Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance

649

JOAN LLUÍS VIVES

The

Satellitivm sive symbola

or
the

Squadron of symbolic maxims

Critical edition, translation, and notes
by Joan

Tello Brugal

LIBRAIRIE DROZ

11, rue Massot

GENÈVE

2023

MENTIONS LÉGALES

Résumé

À une époque où les guerres et la corruption des mœurs remettent en question les croyances et les politiques chrétiennes, l'humaniste valencien Joan Lluís Vives (Ioannes Lodouicus Viues, 1492/3-1540) rédige un recueil de 239 proverbes ou symboles afin de prémunir la princesse Marie et tout lecteur potentiel contre les vicissitudes de l'existence. Probablement inspiré par les Adages d'Érasme, Vives conçoit ses proverbes comme des gardiens spirituels dotés d'une variété de vertus et de sages enseignements. De plus, l'ensemble du livre agit comme un dispositif de protection pour ceux qui sont prêts à imprégner leur âme de la sagesse délivrée par chaque symbole.

Le Squadron of symbolic maxims est la première traduction anglaise complète du Satellitium siue symbola et il est présenté dans sa troisième et dernière étape. Cette édition est accompagnée d'un catalogue complet des œuvres de Vives. Ce livre pourra certainement éclairer à la fois les spécialistes de la Renaissance et les lecteurs érudits qui s’intéressent à la parémiologie et à la tradition classique.

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Abstract

In a period of time when warfare and the corruption of morals challenged Christian creed and polities, Valencian humanist Joan Lluís Vives (Ioannes Lodouicus Viues, 1492/31540) produced a book of 239 proverbs or symbols to protect Princess Mary and any potential reader against the vicissitudes of life. Probably inspired by Erasmus’s monumental

Adages

, Vives conceived his sayings as spiritual guardians armed with a variety of virtues and wise teachings. Moreover, the entire book acts as a protective device for those who are willing to engrave in their souls the wisdom delivered in each symbol.

The

Squadron of symbolic maxims

is the first complete English translation of the

Satellitium siue symbola

and it is presented in its third and final stage. This edition is accompanied by a thorough catalogue of Vives’s works. Both the Renaissance scholar and the learned reader interested in paremiology and the Classical Tradition will certainly find light and comfort in this fine piece of writing.

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Références papier

ISBN : 978-2-600-06471-2

ISSN : 0082-6081

Copyright 2023 by Librairie Droz S.A., 11, rue Massot, Genève.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission.

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Références numériques

EAN ePUB : 978-2-600-36471-3

ISSN : 0082-6081

Copyright 2023 by Librairie Droz S.A., 11, rue Massot, Genève.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission.

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Où trouver ce livre

En librairies numériques ou sur le

site de la Librairie Droz

.

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Comment citer ce livre

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FRONTISPICE

Fig. 1.

Map of important cities related to Vives during his lifetime.

CONTENTS

Introduction

9

1. The circumstances of composition

12

2. The circumstances of publication

17

2.1. The

Introductio ad sapientiam

18

2.2. The

Epistulae duae de ratione studii puerilis

20

2.3. The page of corrections

24

3. The format and purpose

25

3.1.

Satellitium

25

3.2.

Symbola

26

3.3. The

animus

29

3.4.

Sententiae

and

notae

31

3.5. Conclusion

32

4. The intellectual context

32

4.1. The importance of aphorisms at the beginning of the 16th century

32

4.2. The role of Erasmus

35

5. The core underlying elements

37

5.1. Christ, the fathomable form of God

37

5.2. The Stoicism of Seneca

44

6. The salient themes

48

6.1. Existence

48

6.2. Virtue and moral perfection

52

6.3. Wisdom and knowledge of the self

56

6.4. Governance

60

6.5. Proverbs shared by Vives and Erasmus

64

7. This edition

66

7.1. The Latin text

66

7.2. The English translation

71

8. Closing words

71

The

Squadron of symbolic maxims

73

Critical edition, English translation, and notes

73

1. Table of concordances between editions

211

2. Index of symbolic maxims

212

3. Index of explicit proper names in the text

215

Catalogue of the works of Joan Lluís Vives

217

1. Preface

219

2. The catalogue

222

3. Indexes

248

3.1. Chronological index of Vives’s works by date of completion

248

3.2. Alphabetical index of short-title forms

249

3.3. Alphabetical index of abbreviations

250

3.4. Critical index

251

3.5. Index of places of publication with printers

252

Bibliography

253

Editions and translations (Vives)

253

Editions and translations (other authors), and lexica

260

Studies

264

GENERAL INDEX

271

INTRODUCTION

In a letter written on 10 July 1521, Renaissance humanist and philosopher Joan Lluís Vives

1

(Valencia 1492/3-Bruges 1540) announced to Desiderius Erasmus (Rotterdam 1466/9-Basel 1536) that “I gave the regent of the College of the Lily a letter addressed to you with some more proverbs”;

2

and he mentioned again at the end of the epistle that “I send you some further proverbs which have turned up during my reading”.

3

These two brief passages allow to infer that, firstly, both humanists collected wise sayings in quite an assiduous way (especially Erasmus); and that, secondly, they kept a certain collaboration and mutual assistance regarding literary and intellectual enterprises, even though Vives asked for Erasmus’s opinion and guidance on several occasions,

4

and Erasmus did not always fulfill Vives’s wishes with the same diligence.

5

In any case, these two passages allude to two literary projects dealing with proverbs and wise sayings on which Erasmus and Vives were working: on the one hand, Erasmus’s ongoing, monumental

Adagiorum chiliades

(first printed in 1500 under the name of 

Adagiorum collectanea

, last revised and enhanced in 1536); and, on the other hand, Vives’s future collection of maxims: the 

Satellitium siue symbola

(first printed in 1524).

Based on my critical edition of the

Sat.

6

published in 2020,

7

the purpose of the present book is twofold: on the one hand, to offer the first complete and expanded Latin-English edition of this work and, on the other hand, to provide scholars with an updated catalogue of Vives’s works (available in open access at

https://www.droz.org

), which includes the most important primary tools in order to undertake a reliable study of a particular work. The edition of the 

Sat.

is preceded by a study that explains the biographical and cultural context which enabled the publication of the work; it identifies two underlying key elements, namely the so-called Philosophy of Christ, and Seneca’s Stoicism; and it probes into its content and the ultimate meaning. This new edition published by Librairie Droz enlarges the number of textual sources, corrects a few errors, and presents the Latin text with minor adjustments regarding orthography. Finally, it should be mentioned that this book—and particularly section 3.3 on the

animus

—has benefited from my postdoctoral research project “Towards a complete analysis of the term

animus

: A contribution to philosophy of mind” (Universitat de Barcelona/Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Universidades/Next Generation EU Funding).

methodological note

. In the editions and translations used in this book “ed.” indicates the edition employed, and “tr.” introduces the translation used or consulted. When I make my own translation, “tr. Tello” is added. Punctuation and spelling of cited Latin texts are, occasionally, slightly modified from the original source for the sake of clarity or coherence (namely, I edit

I/i

and 

V/u

in all positions); uppercase has been applied to proper nouns and adjectives derived from them. When it comes to

deus

/

Deus

, this noun has been edited in uppercase, except in a few texts of Roman authors that are not ascribed to the Christian religion. I have frequently made use of the bilingual editions of the 

Loeb Classical Library

(

lcl

), which I cite by volume and page (for example: ed. tr.

lcl 

212: 238-239) owing to the variety of editors and translators. When feasible, I have used the new translations included in the revised edition of some volumes. When it comes to Vives’s writings, in addition to giving the available critical edition or translation, I include the reference within the

voo

(

Opera omnia

, 1782-1790). Citation of the 

Sat.

is made according to the present edition published at Droz, usually without the Latin text, since it can be easily consulted a few pages later. When necessary, the traditional numbering of the

voo

has been added in square parentheses. In any case, a table of concordances between the main editions of the 

Sat.

can be found after the English translation. All short format references that appear in this book are given in full detail in the “Bibliography”.

1. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF COMPOSITION

Approximately on 11 May 1523, Joan Lluís Vives departed from Bruges and probably arrived in England the following day. Even though his intent was to return to his native city of Valencia,

8

he somehow aborted that dangerous plan (the Spanish Inquisition was persecuting his family members)

9

and remained in England, teaching at Corpus Christi College (Oxford)

10

while strengthening his bonds with both King Henry VIII (1491-1547) and Queen Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536).

11

His connexion with the English royal family had begun approximately in 1521, when Vives was granted a stipend by the queen, and he expected to secure a higher income through the advocacy of his friend Thomas More.

12

On 7 July 1522 he dedicated his 

Aurelii Augustini de ciuitate Dei commentarii

to the king, and ended the prefatory epistle with the following words: “Farewell, most excellent king. Reckon Vives your most devoted servant, wherever he might be, as long as he is among your intimates”.

13

The king’s reply seemed quite complimentary. In addition to expressing his immense gratitude, he stated that his favour and attentive care would always accompany Vives.

14

Finally, on 5 April 1523, the Valencian humanist dedicated the

De institutione foeminae Christianae

to the queen, who was enthusiastically praised in the prefatory epistle: “All women will have an example to follow in your life and actions, and in this work dedicated to you, precepts and rules for the conduct of their lives”.

15

This epistle is also important because it is the first time that Vives mentions Princess Mary (1516-1558),

16

the daughter of King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon. “Your daughter Mary will read these recommendations”, he says to the queen, “and will reproduce them as she models herself on the example of your goodness and wisdom to be found within her own home”.

17

Further, the fact that Vives asked Erasmus to help him enter the circle of English humanists and intellectuals

18

demonstrates his will not only to visit England but also to stay and live there, which apparently contradicts his original plan of returning to Valencia. It is certainly a very unstable period of his life, full of competing thoughts, as he openly admits in a very gloomy letter to his intimate friend Frans van Cranevelt.

19

Vives seems to have been a successful teacher while he taught at the Corpus Christi College, in Oxford. John Twyne, a student

20

of Vives, recalls the master with the following words: “I myself knew Vives, honoured him and heard him lecturing on authors, whilst he abode in the sacred College of Corpus Christi”;

21

he then reports the opinion of John Foche (Vochius), abbot of St Augustine Church (Sturry), who considered Vives “a well-known teacher and most loved”.

22

Vives’s lessons attained such great fame that the king and the queen broke a long tradition and entered the city of Oxford to pay a visit to the renowned teacher. “The queen has taken a trip in this area”, Vives wrote to Cranevelt, “and the king has come with her. They have dared to defy the ancient superstition that kings were not allowed to enter the city. When they were already here, that very holy lady asked me when I would spend more than a day in the Royal Court”.

23

This anecdote illustrates that, as time passed, Vives and the queen became very close friends, they...