Juan de Valdés and the Origins of the Spanish and Italian Reformation

Dr. Nieto has done very well in his successful effort to unravel the historical significance of Juan de Valdés' thought for the Reformation in Spain and Italy.This significance is consider- able, and the investigation has been undertaken and carried out in an original way."Knowledge" and "Experience" are the key motifs which have been employed to set "Valdesian thought within the stream of Reformation thought, without considering him to be either a Roman Catholic Reformer or a Protestant."Valdés, quite independent of Luther -Nieto shows -experienced and formulated the doc- trine of justification by faith alone, in a manner more appealing than Luther's, to greatly influence many Italian humanists and theologians of his day and in later periods of history.Nieto claims for Valdés also, with supporting evidence, "the first theological formulations of non-Roman Catholic thought of sixteenth century Spain and Italy," and finds in him an overriding tolerance, for "Valdés' principle of tolerance is rooted in the Christian experience which learns how men misuse their ideas about God to harm other men, something Valdés found incompatible with Christian freedom, love for one's neighbor, and God's glory."For his careful analysis of the problem of his influence on the Spanish and Italian Reformation, Nieto has made use of a very large number of source materials: Original (Valdés' works and Inquisitorial records), works on Valdés and Valdesianism, and general works, including monographs, periodical and encyclopedia articles and unpublished dissertations.Also, leading "valdesianos," such as Marcel Bataillon, to whom the book is dedicated, have given fruitful encouragement to the author to go forward with his difficult task; and other specialists, like Américo Castro, have lent historical orientation.The Index lists, with page numbers, references to historical and literary figures of the day (from Cardinal Benedetto Accoliti to Zwingli); and would have been even more useful

Humanities · Early Modern Spanish Literature · Early Modern Women Writers · Latin American history and culture · Philosophy