The Ascetical Meditative Literature of Renaissance Spain

During the two hundred years beginning with 1450 and running through 1650 there were roughly three thousand religious works published in Spain in Latin as well as in Spanish. These works were written for a variety of reasons and appeared in diverse forms. For example, some were theological tracts which were products of the ThomisticScholastic tradition. Others were catechetical in nature and a third category were the ascetical and mystical works belonging to the Platonic-Augustinian tradition (Monasterio 4-7). The regular or monastic orders benefited from the production of theological treatises written in Latin which enhanced the training of aspirants for entrance into their communities whereas catechetical literature expedited the religious education of the faithful.' The religious literature of Renaissance Spain, depending on whether it had catechetical, ascetical, meditative designs or resulted from the mystical experiences of religious reformers, produced different types of works: e.g., tratados, vidas, opfzsculos, abecedarios, guias espirituales, manuales, ejercicios espirituales and catecismos (Gutierrez 227-29). The religious literature of the period was in effect a Renaissance version of late Medieval Nominalism or it represented a form of Neo-Scholasticism; another class had definite Neo-Platonic qualities (Gonzailez 286-88). In addition to the training of monks, the explication of complex theological precepts, a vehicle for guidance in prayer and meditation or the rendering into human language of the mystical union, the religious prose also took the forms of Biblical exegeses and commentaries on Old and New Testament texts together with the various interpretations of the writings of the Church Fathers or of St. Thomas Aquinas. This study, however, will focus on certain works of an ascetical, devotional or meditative nature which proffered the reading public an alternative body of literature which could serve to counteract the influence of the secularizing effects of the chivalric and pastoral modes in vogue (Sanz Pascual 275). This ascetical meditative and devotional literature wielded influence both inside the Iberian peninsula as well as in other countries of Europe.2 Ascetical works (the ascetical process in prayer and meditation) comprise the purgative and illuminative stages which prepare the person meditating for the final stage of the via mystica, the unitive (Valbuena Prat 60415). They include works written in the vulgar tongue meant to expedite the spiritual edification of the layperson. These devotional treatises, spiritual guides and exercises together with the meditative manuals were written in Castilian instead of the traditional Latin of the Aristotelian-Scholastic-Thomistic tradition.3 The various members of the great religious orders and, in particular, the Augustinians and Franciscans, produced a significant number of these works. Writers such as Mal6n de Chaide, Luis de Granada, Alonso de Soria and Antonio de Guevara wrote a type of devotional literature that could deleitar in the spiritual sense as well as ensefiar doctrina cristiana; in other words, a type of literature that would maintain the reader's interest and at the same time enhance his spiritual and moral wellbeing.4 These devotional works were not meant to serve as catechetical manuals nor as orthodox, doctrinal exegeses; neither were they intended to be highly complex, speculative theological tracts. Indeed, a limited number

Art · Art history · The Renaissance · Early Modern Spanish Literature · Early Modern Women Writers · Libraries, Manuscripts, and Books

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  Charles F Fraker, Antonio Márquez•Hispanic Review•1976

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