Early Writings 2: Epistula Forti, Vita Ioannis Dullardi, Christi Triumphus, Ovatio Mariae, Clipeus Christi, Praelectio in Quartum Rhetoricorum Ad Herennium; Praelectio in Convivia Philelphi

by Juan Luis Vives, Jozef Ijsewijn (Editor), Angela Fritsen (Editor)

The second volume of "Early Writings" by J.L. Vives collects seven opuscula written during Vives' student years in Paris, namely the Life of his master J. Dullardus of Ghent, a letter to his friend J. Fortis, three pious treatises ("Triumphus Christi; Clypeus Christi; Ovatio Mariae") and finally, two inaugural lectures to courses on Ad Herennium and Filelfo's Convivia. Except for the Life and the letter, all these texts appear here for the first time in critical editions accompanied by an English translation and explanatory notes. Since Vives used to rewrite his texts for later editions some of the texts are published here in parallel versions. The easy comparison of the two texts will allow scholars to gain a better insight into the linguistic and intellectual development of young Vives in the years between the two versions. The English translation will make understandable the often very obscure originals. By studying these early writings, it is shown that Vives' knowledge of Latin in Paris was still very modest and that he obviously had serious problems in formulating his thoughts adequately.

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Juan Luis Vives y March. Humanista y pensador español. Nacido en una familia de judíos conversos, estudió en las universidades de Valencia y París. Desde 1512 se estableció en Flandes, donde fue profesor de la Universidad de Lovaina y entabló una estrecha relación con Erasmo de Rotterdam. También mantuvo amistad intelectual con Tomás Moro, que le llevó a enseñar en la Universidad de Oxford desde 1523.

Al igual que Moro, se opuso al divorcio de Enrique VIII, motivo por el que fue arrestado y hubo de dejar Inglaterra y regresar a Flandes en 1528. Su influencia sobre la Europa del Renacimiento fue enorme, pues no sólo acudieron a consultarle los más influyentes artífices de la Reforma protestante y de la Contrarreforma católica, sino que fue tutor y educador de muchos nobles que ocuparon puestos de responsabilidad en la monarquía de Carlos V.

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Juan Luis Vives was a Valencian scholar and humanist who spent nearly his entire adult life in the Southern Netherlands. His beliefs on the soul, insight to early medicine practice, and perspective on emotions, memory, and learning earns him the title of the ‘father’ of modern psychology. Vives was the first to shed light on some key point ideas that established how we perceive psychology today.

Vives was born in Valencia to a Jewish family which had converted to Christianity. As a child, he saw his father, grandmother and great-grandfather, as well as members of their wider family, executed as Judaizers at the behest of the Spanish Inquisition; his mother was acquitted but died of the plague when he was 15 years old. Shortly thereafter, he left Spain never to return.

Whilst still in Spain he attended the Valencia Academy, where he was taught by Jerome Amiguetus and Daniel Siso. The school was dominated by scholasticism, with the dialectic and disputation playing a central role in the delivery of education.