Francisco de Enzinas
Encyclopedia
Francisco de Enzinas also known by the humanist name Francis Dryander (from the Greek drus, which can be translated encina in Spanish), was a classical scholar, translator, author, and Protestant apologist of Spanish origin.
, Spain, probably on 1 November 1518. (Herminjard, , v9 (1897), p462, n3.) He was one of ten children of the successful wool merchant Juan de Enzinas. The mater of his correspondence was his stepmother, Beatriz de Santa Cruz, whose family included the wealthy Low Countries
merchant Jerónimo de Salamanca Santa Cruz and the churchman Alonso de Santa Cruz, treasurer of Burgos Cathedral
.
Enzinas was sent to the Low Countries
around 1536 for commercial training, but on 4 June 1539 he enrolled at the Collegium Trilingue of Louvain
. There he fell under the spell of humanist
scholarship as popularized by Desiderius Erasmus
. Around that time he developed an acquaintance with the Polish Reformer Jan Łaski. (Epistolario, letter 1.) He also made a connection with the University of Oxford
, as shown by a letter he wrote to a certain Edmund Crispin of Oriel College, later published by the martyrologist John Foxe
in the first edition of his Acts and Monuments. (Pratt ed. (1870), v6, p139, n1.) The same work, more popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs
, also contains eyewitness accounts originally penned by Enzinas.
A brother, Diego de Enzinas
, studied with him at the Collegium Trilingue and collaborated on a Spanish edition of the 1538 Catechism of John Calvin
and the Freedom of the Christian Man by Martin Luther
, printed at Antwerp in 1542. Diego was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition
in 1547.
, dean of the faculty of theology at the Sorbonne
. On 27 October 1541, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg. His desire to study there with the famed hellenist Philip Melanchthon was an extension of his admiration for Erasmus
.
In Melanchthon's house, Enzinas finished a translation of the New Testament into Spanish
. He took it to Antwerp to be printed by Steven Mierdman
in 1543. Following an interview with the Emperor Charles V
, he was arrested by order of the Emperor's confessor, Pedro de Soto
. An attempt to confiscate the printed copies of the New Testament was only partly successful.
Enzinas escaped from the Vrunte prison in Brussels
in February 1545. He made his way back to Wittenberg
and wrote an account of his adventures, titled De statu Belgico et religione Hispanica. It is better known as his Mémoires. The next year in Basel
, he edited and published an account of the murder of his friend and fellow Protestant Juan Díaz, the Historia vera, which became a best seller in the overheated religious atmosphere of the day.
Enzinas's New Testament had a marked influence on subsequent translations, of which the most important was the Reina-Valera
version, still the standard Bible of the Protestant Spanish-speaking world.
(d. 1553), a native of Guelders
. Soon after, the couple moved to England at the urging of Martin Bucer
, the reformer of Strasbourg
, who also had set his sights on the relative safety of Edward VI
's realm. Thomas Cranmer
took the couple into his palace at Lambeth
and soon afterward appointed Enzinas to teach Greek at Cambridge
. His status at the University is uncertain; there is no evidence that he held a professorship, and more likely was paid by Cranmer to cover an extended absence of Regius Professor of Greek
John Cheke
.
Enzinas's move to the University was also influenced by the wish of Catherine Willoughby
, Duchess of Suffolk, that he should tutor one of her sons, probably Charles
. (Epistolario, letter 45i.) The Duchess combined Protestant convictions with a Spanish bloodline traced through her mother, Maria de Salinas
, lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon
. (In this connection, it is worth noting that Enzinas's translation of Plutarch
's Lives was published under the pseudonym, 'Juan Castro de Salinas'.)
, Livy
, and Plutarch
. The reasons are not difficult to understand: his primary interest was publishing Spanish literature, and he knew and trusted the Continental printers more than any in England. In June 1550 his family joined him in Strasbourg
. There he built what was effectively a small Spanish publishing house, which for the next two and a half years produced editions of classical works and Old Testament books in Spanish. A second daughter was born in 1551.
Enzinas came close to publishing his major life project, a complete Bible translation, but died before seeing it through the press. Carlos Gilly has demonstrated, from the Old Testament portions issued at Strasbourg, that Enzinas translated from the Latin version of Sébastien Castellio rather than the original Hebrew. http://amen.net/lb/articulos/defensareina.htm It is possible that the manuscripts passed into the hands of Casiodoro de Reina
, who published his own Bible in 1569. Enzinas commissioned a remarkable set of engravings and capitals for his project, and some have recently been discovered in other editions of the period.
Enzinas died on 30 December 1552, a victim of plague at Strasbourg
; Margaret Elter
died about 1 February 1553. Their two daughters, Margarita and Beatriz, became wards of the city and were the objects of an extended custody battle with Beatriz de Santa Cruz. As late as 1566 she was still claiming guardianship over the girls, though they were by then living in Flanders
.
's relatives in Strasbourg
. They were translated into German only a hundred years ago, and have been rendered, in the past half century, into modern French, Spanish, and Dutch.
Enzinas's collected letters appeared in 1995, and include correspondence with Philip Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger
, Martin Bucer
, John Calvin
, and other religious figures, students, rulers, and printers of the period.
Family and Education
Francisco de Enzinas was born in BurgosBurgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
, Spain, probably on 1 November 1518. (Herminjard, , v9 (1897), p462, n3.) He was one of ten children of the successful wool merchant Juan de Enzinas. The mater of his correspondence was his stepmother, Beatriz de Santa Cruz, whose family included the wealthy Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
merchant Jerónimo de Salamanca Santa Cruz and the churchman Alonso de Santa Cruz, treasurer of Burgos Cathedral
Burgos Cathedral
The Burgos Cathedral is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is famous for its vast size and unique architecture. Its construction began in 1221, and was in use nine years later, although work continued on and off for two hundred years...
.
Enzinas was sent to the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
around 1536 for commercial training, but on 4 June 1539 he enrolled at the Collegium Trilingue of Louvain
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
. There he fell under the spell of humanist
Christian humanism
Christian humanism is the position that universal human dignity and individual freedom are essential and principal components of, or are at least compatible with, Christian doctrine and practice. It is a philosophical union of Christian and humanist principles.- Origins :Christian humanism may have...
scholarship as popularized by Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus , known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian....
. Around that time he developed an acquaintance with the Polish Reformer Jan Łaski. (Epistolario, letter 1.) He also made a connection with the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, as shown by a letter he wrote to a certain Edmund Crispin of Oriel College, later published by the martyrologist John Foxe
John Foxe
John Foxe was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, , an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the...
in the first edition of his Acts and Monuments. (Pratt ed. (1870), v6, p139, n1.) The same work, more popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, more accurately Acts and Monuments, is an account from a Protestant point of view of Christian church history and martyrology...
, also contains eyewitness accounts originally penned by Enzinas.
A brother, Diego de Enzinas
Diego de Enzinas
Diego de Enzinas , or Jacobus Dryander, Protestant scholar of Spanish origin, active in the Low Countries and Rome, executed by the Roman Inquisition....
, studied with him at the Collegium Trilingue and collaborated on a Spanish edition of the 1538 Catechism of John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
and the Freedom of the Christian Man by Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
, printed at Antwerp in 1542. Diego was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition
Roman Inquisition
The Roman Inquisition was a system of tribunals developed by the Holy See during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes related to heresy, including Protestantism, sorcery, immorality, blasphemy, Judaizing and witchcraft, as...
in 1547.
New Testament translation
In the summer of 1541, Enzinas went to Paris where he was present at the deathbed of his relative, Pedro de LermaPedro de Lerma
Pedro de Lerma was a Spanish theologian.De Lerma was born in Burgos, in northern Spain, and studied at the University of Paris. Within the University, he first taught arts at the Collège de Navarre, then from 1500 was at the Collège de Sorbonne, and earned a doctorate in theology in 1504...
, dean of the faculty of theology at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. On 27 October 1541, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg. His desire to study there with the famed hellenist Philip Melanchthon was an extension of his admiration for Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus , known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian....
.
In Melanchthon's house, Enzinas finished a translation of the New Testament into Spanish
Bible translations
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Indeed, the full Bible has been translated into over 450 languages, although sections of the Bible have been translated into over 2,000 languages....
. He took it to Antwerp to be printed by Steven Mierdman
Steven Mierdman
Steven Mierdman was among the most important Dutch printers of Reformation books.Mierdman, also known as Stephen Mierdman, Steven Mierdmans, Stephen Myerdmann, and Steven Mierman, first printed in Antwerp from 1542-c. 1546, becoming a freeman of the city in November 1543...
in 1543. Following an interview with the Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, he was arrested by order of the Emperor's confessor, Pedro de Soto
Pedro de Soto
Pedro de Soto was a Spanish Dominican.De Soto was confessor to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Later, for six years, he served as senior chair of theology at the University of Dillingen, where he disputed with Protestants and worked with the Bishop of Augsburg to establish a Catholic academic...
. An attempt to confiscate the printed copies of the New Testament was only partly successful.
Enzinas escaped from the Vrunte prison in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in February 1545. He made his way back to Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
and wrote an account of his adventures, titled De statu Belgico et religione Hispanica. It is better known as his Mémoires. The next year in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, he edited and published an account of the murder of his friend and fellow Protestant Juan Díaz, the Historia vera, which became a best seller in the overheated religious atmosphere of the day.
Enzinas's New Testament had a marked influence on subsequent translations, of which the most important was the Reina-Valera
Reina-Valera
The Reina-Valera is a Spanish translation of the Bible, first published in 1569 in Basel, Switzerland and nicknamed the "Biblia del Oso" . It was not the first complete Bible in Spanish; several others, most notably the Alfonsina Bible, were published in previous centuries...
version, still the standard Bible of the Protestant Spanish-speaking world.
Marriage. England
In March 1548, Enzinas married fellow religious exile Margaret ElterMargaret Elter
Margaret Elter , or Marguerite d'Elter, was a noblewoman from Guelders, relative of Anna 't Serclaes , and Protestant refugee in Cambridge and Strasbourg.-Life:...
(d. 1553), a native of Guelders
Guelders
Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...
. Soon after, the couple moved to England at the urging of Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer was a Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled...
, the reformer of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, who also had set his sights on the relative safety of Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
's realm. Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
took the couple into his palace at Lambeth
Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...
and soon afterward appointed Enzinas to teach Greek at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. His status at the University is uncertain; there is no evidence that he held a professorship, and more likely was paid by Cranmer to cover an extended absence of Regius Professor of Greek
Regius Professor of Greek
Regius Professor of Greek may refer to:* Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge * Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford...
John Cheke
John Cheke
Sir John Cheke was an English classical scholar and statesman, notable as the first Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge University....
.
Enzinas's move to the University was also influenced by the wish of Catherine Willoughby
Catherine Willoughby
Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby , was an English noblewoman living at the royal courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and later, Queen Elizabeth I...
, Duchess of Suffolk, that he should tutor one of her sons, probably Charles
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk , known as Lord Charles Brandon until shortly before his death, was the son of the 1st Duke of Suffolk and the suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby....
. (Epistolario, letter 45i.) The Duchess combined Protestant convictions with a Spanish bloodline traced through her mother, Maria de Salinas
Maria de Salinas
María de Salinas, Lady Willoughby was a noblewoman from Spain, she served as confidante and lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England.-Family background:Maria was the daughter of Martín de Salinas María de Salinas, Lady Willoughby (ca 1490 - 1539) was a noblewoman from Spain, she...
, lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
. (In this connection, it is worth noting that Enzinas's translation of Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's Lives was published under the pseudonym, 'Juan Castro de Salinas'.)
Last years on the Continent
Enzinas left his wife and newborn daughter in England at the end of 1549 to print Spanish translations of LucianLucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
, Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, and Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
. The reasons are not difficult to understand: his primary interest was publishing Spanish literature, and he knew and trusted the Continental printers more than any in England. In June 1550 his family joined him in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. There he built what was effectively a small Spanish publishing house, which for the next two and a half years produced editions of classical works and Old Testament books in Spanish. A second daughter was born in 1551.
Enzinas came close to publishing his major life project, a complete Bible translation, but died before seeing it through the press. Carlos Gilly has demonstrated, from the Old Testament portions issued at Strasbourg, that Enzinas translated from the Latin version of Sébastien Castellio rather than the original Hebrew. http://amen.net/lb/articulos/defensareina.htm It is possible that the manuscripts passed into the hands of Casiodoro de Reina
Casiodoro de Reina
Casiodoro de Reina or de Reyna Casiodoro de Reina or de Reyna Casiodoro de Reina or de Reyna (born 1520 in Montemolín; died 15 March 1594 in Frankfurt am Main was a Lutheran theologian who (perhaps with several others) translated the Bible into Spanish.-Early life:...
, who published his own Bible in 1569. Enzinas commissioned a remarkable set of engravings and capitals for his project, and some have recently been discovered in other editions of the period.
Enzinas died on 30 December 1552, a victim of plague at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
; Margaret Elter
Margaret Elter
Margaret Elter , or Marguerite d'Elter, was a noblewoman from Guelders, relative of Anna 't Serclaes , and Protestant refugee in Cambridge and Strasbourg.-Life:...
died about 1 February 1553. Their two daughters, Margarita and Beatriz, became wards of the city and were the objects of an extended custody battle with Beatriz de Santa Cruz. As late as 1566 she was still claiming guardianship over the girls, though they were by then living in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
Posthumous editions
Enzinas's Mémoires were published posthumously in French translation (Ste. Marie aux Mines, 1558), probably through the efforts of Margaret ElterMargaret Elter
Margaret Elter , or Marguerite d'Elter, was a noblewoman from Guelders, relative of Anna 't Serclaes , and Protestant refugee in Cambridge and Strasbourg.-Life:...
's relatives in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. They were translated into German only a hundred years ago, and have been rendered, in the past half century, into modern French, Spanish, and Dutch.
Enzinas's collected letters appeared in 1995, and include correspondence with Philip Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger
Heinrich Bullinger
Heinrich Bullinger was a Swiss reformer, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Zurich church and pastor at Grossmünster...
, Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer was a Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled...
, John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
, and other religious figures, students, rulers, and printers of the period.
Links
- Extensive article in the German Wikipedia, with graphics: :de:Francisco de Enzinas