism. In 1512 he moved from Paris to Bruges, where he taught the daughter of a Spanish merchant family, whom he married in 1524. From 1516 Vives stayed mainly in Leuven (Leuven), where he finally received a teaching permit at the university . During this time he got to know Erasmus of Rotterdam , whom he greatly admired and whose acquaintance meant for him the complete turn to humanism. With his help he compiled an extensive commentary on Augustine's De civitate Dei . The work was published in 1522.

During his stay in Leuven, which lasted until 1523, he wrote several writings in which he spoke out against scholasticism and the belief in authority associated with Aristotle , while he himself called for increased research with new, own experiments. But due to the prevailing opinion in the Middle Ages that Aristotle had already gathered all the knowledge, experiments were frowned upon at the time and Vives offended with his views.

In 1523 he was invited to visit the island by the English Cardinal Thomas Wolsey . Vives was called to the English court, where he was the daughter of Henry VIII. , Later Queen I. Maria , taught. For them he worked out the study plan De ratione studii puerilis epistolae duae (1523). Vives enjoyed a high reputation and was promoted by Henry VIII as an outstanding humanist. He resided at Corpus Christi College , Oxford , where he received his doctorate in law and taught philosophy and Greek. His stay in England was only interrupted by brief visits to Bruges for the purpose of his marriage to Margarete Valdaura in 1524, although his wife stayed in Bruges.

In the following years Vives tried to influence Henry VIII's policy. So he condemned the bloody disputes between the Christian European nations and drew attention to the acute danger posed by the Turks in various letters to the European monarchs and the Pope. Vives placed particularly high hopes in Emperor Charles V ("Habsburg Emperor of Peace").

In 1527 there was a falling out with the English king. He lost royal protection after speaking out against the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragón , taking sides with the exiled wife. He was placed under house arrest for six weeks and then expelled from the country.

When he returned to Bruges, he lived there, supported by Emperor Charles V with a small pension, until his death, with a temporary flight from the plague (to Lille and Paris) and an advisory role to the Duchess of Nassau, 1537–39.

He published numerous works, most of which criticized the prevailing school opinion. The most important work of this period is De causis corruptarum artium . Vives was able to develop the reputation of the founder of modern education. His main pedagogical work De tradendis disciplinis initiated the progress of science. Vives advocated expertise, knowledge of the natural sciences and the utilization of nature. He called for the abolition of outdated methods in education and teaching, thereby clearly declaring himself an opponent of scholasticism. Vives referred to the progress of science as a confirmation of Christianity.

Furthermore, Vives was the first to campaign for the right of women to extensive upbringing and education and wrote pamphlets on the provision of the poor and the population by the state. Peter Sloterdijk calls his work De subventione pauperum “the first treatise on social policy in Europe”. The humanist caused a sensation with his works; translations soon appeared.

Vives did not subscribe to the idea of ​​the Reformation . He strictly opposed a split in the church. Instead, the goal must be objective and peaceful discussion, especially with regard to disputes between (the freedom of) science and church power. He advised against any form of radicalism (such as that of the Inquisition ).

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Vives was one of the most widely read authors alongside Erasmus von Rotterdam . Its popularity lasted for the entire modern period, after which interest fell sharply, only to rise again towards the end of the 19th century.

The main writings by Juan Luis Vives between 1519 and 1541

In pseudodialecticos (Löwen 1519)
An early treatise against the dialectic of medieval scholasticism with thoughts on new forms of art, language and philosophy
De civitate Dei divi Aurelii Augustinii (Lions 1521)
The commentaries on the writings of the church father Aurelius Augustinus (354-430), dedicated to Heinrich VIII., Which deal with the church grievances in a multi-volume work. It was put on the index at the instigation of the Jesuits after Vives' death .
De institutione feminae christianae (Oxford 1523)
The three volumes, dedicated to the Queen of England Catharina , unfold a doctrine of education for girls and women.
De ratione studii puerilis (Oxford, London 1523)
Two lesson letters with the main features of his later pedagogy, the first of which is dedicated to Queen Catharina's daughter - Princess Maria .
De subventione pauperum (Bruges 1526)
The first welfare theory on urban poor relief in the early modern period in two volumes.
De Europae dissidiis et bello turcio (Bruges 1526)
The writing contains questions and problems about peace in Europe.
De concordia et discordia in humano genere and Liber de pacificatione (Bruges 1529)
The book dedicated to Charles V calls for peace in Europe and makes proposals for a council on the abuses of the Church.
De disciplinis libri XII (Bruges 1531)
A seven-volume, famous one, the King of Portugal - John III. - Dedicated criticism of the decline of science and proposals for its reforms.
De tradendis disciplinis (Bruges 1531)
A five-volume text of basic pedagogical teachings and a description of the ideal scholar with the title de vita et moribus eruditi.
De causis corruptarum artium (1531)
Writing against the decay of the arts (grammar, dialectics, rhetoric)
De ratio dicendi (Bruges 1532)
In three volumes, Vives examines the functions of rhetoric as the completion of language, the arts and philosophy
Exercitatio linguae Latinae (Breda 1538)
A standard work dedicated to the Hereditary Prince Philip II for Latin lessons in schools in the form of dialogues. This book was published fifteen times in the 16th century and was recommended as useful for Latin teachers at the end of the 19th century.
De anima et vita libri tres (Bruges 1538)
Three volumes which, based on Aristotle, develop the fundamentals of his basic psychological teachings.
De viritatae fidei christianae (Bruges 1541/1543?)
Five-volume work in defense of Christianity, which was only published after Vives' death.

Editions and translations

  • Gregorio Mayáns y Siscar published a complete compilation of his works (Valencia 1782).
  • Emilio Hidalgo-Serna (ed.), Wilhelm Sendner (translator): Juan Luis Vives: About the reasons for the decline of the arts. De causis corruptarum artium (= humanistic library , series 2, volume 28). Fink, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-7705-2602-3 (Latin text based on the 1785 edition and German translation)
  • Constant Matheeussen (ed.): Ioannis Lodovici Vivis Valentini Praefatio in Leges Ciceronis et Aedes legum. Teubner, Leipzig 1984 (critical edition)
  • Constant Matheeussen (Ed.): Selected Works of JL Vives. Brill, Leiden et al. 1987 ff. (Critical editions with English translation)
    • Volume 1: Early Writings [1]. Edited by Constant Matheeussen et al. 1987, ISBN 90-04-07782-0
    • Volume 2: Declamationes Sullanae. Part 1: Introductory material, Declamations I and II. Ed. By Edward V. George. 1989, ISBN 90-04-08786-9
    • Volume 3: De conscribendis epistolis. Edited by Charles Fantazzi. 1989, ISBN 90-04-08896-2
    • Volume 5: Early Writings 2nd ed. By Jozef IJsewijn , Angela Fritsen. 1991, ISBN 90-04-09223-4
    • Volume 6: De institutione feminae Christianae. Liber primus. Edited by Charles Fantazzi, Constant Matheeussen. 1996, ISBN 90-04-10659-6
    • Volume 7: De institutione feminae Christianae. Liber secundus & liber tertius. Edited by Charles Fantazzi, Constant Matheeussen. 1998, ISBN 90-04-11090-9
  • Nikolaus Egel (editor and translator): Against the pseudo-dialectics , Latin-German, Meiner Verlag, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-7873-3528-2

literature

Web links

Commons : Luis Vives  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Conversations about God, Spirit and Money. Freiburg i. Br. 2014. p. 26.