They fell into the mode of Scholasticism, a term that
refers less to a particular school of thought and more
to the use of the classroom for methodical, dogmatic
theorising. Notably they tried to blend Catholicism
with natural law, pondering how the individual’s rights
fitted within the rule of God and State, as per wider
Renaissance era debate.They also had some useful
thoughts on how indigenous peoples in South America
should be treated more like human beings than
possessions or animals. Francisco Suárez, fascinated
with natural law, was their other big success. Away
from the Salamanca School, the Valencianconverso
Juan Luis Vives was more of a Renaissance man, a
humanist who felt the path to knowledge lay via direct
experience. He lived most of his adult life outside Spain,
having seen close relatives being executed by the
Inquisition during his childhood.Spain in the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment, with its probing debate about
Church and State, struggled to make headway in
Catholic Spain. When it did, they called it theIlustración.
Some progress occurred in the later 18thcentury as the
belief in scientific reason and self-determination grew.
Benito Jeronimo Feijóo y Montenegro, a Galician monk,
was the prime mover. He’s been dubbed the Spanish
Voltaire, calling for an impartial investigation into the
established unshakeables of dogma and tradition.
His best ideas, covering everything from medicine to
education and superstition, were collected in two large
volumes:Teatro crítico universal(1726-40) andCartas
eruditas y curiosas(1742-60). No one else really
matched his spirit of enquiry.100- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Juan Luis on tour
The humanist Juan
Luis Vives travelled to
England in 1523 on Henry
VIII’s invitation and took
up a job tutoring Princess
Mary (later Queen Mary).
He also took the
opportunity to lecture
in philosophy at Corpus
Christi College, Oxford.
Things turned sour in
1527 when he moaned
about the king divorcing
Catherine of Aragón.
He was put under house
arrest for six weeks,
after which he fled to
Bruges.