Enrique Flórez

From Hispanopedia
Enrique Flórez
Father Enrique Flórez by Andrés de la Calleja, Madrid, Real Academia de la Historia (on deposit from the Museo del Prado).
Born
Enrique Flórez de Setién y Huidobro

(1702-07-21)July 21, 1702
Villadiego
DiedMay 5, 1773(1773-05-05) (aged 70)
Madrid
Other nameHenrique Flórez

Enrique (or Henrique) Fernando Flórez de Setién Huidobro y Velasco, O.S.A. (Villadiego, Burgos, July 21, 1702 – Madrid, May 5, 1773) was a Spanish Augustinian religious, famous as a historian, although he may also be considered a translator, geographer, chronologist, epigraphist, numismatist, paleographer, bibliographer and archaeologist of the Enlightenment.

Biography

Born into a family of ten siblings, he was the son of Pedro José Flórez de Setién Calderón de la Barca (d. 1747) and Josefa de Huidobro y Velasco Puelles (d. 1743);[1] in his childhood he lived in Zahara de los Algodonales (Cádiz) and in El Barco de Ávila, where his father served as corregidor on behalf of the Duke of Alba Francisco Álvarez de Toledo.

As a young man he studied Logic at the convent of Santo Domingo in Piedrahíta, and at the age of sixteen he entered the convent of the Order of Saint Augustine in Salamanca, in which he professed the following year. He studied Philosophy at the Augustinian college of Valladolid and Theology at the University of Salamanca until completing his ecclesiastical studies in 1725. After winning a competitive examination for the post of lector in Arts and being ordained a priest in 1725, he graduated as a bachiller at the college of Santo Tomás in Ávila and as a doctor at the University of Alcalá, where he held a chair.[2]

He was also an academician of the Royal Order of Knights of Valladolid, a member of the Academia del Buen Gusto of Zaragoza and an Academician of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres of Paris. During his stay in Madrid he met some of the most learned Spaniards of his time, such as Gregorio Mayáns y Siscar, Father Martín Sarmiento, Blas Nasarre and the Iriartes, Juan and Tomás. He was a member of the council of the Inquisition with the post of reviser and inspector of bookshops (1743), as well as assistant general of the Spanish province of his order (1765). At that time he wrote the six volumes of a Teología escolástica (1732–1738). Afterwards he then turned to erudite studies and research, particularly to the ecclesiastical history of Spain, applying the methodology of the Enlightenment, criticism, to the original sources. He thus gave up his chair at Alcalá and undertook his research at the age of forty, in 1742. He made several journeys throughout Spain in search of documents and references and to visit archives. He brought to light numerous important documents, some of them now lost. The following year he published the Clave historial con que se abre la puerta a la historia eclesiástica y política, a book that was reprinted twelve times in little more than half a century.[3]

Title page of the original edition of volume XVIII of the España sagrada (1764).

In 1747 the first volume of his most famous work was printed, the monumental España sagrada, which came to comprise fifty-six volumes, of which Father Flórez composed the first 29, the first five between 1747 and 1750; the rest continued to appear until 1775, while the last two appeared posthumously. Flórez was clearly inspired by the Gallia christiana (Paris, 1715–1785, 13 vols.) of Denis de Sainte-Marthe and the Italia sacra (Venice, 1717–1722, 10 vols.) of Ferdinando Ughelli, two of the most ambitious historiographical undertakings of his time. The Augustinians, his companions in the Order, did not want the work to remain unfinished and continued it; prominent in this task were Fathers Manuel Risco, who took charge of editing volumes 30 to 42, and Antolín Merino and José de la Canal, who took charge of volumes 43 to 46. The Mendizábal Confiscation of 1836 interrupted the work, and volumes 47 and 48 appeared thanks to Pedro Sainz de Baranda; with the continuation promoted by the Real Academia de la Historia, Vicente de la Fuente prepared volumes 49 (1865) and 50 (1866). Carlos Ramón Fort prepared volume 51, published in 1879, and volume 52, prepared by Eduardo Jusué, appeared in 1917; Ángel Custodio Vega composed the last two published, which appeared in 1957.

To carry out his enormous task, Enrique Flórez divided Spain into dioceses, of which he studied the foundation, coins, monuments, inscriptions, manuscripts, bishops, churches, convents, abbeys and saints. He reproduced a large number of ancient manuscripts, including texts of the old chronicles such as the Anales toledanos, the Crónica compostelana and many others. These editions were not made with the modern paleographic rigor that prevails today, but one must still turn to the España sagrada today, and this demonstrates the solidity of the work carried out by the industrious Augustinians. Much of that solidity derives from the humility of the learned Father Flórez in consulting and communicating with all kinds of experts in subjects in which he himself was an expert, for he maintained an enormous literary and scientific correspondence with all those who devoted themselves to the study of antiquities, epigraphy and numismatics, or who also dealt with the ancient and late antique history of the Iberian Peninsula, whether or not they agreed with him: the antiquarians Miguel de Espinosa, Count of Águila; Andrés Burriel; Patricio Gutiérrez Bravo; Luis José Velázquez de Velasco, Marquis of Valdeflores; Gregorio Mayáns y Siscar; Francisco Pérez Bayer; the bibliographer Father Francisco Méndez, who would be his biographer, friend and companion in his labors; or the Mohedano brothers.

He promoted various editions under his careful direction: Viaje de Ambrosio de Morales, por orden del Rey Don Felipe II a los reinos de León y Galicia y Principado de Asturias (1765); that of De Formando Theologiae Studio Libri IV collecti ac restituti per R. P. M. Fr. Laurentium a Villavicentio; that of De Sacris Concionibus; and the famous Sancti Beati, Presbyteri Hispani Libanensis, In Apocalypsim (1770), or Exposición del Apocalipsis by Saint Beatus of Liébana, which was brought to light by Father Flórez. As a numismatist he also wrote Medallas de las colonias, municipios y pueblos antiguos de España (three vols., 1757, 1758 and 1773) and as a genealogist Memoria de las reinas católicas, historia genealógica de la Casa Real de Castilla y León (1761, two vols.), among various others. The book La Cantabria,[4] of 1768, was originally to be an appendix to volume XXIV of the España sagrada, but it was published independently because it studies several points "worthy of particular consideration, with more examination and extension than the regular subjects." This work is considered a reference for the rediscovery in modern times of the boundaries of ancient Cantabria, being the starting point for numerous later studies of the Cantabrian people in antiquity. Among the many contributions his work offers us, special mention is deserved by his own identification of the ruins of Retortillo with the Roman city of Juliobriga, as well as the location of the mythical Tamaric Springs in Velilla de Guardo[5] (Palencia).

Having died of pneumonia in 1773 at the age of 70 after several days of illness, his body was buried in the Convent of San Felipe el Real in Madrid; his tomb was destroyed during the demolition of the convent in 1838, and his remains, together with those of other religious buried there, were moved to the South Cemetery, and after its dismantling in 1942, to the Almudena Cemetery.[6]

Works

Religion

  • Theologia Scholastica Iuxta Principia Scholae Augustiniano-Thomisticae. He composed 5 vols., and left several drafts with the aim of writing a sixth (1732–1738).
  • Modo práctico de tener oración mental (1754); it is accompanied by Los suspiros de San Agustín by a religious of the same Order, but it had so many errata that it had to be withdrawn from sale. It was reprinted in 1760.
  • Totius Doctrinae de Generatione et Corruptione, de Caelo et Mundo et Anima Compendiosa Tractatio iuxta mentem Doctoris Angelici Divi Thomae Aquinatis (1727); this is volume IV of the Summa Philosophica of Father Master Fray Andrés Sierra, which he had left incomplete.

Social and natural sciences

ESPAÑA SAGRADA
THEATRO GEOGRAPHICO-HISTORICO
DE LA IGLESIA DE ESPAÑA
TOMO XX.
HISTORIA COMPOSTELANA
Dala a luz el M.R.P. Mro. Fr. Henrique Florez.
    • I (1747): Geographical key and ecclesiastical geography of all the patriarchates
    • II (1747): Chronology of the ancient history of these kingdoms
    • III (1748): Preaching of the Apostles in Spain
    • IV (1749): Last on the Church in general
    • V (1750): On the Carthaginian province in particular
    • VI (1751): On the Holy Church of Toledo as Metropolitan
    • VII (1751): On the ancient suffragan Churches of Toledo
    • VIII (1752): On the ancient suffragan Churches of Toledo
    • IX (1752): On the ancient Province of Baetica in general and on the Holy Church of Seville in particular
    • X (1753): On the ancient suffragan Churches of Seville
    • XI (1753): Contains the Lives and Writings, never published until today, of some Illustrious Men of Córdoba who flourished in the 9th century
    • XII (1754): On the ancient suffragan Churches of Seville
    • XIII (1756): On ancient Lusitania in general and on its Metropolis Mérida in particular
    • XIV (1758): On the Churches of Ávila, Caliabria, Coria, Coimbra, Ebora, Egitania, Lamego, Lisbon, Osonoba, Pacense, Salamanca, Viseu and Zamora.
    • XV (1759): On the ancient Province of Galicia in general and on its Metropolis, the Church of Braga, in particular
    • XVI (1762): On the Holy Church of Astorga in its ancient and present state
    • XVII (1763): On the Holy Church of Ourense
    • XVIII (1764): On the Britonian and Dumian Churches, included in present-day Mondoñedo
    • XIX (1765): Contains the ancient state of the Church of Iria and Compostela up to its first Archbishop
    • XX (1765): Historia Compostelana, unpublished until today
    • XXI (1766): Contains the Church of Porto, of ancient Galicia, from its origin to the present day
    • XXII (1767): On the Church of Tui, from its origin to the 16th century
    • XXIII (1767): Continuation of the records of the Holy Church of Tui
    • XXIV (1768): Part One. La Cantabria
    • XXIV (1769): Part Two. Antigüedades Tarraconenses
    • XXV (1770): Contains the ancient ecclesiastical records of the Holy Church of Tarragona
    • XXVI (1771): Contains the ancient state of the Churches of Auca, Valpuesta and Burgos
    • XXVII (1772): Contains the Collegiate Churches, Monasteries and Saints of the Diocese of Burgos
    • XXVIII (1774): Contains the ancient state of the Holy Church of Ausona, today Vic
    • XXIX (1775): Contains the ancient state of the Holy Church of Barcelona.
  • Elogios del Santo Rey Don Fernando III (1754). After the Elogios, on p. 26, follow the Tablas de las Hégiras o Años Árabes.
  • Medallas de las Colonias, Municipios y pueblos antiguos de España. (2 vols.: the 1st in 1757 and the 2nd in 1758). Later, the author published a third volume titled Medallas de las Colonias, Municipios y pueblos antiguos de España, hasta hoy no publicadas, con las de los Reyes Godos, 1773. It is the first treatise on numismatics published in Spain.
  • Memorias de las Reinas Católicas. Historia Genealógica de la Casa Real de Castilla y de León. (two vols., 1761). There is a modern edition: Valladolid: Consejería de Educación y Cultura, 2002, 2 vols. Volume 1 and volume 2.
  • Utilidad de la Historia Natural. A discourse dedicated to the later monarch Charles IV.
  • Mapa de todos los sitios de batallas que tuvieron los Romanos en España. (3 editions: the first in 1745, and the second and third in 1774).

Translations

  • Vindicias de la Virtud y Escarmiento de Virtuosos, escrita por el portugués Fray Francisco de la Anunciación de la Orden de los Ermitaños de San Agustín y doctor de la Universidad de Coimbra. Translated by Don Fernando de Setién Calderón de la Barca. Two vols. in quarto, 1742.
  • Obras Varias y admirables de la Madre María donde Ceo. Religiosa franciscana y Abadesa del Convento de la Esperanza de Lisboa, translated from the Portuguese edition and illustrated with brief notes by Doctor Don Fernando de Setién Calderón de la Barca. Two volumes in octavo, 1744.
  • Trabajos de Jesús, escritos en portugués por el agustino Fray Tomé de Jesús estando cautivo y preso en Berbería, translated by Fray Enrique Flórez. Two vols. in quarto, 1763.
  • Delación de la doctrina de los intitulados Jesuítas sobre el dogma y la moral, hecha a los señores Arrzobispos y Obispos de Francia, translated into Spanish by Doctor Don Fernando Huidobro y Velasco. In quarto, 1768.

Manuscripts

(Almost all lost during the Napoleonic Invasion of Spain)

  • El Libro de los Libros y Ciencia de los Santos, en doctrinas de verdades eternas para avivar la fe.
  • Tratado de la Santa Iglesia de Lugo. In order, it would have corresponded to Volume XXI of the España Sagrada, but for some reason he was unable to finish it. From this manuscript Fr. Risco would later draw volume XL.
  • Tratado de la Santa Iglesia Ilerdense. A small sketch of the Tratado de la Santa Iglesia de Zaragoza was also found.
  • Siglo I de la Iglesia.
  • Genealogía de los Césares.
  • Respuesta o impugnación al Fanal Cronológico.
  • Intentos y prevenciones sobre la reducción del alfabeto de las letras desconocidas que se usó entre los españoles antiguos antes del dominio de los romanos.
  • Delación hecha al santo Tribunal de la Inquisición sobre los días angélicos de N. P. San Agustín, contra los Padres Luis de Molina, Cornelio a Lápide y el P. Arriaga.
  • Dictamen pedido y dado al Ilmo. y Rvdmo. Señor el P. Francisco de Rávago, sobre si convendría imprimir los Códices góticos conciliares que están en el Real Monasterio del Escorial.
  • Dictamen pedido y dado al Real y Supremo Consejo de Castilla sobre el método de censurar los libros.
  • Geographi Veteres Graeci et Latini qui res Hispaniae Memoriae tradidere. It covers the ancient geography of Spain.

Poetry

  • Distichorum, Lyricorum, Epigrammatum, Heroicorum. Opera Fr. Henrici Flórez, Agustiniani. It includes the hexameters Qualis sit Princeps?; a composition in iambic senarii and quaternarii and a lament in elegiac distichs dedicated to Saint Thomas of Villanova; a hymn in praise of Saint John of the Cross in Asclepiadean tetrastich stanzas of three Asclepiads and a Glyconic; and a bilingual poem in Latin and Castilian in honor of the University of Alcalá in eight ottava rima stanzas.
  • In Ioannem a Cruce Labyrinthus. Written on the occasion of the festivities for the canonization of Saint John of the Cross (in 1727, when the friars celebrated it, or in 1728 when the Carmelite nuns did).

References

  1. ↑ His genealogy in Méndez, pp. 9–12. The baptismal record on p. 13.
  2. ↑ Appointed professor of theology by King Ferdinand VI, he did not take up the post because he was occupied with writing his works. Méndez, p. 45.
  3. ↑ Peragón López, C. E., Ureña Uceda, A. «Notas para el estudio del arte y la literatura en la España ilustrada. Baeza en los libros de viajes», in Cuadernos de Arte e Iconografía, 2004; 25:215–250.
  4. ↑ Enrique Flórez. La Cantabria. Disertación sobre el sitio y extensión que tuvo en tiempos de los romanos la región de los cántabros, con noticia de las regiones cofinantes y de varias poblaciones antiguas. Madrid, 1768 (Google Books).
  5. ↑ Since 1949, Velilla del Río Carrión
  6. ↑ Méndez, p. VIII.

Bibliography

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