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Title
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STYLE, THEMES, AND IDEAS IN THE WORKS OF SAN JUAN DE AVILA.
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Identifier
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AAI8023751
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identifier
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8023751
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Creator
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TORRANCE, ELIZABETH MCCLURE.
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Contributor
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Francisco Marquez | Albert Sicroff
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Romance
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Abstract
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This study examines the works of San Juan de Avila (1499?-1569) by focusing primarily on the style, the themes, and the ideas encountered in his writings. This recently canonized Saint (1970) has been the subject of many short specialized studies. The intention here is to present a comprehensive picture of his life and works.;San Juan de Avila lived during the critical period of the Reformation. Spain, the Catholic Church, and Europe as a whole were undergoing crucial changes, in both society and in religious matters. Because San Juan was of converso lineage, this placed him in a delicate situation with the institutional Spanish Church. His confrontation with the Inquisition and the reasons for it are treated in chapter one. Also included are details regarding his founding of schools, relationships with the Jesuits, and his contacts with Santa Teresa de Avila.;Juan de Avila was primarily a preacher. His numerous sermons testify to this and provide a means to study his style of preaching. Though not a classical rhetorician, Juan de Avila used rhetorical devices. At the same time, his sermons exhibited spontaneity and fluidity. His rejection of vulgar and crude speech, which had been typical of many medieval sermons, placed him among the reformers who wished to elevate preaching to a dignified state. In chapter two of the present study San Juan's sermons are dealt with in the light of sixteenth century developments of preaching in Spain. His personal and intimate tone reveals the new approach which he envisioned and exemplified.;Juan de Avila's letters provide the most personal insights into his character. Most of those extant are to unknown recipients, but a few are known. Whether writing to a friend, or to someone like Santa Teresa or St. Ignatius, San Juan is always eloquent. Through these epistles, one comes to know his thoughts on such matters as dejamiento, the alumbrados, and the role of suffering.;His best known spiritual work, the Audi, filia, is examined in detail. Comparisons between the first and second editions reveal the changes he felt it necessary to make because of promulgations at Trent. The important question of faith and works is present, and his views on this are clarified. Though San Juan de Avila did not reject the decrees of Trent, neither was he fully in accord with all of them. His spirituality was not always compatible with that of the Council.;The themes most prevalent in his writings are studied in chapter four. Specifically examined are: (1) prayer, (2) self-knowledge (conocimiento de s(')i), (3) justification, (4) the meritos (beneficios) de Cristo, (5) sin and salvation, (6) death, (7) frequency of communion, (8) women and marriage, and (9) love of God and of one's neighbor. Another important writer, Juan de Valdes, is also treated. Though he and Juan de Avila ultimately made different choices regarding Spain and the Church, their spirituality was in many ways similar.;Finally, Juan de Avila's ideology is examined. Attention is focused on his Tratados de reforma, traditionally thought to have been written for the Council of Trent. This study concludes, however, that Juan de Avila's spirituality was not like that of Trent, and that these Tratados were probably written as a reaction to the Trent decrees. His converso status differentiated him from the majority of Spaniards in the institutional Church and was in part responsible for his perspective of the world and his conception of honra.;San Juan de Avila was a compassionate, eloquent, discerning, and forward looking individual. Much of what he said in the sixteenth century warrants attention in our own time.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Spanish
