Fray Luis de León | Page 5

Professor of Theology at
Salamanca.[28] He was obviously not disposed to hide his light under a
bushel, nor to perform his academic duties in a spirit of humdrum
routine. Whatever he did, he did with all his might, and his strenuous
versatility made him conspicuous in University life. In 1565 he was
transferred from the theological chair to the chair of Scholastic
Theology and Biblical Criticism, in which he succeeded his old master
Juan de Guevara.[29]
Such successes as Luis de Leon had hitherto won he owed mainly to
his own talents.[30] Brilliant as he was, there is no reason to assume
that he was personally popular in Salamanca.[31] It does not appear
that he made any effort to win popularity; nor is it certain that he would
have succeeded even if he had sought to win it. His temper was
impulsive, his disposition was critical and independent; his tongue and
pen were sharp and made enemies among members of his own order;

moreover, he contrived to alienate the Dominicans, a powerful body in
Salamanca, as in the rest of Spain. No doubt he had many admirers,
especially among his own students. Yet the University, as a whole,
stood slightly aloof from him, and before long in certain obscurantist
circles cautious hints of latitudinarianism were murmured against him.
For these mumblings there was absolutely no sort of foundation.[32]
As might be inferred from the simple fact that he was afterwards
chosen to be the first editor of St. Theresa's works, Luis de Leon was
the most orthodox of men. His selection for this piece of work may
have been due to the influence of the saint's friend and successor,
Madre Ana de Jesús, who had the highest opinion of him.[33] But it
was not often that he produced so favourable a personal impression; he
had not mastered the gentle art of ingratiation; it is even conceivable
that he did not strictly observe St. Paul's injunction to 'suffer fools
gladly'.[34] Though fundamentally humble-minded, he was intolerant
of what he thought to be nonsense: a quality which would perhaps not
endear him to all his colleagues. He set a proper value on himself and
his attainments; he was prone to sift the precious metal of truth from
the dross of uninformed assertion; he had an incurable habit of
choosing his friends from amongst those who shared his tastes. A good
Hebrew scholar, he was on terms of special intimacy with Gaspar de
Grajal and with Martin Martinez de Cantalapiedra,[35] respectively
Professors of Biblical Exegesis and of Hebrew in the University of
Salamanca. Frank to the verge of indiscretion and suspecting no evil,
Luis de Leon scattered over Salamanca fagots each of which contained
innumerable sticks that his opponents used later to beat him with.
Lastly, he had the misfortune, as it proved later, to differ profoundly on
exegetical points from a veteran Professor of Latin, Rhetoric, and
Greek.[36] This was Leon de Castro, a man of considerable but
unassimilated learning, an astute wire-puller and incorrigible
reactionary whose name figures in the bibliographies as the author of a
series of commentaries on Isaiah--a performance which has not been
widely read since its tardy first appearance in 1571. The delay in
publishing this work, and the contemporary neglect of it, were
apparently ascribed by Castro to the personal hostility of Luis de Leon
who, though he did not approve of the book, seems to have been
perfectly innocent on both heads.[37]

The fires of these differences had smouldered for some years when,
during the University course (as it appears) of 1568-1569, Luis de Leon
gave a series of lectures wherein he discussed, with critical respect, the
authority attaching to the Vulgate. The respect passed almost unnoticed;
the criticism gave a handle to a group of vigilant foes. Since 1569 a
good deal of water has flowed under the bridges which span the
Tormes, and it is intrinsically likely that, were the objectionable
lectures before us, Luis de Leon might appear to be an
ultra-conservative in matters of Biblical criticism. But this is not the
historical method. In judging the action of Leon de Castro and his allies
we must endeavour to adjust ourselves to the sixteenth-century point of
view. Matters would seem to have developed somewhat as follows. In
1569 a committee was formed at Salamanca for the purpose of revising
François Vatable's version of the Bible; both Luis de Leon and Leon de
Castro were members of this committee,[38] and as they represented
different schools of thought, there were lively passages between the
two. It is customary to lay at Castro's door all the blame for the sequel.
Nothing is likelier than that Leon de Castro was incoherent in his
recriminations and provocative in tone: it is further alleged that his
commentaries on Isaiah contained