JUAN LUIS VIVES: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Juan Luis Vives (1493-1540) was a Spanish humanist and philosopher of the first half of the 16th century. He was known for promoting ideas and reforms in pedagogy. He stood out for proposing a new order in social care for citizens.

His life was marked by a notable persecution by the Inquisition, a situation that became tragic when he took his father's life and dishonored his mother's remains. All this for the simple fact of being practicing Jews.

Juan Luis Vives. Source: Prado National Museum

He befriended the philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam, which marked his life, his thought and his work. He was also characterized by being an advisor to important figures of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, as well as the kings Fernando VIII, Carlos V and Queen Catalina.

Biography

Juan Luis Vives was born in Valencia, Spain, on March 6, 1492. He was the son of Luis Vives Valeriola and Blanquina March Almenara. His name, in Valencian, is Joan Lluís Vives, and the Latinized version, which he used to sign all his work, is Ioannes Ludovicus Vives.

He came to the world in the bosom of a wealthy Jewish family that, at the height of Catholic rule and the practices of the inquisitors in Spain, had to convert to Christianity to avoid major problems with the church. However, the Vives preserved their Jewish customs and practices intimately in a family synagogue.

However, although the synagogue was privately run (a cousin of Juan Luis, Miguel Vives was the rabbi), it did not take long for the practices of Judaism to be discovered by the Catholic Church. This started a series of processes on the part of the Inquisition against the Vives, which brought Juan Luis concerns for the rest of his life.

University studies and the persecution of the inquisition

In 1507, at the age of 15, Juan Luis Vives attended the University of Valencia, an institution that was founded just five years ago, in 1502, and in which he taught for only two years, due to the pressure of the Inquisition against the family intensified more and more. In 1508 his mother passed away.

His father, in 1509, concerned for the integrity of his son, decided to send him to Paris to continue his studies at the University of the Sorbonne, far from the reach of the Inquisition. There, at the Sorbonne, he was surrounded by many students from the Crown of Aragon and was able to see classes with various teachers from Spain.

In 1512 he received the title of doctor and then he went to Bruges, Belgium. There he met a Valencian merchants center where he met his former wife, Margarida Valldaura. Juan Luis decided to leave in 1523 for England.

The second half of the 1520s was one of great sadness and concern for Vives. In 1526 he received the news that his father was condemned by the Inquisition and then burned at the stake, and in 1529 he learned that his mother, already deceased years ago, was unearthed and her challenges burned as well.

New Horizons

When leaving for his new destination, England, where he was a teacher at Oxford, Juan Luis Vives received an offer to teach at the University of Alcalá de Henares, but he rejected the position because he did not have the financial means to complete such a trip and, above all, fearing that the Inquisition would come back to haunt him.

Back in Belgium, he left a fruitful friendship with the thinker and writer Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Bust of Juan Luis Vives in Bruges. Source: Kenneth C. Zirkel, from Wikimedia Commons

Once settled in England, he was appointed "reader of the College of Corpus Christi" and "chancellor of King Henry VIII of England", by Cardinal Wosley. It was then, with the English nobility as patrons, that Juan Luis Vives was able to fully dedicate himself to his research and humanism.

At that time he met the thinker Thomas More (Tomás Moro) and Queen Catalina de Aragón.

Between 1525 and early 1526 he received permits to import wine and other merchandise to England, as well as to export wheat to the rest of the continent. All this was thanks to the friendship he had with Queen Catherine.

Return to Belgium

His connection with the queen allowed him to live much more comfortably. However, nostalgia for friendships and philosophical discussions with his friends in Belgium ended up making him return to Bruges in April 1526.

Divorce of Catherine and Henry VIII and annoyance with Vives

It was during the year 1526 that news of his father's convictions began to reach him, followed by his friend, Tomás Moro (who was convicted of opposing Henry VIII's divorce), and years later of the exhumation of the remains of his mother. Queen Catalina, meanwhile, invited Vives to teach Latin to his daughter, Maria Tudor.

In an attempt to help the queen, Vives sent some letters to Emperor Carlos V to intercede for her, but Carlos V was an enemy of Henry VIII and the letters were intercepted by Cardinal Wosley. Noticing that the king would not change his mind, Vives tried to convince the queen to accept the divorce, which ended up arousing the annoyance of both monarchs.

It was thus that Catherine and Henry VIII, notably uncomfortable with the attitude of Juan Luis Vives, withdrew their royal aid and the Jewish philosopher had to leave England.

Seeking help with Charles V and the Inquisition

Vives then decided to seek the help of Emperor Charles V, as well as the Inquisition, to whom he wrote and dedicated treatises on peace and human nature.

From the emperor he got an income high enough to cover half his expenses. He received no response from the Inquisition.

Health problems and death

It was then when, to compensate for his financial situation, he decided to be the tutor of the humanist education of the Dukes of Mencía. In 1529 he began to suffer from health problems from which he never fully recovered: a stomach ulcer, constant headaches, and arthritis that became increasingly painful.

He finally ended up dying in 1540, on May 6, at his residence in Bruges, Belgium, from a gallstone. His remains rest in the church of San Donaciano.

Contributions

For his work he earned the respect of other thinkers

Humanism in the Renaissance period was concentrated in the reflection on human behavior itself. Humanist discussions, therefore, were more about ethics and morals than about other aspects of "human knowledge."

Focus on Aristotelian thought

Juan Luis Vives was enrolled in this line of thought, who, due to his measured thoughts and ideas and his outstanding behavior, capitalized on the recognition of the most diverse thinkers and nobles of the time in Europe.

He always maintained an interest in rescuing Aristotle's thought, stripping it of medieval interpretations and additions.

Help the most deprived

In the same way, he was the first to deal with the issues of state welfare, organizing ideas so that it was possible to think of systems to help the most deprived.

Study and teaching of Latin

Apart from this, his outstanding knowledge of the Latin of the time (all his work is written in that language) allowed him to write school books for the study of the language that revolutionized and simplified the learning of this language.

On a commission from Erasmus of Rotterdam, Vives ended up making a titanic translation of Saint Augustine's The City of God, 21 volumes from Latin into Spanish.

A pedagogue and pacifist par excellence

In the same way, his contributions in pedagogy simplified teaching at the University of the Sorbonne and meant an interesting advance from the perspective of the teaching method, since he raised very advanced aspects such as adaptation to the student's psychology, to achieve a better teaching.

There was also an interest in reaching peace in Europe, putting an end to the disputes and complaints on the continent on the religious issue of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.

Plays

Juan Luis Vives' work consists of about 60 treatises that address political, religious, ethical and pedagogical issues, to name a few. The most important texts are:

Opuscula varies

It was a collection of pamphlets, where one can find, among other works: De inictiis, sectis et laudibus philosophiae, which was considered his first philosophical work.

In pseudo dialecticus

In this manuscript he argued against the way of teaching of the scholastics, proposing an educational system that was adapted to the student.

Adversus pseudodialecticus

Here he presented and proposed reading the classics as a method to acquire mental agility.

By ratione studii puerilis

In this text he discussed in depth the methods of a humanistic education.

Introductio ad sapientiam

This work is considered the most important work on pedagogy of the author.

By subventione pauperum

DE Subventione Pauperum. Source: National Central Library of Rome, via Wikimedia Commons

Work in which he spoke of helping the poor, leaving institutions the responsibility of caring for beggars and helping homeless people to return to work.

De conditione vitae christianorum sub turca

Also: Dissidiis Europae et bello turcico (1526), ​​De Europae dissidiis et republica (1526). Works in which he dealt with the problems of the Turkish invasion in Europe and the Protestant reform. They were reflective works on themes of the time he lived and that touched Vives deeply.

By pacificatione

On peace and unity in Europe for the complaints of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. This treatise was dedicated to Archbishop Alfonso Manrique.

De concordia et discordia in human genere

Dedicated to Emperor Charles V.

Quam misera esset vita christianorum sub Turca

This was another comment on the Catholic religious situation, divided between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, and with the Turkish invasion of the continent.

Institutione de feminae christianae

It was a short and light treatise on the religious and moral education of the young woman, the wife, and the widow.

De disciplinis libri XX

It was a kind of encyclopedia divided into three volumes on the disciplines: De causis corruptarum artium, De tradendis disciplinis, and De artibus.

In turn, the last of these volumes was also divided into the following parts: De prima philosophia, De explanatione cuiusque essentiae, De censura veri, De instrument probabilitatis, De disputatione.

Rethoricae sive de recte ratione dicendi libri

It was an innovative treatise of rhetoric in which ideas were still valid.

By communione rerum

Where he opposed the extremes of individualism and communism alike.

By anima et vita

It was a complex and mature work in which subjects of psychology were presented. Although he closely followed Aristotle's approaches (on the immortality of the soul), he affirmed that the vital processes of the soul, as well as the theory of affects, are the province of psychology. He also studied the processes of memory and the association of ideas.

Linguae latinae exercitatio

They were a series of dialogues dedicated to Prince Felipe II, in which the pedagogical and moral ideology was introduced in a very pleasant way while he was instructed in the practice of Latin.

Other works

These mentioned manuscripts make up the body of his main works, however, other writings of his are also:

- De ingenuarum adolescentium ac puellarum institutione, and De officio mariti, where he continued to deepen the methods of pedagogy.

- De veritate fidei christianae, a moral treatise in which he praised the Catholic faith.

- The translation and comments he made to the De civitate Dei, by Saint Augustine.

- De causis corruptarum, De tradendis disciplinis and De ratione dicendi, in which he enumerated and noted his comments on the problems of education.

- Satellicia, which was a collection of moral phrases, compiled and dedicated to Princess Maria Tudor. In it she wrote the well-known phrase "the truth is the daughter of time" that transcended over the years.

- De Europeae statu ac tumultibus, a letter addressed to the pope, requesting his intervention in religious disputes and in favor of the union of Catholic kingdoms and principalities. This writing was influenced by his friend Erasmus of Rotterdam.

- Also noteworthy are: The Soul of the Old Man, The Fable of Man, The Temple of Laws, The Flight of Pompey, and the Five Declamations of Silas, all works aimed at studying declamation and rhetoric.

- Sleep and Wake, a treatise on the correct instruction of the prince in affairs of state.

- Courtship of the soul, a reflective work with knowledge about the body, the soul and virtue; vice, religion and Christ, routine life, development and dealing with men, as well as a guide to good conduct.

There are also his letters to the kings, compiled in the Summa politica vivista, as well as other religious writings Stimuli of the soul towards God and Meditation on the passion of Christ in Psalm XXXVIII.

References

1. Juan Luis Vives. (S. f.). (N / a): Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
2. Juan Luis Vives. (S. f.). (N / a): Biographies and lives: recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com
3. Gómez-Hortigüela, Á. (2014). Juan Luis Vives: "La vida sin querella de Juan Luis Vives". (N / a): E-humanist. Recovered from: ehumanista.ucsb.edu
4. Juan Luis Vives. (S. f.). Spain: Humanist blog. Recovered from: blogs.ua.es
5. Juan Luis Vives. (S. f.). Mexico: Pedagogy. Recovered from: pedagogia.mx.