Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas
Encyclopedia
Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas (Brozas
, province of Cáceres, 1523 - Salamanca, 1600), also known as El Brocense, and in Latin as Franciscus Sanctius Brocensis, was a famous Spanish philologist and humanist.
, where he learnt Latin
and humanities, and then in Lisbon
. There he served Catherine I and John III
and remained in the court of the Portuguese kingdom until the death of the princess in 1545. Following the desires of his supporting relatives, he went to the University of Salamanca
, where he studied Arts and Theology, which he didn't finish. There he met, among his fellow students, Juan de Mal Lara. Still a student, he married his first wife, Ana Ruiz del Peso, who gave him six children. A widower at the age of 32, in 1554, he married a relative of his first wife, with whom he had another six children. Since then he suffered economic hardship to support his family and must teach without pause. He receives the chair of Rhetoric
at Salamanca in 1573, after a failed attempt in 1554, and in 1576 the section of Greek language
, with a higher salary. He never obtained the chair of Grammar, despite two attempts. In 1584 he had his first difficulties with the Inquisition
, although he was exonerated. As a consequence of his great critical mind (for him the greatest authority was reason) and his noncomformity towards authority, the censors restricted the diffusion of his works. A decade after his retirement, in 1595, a new inquisitorial process started, which was only interrupted by his death: he died on the 5th of December, 1600, isolated in his home as a result of the house arrest imposed by the Inquisition.
The importance of the ideas of el Brocense in the reform of classical studies in Spain is, in the mid-16th century, comparable to that of Antonio de Nebrija
at the beginning of the century. This appears in his Arte para saber latín (1595), in the Grammaticæ Græcæ compendium (1581) and, above all, in the Veræ brevesque Latinæ institutiones (1587), where he corrects Nebrija's method. Nevertheless, he is mostly remembered for his Minerva sive de causis linguæ Latinæ (Salamanca: Renaut, 1587), a Latin grammar in four books or sections (study of the parts of speech, the noun, the verb, and the figures) which, subjecting the study of language to reason, is one of the very first epistemological grammars and made him a European celebrity for several generations. While the first grammarians of Humanism
(Lorenzo Valla
or Antonio de Nebrija
) were still writing normative grammars based on the usus scribendi of the ancient authors, el Brocense took ratio (reason) as the cornerstone of his whole grammatical system. He acknowledged no other authority than reason and took to its ultimate consequences the logic of grammatical study.
He was determined to make everything fit within rational schemes, and granted in his grammatical interpretation a very important role to ellipsis
, an essential tool of his system. In that search for rational explanations, he stepped beyond the limits of the Latin language to go as far as to foreshadow the universal grammar
which is implicit in all languages. He is thus a most important milestone towards Port-Royal Grammar
and Noam Chomsky
's generative grammar
. His Minerva was very successful, and had had 15 editions by 1761. The dense scholia by Scioppius
appeared in the mid 17th century and would accompany the Minerva until the 19th century. The notes by Perizonius
were written at the request of a publisher from Franeker
in the Netherlands. They were included in the 1687 edition and were so successful that the same publisher reprinted it fraudulently in 1693.
He published editions of the Bucolics by Virgil
(1591), some works of Ovid
, the Satyres by Persius and the Ars poetica by Horace
; commented editions of the Sylvae by Angelo Poliziano and the Emblemata by Andrea Alciato
; and translations of Horace
and of the Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarca. He wrote and printed Comentarios to the works by Juan de Mena
and Garcilaso de la Vega
(1582 and 1574 respectively). When he was accused of having identified the influences of Græco-Latin classics in the lyrical work of the latter, thus diminishing his poetic originality, el Brocense said that he didn't consider a good poet whoever didn't imitate the classics. He also wrote a great number of Latin poems and scholia.
He had a mainly formal understanding of literary beauty, as is revealed in his rhetorical treatises De arte dicendi (1556) and Organum dialecticum et rethoricum cunctis discipulis utilissimum et necessarium (Lyon, 1579). It is pertinent to point out here that he was processed by the Inquisition
because he dared to criticise the literary form of the gospels. He favoured Erasmus of Rotterdam, and in his scientific works he shows the encyclopedic inclinations that were characteristic of Humanism
, as in Declaración y uso del reloj español (1549), Pomponii Melæ De situ orbis (1574) or Sphera mundi ex variis auctoribus concinnata (1579). Among his philosophical works the main ones are Doctrina de Epicteto (1600), Paradoxa (1581) and De nonnulis Porphyrii aliorumque in dialectica erroribus (1588).
He had three encounters with the Inquisition
: one, mentioned above, in 1584, where he was exonerated. The second one was in 1595, when he had already retired. The third, in 1600, was interrupted before its resolution due to his death at the age of 78.
Brozas
Brozas is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 2248 inhabitants....
, province of Cáceres, 1523 - Salamanca, 1600), also known as El Brocense, and in Latin as Franciscus Sanctius Brocensis, was a famous Spanish philologist and humanist.
Biography
His parents, Francisco Núñez and Leonor Díez, were noble but had little money. He was able to study thanks to the support of some relatives, and started in ÉvoraÉvora
Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
, where he learnt Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and humanities, and then in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. There he served Catherine I and John III
John III of Portugal
John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
and remained in the court of the Portuguese kingdom until the death of the princess in 1545. Following the desires of his supporting relatives, he went to the University of Salamanca
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...
, where he studied Arts and Theology, which he didn't finish. There he met, among his fellow students, Juan de Mal Lara. Still a student, he married his first wife, Ana Ruiz del Peso, who gave him six children. A widower at the age of 32, in 1554, he married a relative of his first wife, with whom he had another six children. Since then he suffered economic hardship to support his family and must teach without pause. He receives the chair of Rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
at Salamanca in 1573, after a failed attempt in 1554, and in 1576 the section of Greek language
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, with a higher salary. He never obtained the chair of Grammar, despite two attempts. In 1584 he had his first difficulties with the Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
, although he was exonerated. As a consequence of his great critical mind (for him the greatest authority was reason) and his noncomformity towards authority, the censors restricted the diffusion of his works. A decade after his retirement, in 1595, a new inquisitorial process started, which was only interrupted by his death: he died on the 5th of December, 1600, isolated in his home as a result of the house arrest imposed by the Inquisition.
The importance of the ideas of el Brocense in the reform of classical studies in Spain is, in the mid-16th century, comparable to that of Antonio de Nebrija
Antonio de Nebrija
Antonio de Lebrija , also known as Antonio de Nebrija, Elio Antonio de Lebrija, Antonius Nebrissensis, and Antonio of Lebrixa, was a Spanish scholar, known for writing a grammar of the Castilian language, credited as one of the first published grammars of a Romance language...
at the beginning of the century. This appears in his Arte para saber latín (1595), in the Grammaticæ Græcæ compendium (1581) and, above all, in the Veræ brevesque Latinæ institutiones (1587), where he corrects Nebrija's method. Nevertheless, he is mostly remembered for his Minerva sive de causis linguæ Latinæ (Salamanca: Renaut, 1587), a Latin grammar in four books or sections (study of the parts of speech, the noun, the verb, and the figures) which, subjecting the study of language to reason, is one of the very first epistemological grammars and made him a European celebrity for several generations. While the first grammarians of Humanism
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
(Lorenzo Valla
Lorenzo Valla
Lorenzo Valla was an Italian humanist, rhetorician, and educator. His family was from Piacenza; his father, Luciave della Valla, was a lawyer....
or Antonio de Nebrija
Antonio de Nebrija
Antonio de Lebrija , also known as Antonio de Nebrija, Elio Antonio de Lebrija, Antonius Nebrissensis, and Antonio of Lebrixa, was a Spanish scholar, known for writing a grammar of the Castilian language, credited as one of the first published grammars of a Romance language...
) were still writing normative grammars based on the usus scribendi of the ancient authors, el Brocense took ratio (reason) as the cornerstone of his whole grammatical system. He acknowledged no other authority than reason and took to its ultimate consequences the logic of grammatical study.
He was determined to make everything fit within rational schemes, and granted in his grammatical interpretation a very important role to ellipsis
Ellipsis (linguistics)
In linguistics, ellipsis or elliptical construction refers to the omission from a clause of one or more words that would otherwise be required by the remaining elements.-Overview:...
, an essential tool of his system. In that search for rational explanations, he stepped beyond the limits of the Latin language to go as far as to foreshadow the universal grammar
Universal grammar
Universal grammar is a theory in linguistics that suggests that there are properties that all possible natural human languages have.Usually credited to Noam Chomsky, the theory suggests that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain, and manifest themselves without being taught...
which is implicit in all languages. He is thus a most important milestone towards Port-Royal Grammar
Port-Royal Grammar
The Port-Royal Grammar was a pioneering work in the philosophy of language...
and Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
's generative grammar
Generative grammar
In theoretical linguistics, generative grammar refers to a particular approach to the study of syntax. A generative grammar of a language attempts to give a set of rules that will correctly predict which combinations of words will form grammatical sentences...
. His Minerva was very successful, and had had 15 editions by 1761. The dense scholia by Scioppius
Caspar Schoppe
Caspar Schoppe was a German controversialist and scholar.-Life:He was born at Neumarkt in the upper Palatinate and studied at several German universities. Having converted to Roman Catholicism in about 1599, he obtained the favour of Pope Clement VIII, and distinguished himself by the virulence of...
appeared in the mid 17th century and would accompany the Minerva until the 19th century. The notes by Perizonius
Perizonius
Perizonius was the name of Jakob Voorbroek , a Dutch classical scholar, who was born at Appingedam in Groningen....
were written at the request of a publisher from Franeker
Franeker
Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...
in the Netherlands. They were included in the 1687 edition and were so successful that the same publisher reprinted it fraudulently in 1693.
He published editions of the Bucolics by Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
(1591), some works of Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
, the Satyres by Persius and the Ars poetica by Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
; commented editions of the Sylvae by Angelo Poliziano and the Emblemata by Andrea Alciato
Andrea Alciato
Andrea Alciato , commonly known as Alciati , was an Italian jurist and writer. He is regarded as the founder of the French school of legal humanists.-Biography:...
; and translations of Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
and of the Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarca. He wrote and printed Comentarios to the works by Juan de Mena
Juan de Mena
Juan de Mena was one of the most significant Spanish poets of the fifteenth century. He was highly regarded at the court of Juan II de Castilla, who appointed him veinticuatro of Córdoba, secretario de cartas latinas and cronista real...
and Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega was a Spanish soldier and poet. He was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques and themes to Spain.-Biography:...
(1582 and 1574 respectively). When he was accused of having identified the influences of Græco-Latin classics in the lyrical work of the latter, thus diminishing his poetic originality, el Brocense said that he didn't consider a good poet whoever didn't imitate the classics. He also wrote a great number of Latin poems and scholia.
He had a mainly formal understanding of literary beauty, as is revealed in his rhetorical treatises De arte dicendi (1556) and Organum dialecticum et rethoricum cunctis discipulis utilissimum et necessarium (Lyon, 1579). It is pertinent to point out here that he was processed by the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
because he dared to criticise the literary form of the gospels. He favoured Erasmus of Rotterdam, and in his scientific works he shows the encyclopedic inclinations that were characteristic of Humanism
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
, as in Declaración y uso del reloj español (1549), Pomponii Melæ De situ orbis (1574) or Sphera mundi ex variis auctoribus concinnata (1579). Among his philosophical works the main ones are Doctrina de Epicteto (1600), Paradoxa (1581) and De nonnulis Porphyrii aliorumque in dialectica erroribus (1588).
He had three encounters with the Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
: one, mentioned above, in 1584, where he was exonerated. The second one was in 1595, when he had already retired. The third, in 1600, was interrupted before its resolution due to his death at the age of 78.
Work
- Declaración y uso del reloj español (1549)
- Edition and commentary of Angelo Poliziano, Angeli Politiani: Sylvæ, nutricia, manto, rusticus, ambra illustratum per Franciscum Sanctium Brocensem, Salmanticæ: excudebat Andreas a Portonariis, 1554.
- De arte dicendi (1556)
- Edition and commentary of the Emblemata by Alciati: Comment. in And. Alciati Emblemata: nunc denuò multis in locis accurate recognita et quamplurimis figuris illustrata Lugduni: apud Guliel. Rouillium, 1573.
- Comentarios to the work by Garcilaso de la VegaGarcilaso de la VegaGarcilaso de la Vega was a Spanish soldier and poet. He was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques and themes to Spain.-Biography:...
(1574) - Edition of Pomponii Melæ De situ orbis (1574)
- Organum dialectum et rethoricum cunctis discipulis utilissimum et necessarium (Lyon, 1579)
- Sphera mundi ex variis auctoribus concinnata (1579)
- Paradoxa (1581)
- Grammaticæ Græcæ compendium (1581)
- Comentarios to the work by Juan de MenaJuan de MenaJuan de Mena was one of the most significant Spanish poets of the fifteenth century. He was highly regarded at the court of Juan II de Castilla, who appointed him veinticuatro of Córdoba, secretario de cartas latinas and cronista real...
(1582) - Minerva sive de causis linguæ Latinæ (Salamanca: Renaut, 1587)
- Veræ brevesque Latinæ institutiones (1587)
- De nonnulis Porphyrii aliorumque in dialectica erroribus (1588)
- Edition of the Bucolics by VirgilVirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
(1591) - Edition and commentary of the Ars poetica by HoraceHoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
: In Artem Poeticam Horatii Annotationes, Salmanticæ: Apud Joannem & Andream Renaut, fratres, 1591. - Arte para saber latín (1595)
- Edition and commentary of Auli Persii Flacci Saturæ sex: cvm ecphrasi et scholiis Franc. Sanctij Brocen. Salmanticæ: apud Didacum à Cussio, 1599.
- Doctrina de Epicteto (1600)
External links
- Portrait of Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas with an epitome about his life included in the book Retratos de Españoles ilustres, published in 1791.
- Bilingual edition and study of the Minerva by el Brocense