Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3b.pdf/480

VAL widely in Spain, and to trouble in an extraordinary degree the obdurate heart of Spanish bigotry and priestcraft. The heresy must be destroyed, root and branch. Such was the thought of the priestly mind from one end of the peninsula to the other—a thought which soon ripened into an unshakable resolution. Nor were there any nice scruples about the means to be used. The fires of the inquisition, which were already lighted, needed only additional fuel. The inquisitor-general accordingly set to work with all his might to cleanse the land of the so-called abomination. The auto da fe became the order of the day. Never before or after did the flames of the inquisition burn with such rigour as during his merciless rule, and never were such infamous measures resorted to to suppress the truth. At the request of Valdes and his master Philip, the pope on the 4th of February, 1559, issued a brief authorizing the council of the supreme, in derogation of the standing laws of the inquisition, to deliver over to the secular arm those who were convicted of having taught the Lutheran opinions, even though they had not relapsed, and were willing to recant. Two years afterwards (1561) a new code of laws for the government of the inquisitors was prepared by Valdes—the code by which this mightiest of all the engines of persecution was guided till it ceased to exist. We have not been able to ascertain the dates of the birth and death of Fernando Valdes. He was, however, well up in years when he was appointed inquisitor-general, an office which he held for a long period.—R. M., A.  VALDES,, a Spanish author, was born in the Asturias in the sixteenth century. He studied at Valladolid, where he became first an advocate and then professor of law. He was afterwards appointed a member of the council of Granada. Valdes wrote a book in which he tried to prove that the Spanish kings ought to take precedence of all the christian princes. It was entitled—"Prærogativa Hispaniæ, hoc est, de dignitate et præeminentiâ regum regnorumque Hispaniæ, et honoratiori loco ac titulo eis eorumque legatis a conciliis et Romanâ sede jure debito tractatus Jacobi Valdesii," published at Granada in 1602, and reprinted at Frankfort in 1626. His other book, "Additiones ad Roderici Suarez Lecturas variorum Jurium," appeared at Valladolid in 1590.—R. M., A.  VALDES or VALDESSO,, the first adherent of the reformed doctrines in Spain, and one of the most active promoters of the same in Italy, was born in the latter part of the fifteenth century. He was of a good family, and received a liberal education. On the completion of his studies, which it is conjectured he had prosecuted at the university of Alcala, he attached himself to the court, and in the year 1535 quitted his native country (to which, so far as we know, he never returned) in the train of Charles V. He followed the emperor into Germany, whence, after receiving the order of knighthood, he was sent to Naples, then a dependency of the Spanish crown, to act as secretary to the viceroy, Don Pedro de Toledo. It used to be the common opinion that Valdes became a convert to the Lutheran creed while living in Germany; but M'Crie, who has thoroughly investigated the matter, concludes that his mind had been imbued with the new doctrines before he left Spain. He had at any rate written a short treatise (sent originally to his friend, Bartolomé Carranza, who became archbishop of Toledo, and afterwards circulated among his acquaintance), entitled "Advice on the Interpreters of Sacred Scripture," in which he states plainly that we must not rely on the interpretations of the fathers, and that we are justified by a lively faith in the passion and death of our Saviour. These opinions, however, may have been suggested to him by the writings of Tauler, with some of which it is certain that he was at that time familiar; though again M'Crie remarks, that he might have become acquainted with Tauler through the writings of Luther who, as is well-known, was a great admirer of the German mystic. But, however that be, certain it is that after his settlement at Naples he became the centre of evangelical influence in that city, and, we might almost add, in Italy itself. A Roman catholic writer declares with pious horror, that he "caused a far greater slaughter of souls than all the thousands of heretical soldiery;" the heretical soldiery being those German troops, many of whom were protestants, who were sent, after the sack of Rome, to garrison the city of Naples. Valdes, indeed, was admirably well fitted to influence the minds of the educated and the high-born. Possessed of considerable learning and consummate tact, fervent in piety, gentle in disposition, of fascinating manners and distinguished for his conversational powers, he soon became a favourite with the principal nobility, and with all the enlightened men who, at certain seasons, resorted in great numbers to the Neapolitan metropolis. Nor did he ever willingly lose an opportunity of recommending the truths of the gospel to his numerous acquaintance. Gradually he formed a small society which had its regular meetings for religious instruction and study of the scriptures; and, though he never formally separated from the Romish church, the influence which he exercised in his own unostentatious way is quite incalculable, and altogether disproportioned to the scanty notice which he has hitherto received in biographical works. Among his disciples were Bernardino Ochino, vicar-general of the capuchins; Peter Martyr, Flaminio, Carnesecchi; Julia Gonzago, duchess of Trajetto; and many other eminent men and distinguished women. Nor was his influence confined exclusively to Italy. He was, it is true, absent in person from his native Spain; but his writings did not the less help to nourish the flame of true religion in that unhappy country, till it was at length utterly quenched by the holy fathers of the inquisition. Valdes died in 1540, "deeply lamented by many distinguished persons, who owned him as their spiritual father." "I wish we were at Naples," writes Bonfadio to Carnesecchi. "But when I consider the matter in another point of view, to what purpose should we go there, now when Valdes is dead? His death truly is a great loss to us and to the world, for Valdes was one of the rarest men in Europe. ... He was beyond all doubt a most accomplished man in all his words, actions, and counsels. Life scarcely supported his infirm and spare body; but his nobler part and pure intellect, as if it had been placed without the body, was wholly occupied with the contemplation of truth and divine things." Valdes was accused, after his death, of having held heretical opinions on the article of the Trinity; he has even been claimed by Sandius as an antitrinitarian: but no evidence in support of this charge can be produced either from his life or writings. Beza, indeed, disliked some of his sentiments, particularly those which it is likely he had derived from the quietist school of divines; but he never even alludes to the subject of the Trinity, and he was not the man to have passed over such an instance of flagrant heterodoxy, had the accusation been true. We may add that George Herbert, in his letter to his friend Farrer relative to the publishing of his (Farrer's) translation of one of Valdesso's books, says that he wished him by all means to give it to the world for "those three eminent things observable therein: First, that God in the midst of popery should open the eyes of one to understand and express so clearly and excellently the intent of the gospel in the acceptation of Christ's righteousness, as he showeth through all his Considerations. Secondly, the great honour and reverence which he everywhere bears to our dear Master and Lord, concluding every consideration almost with his holy name, and setting his merit forth so piously," &c. These are doctrines at least which no Socinian would be forward to claim. Valdes was the author of the famous "Divine Considerations." These were first published in Italian at Basle in 1550, "Le Cento e Dieci Considerationi de Signore Valdesso, nelle quale si ragiona cose più utile, più necessarie, e più perfette della Christiana religione." This was probably, however, a translation from the original Spanish. A commentary on the Epistle to the Romans in Spanish, Venice, 1556. The following is the title of another commentary, "Commentario breve ò declaracion compendiosa, y familiar, sobre lá primera epistola de San Pablo à los Corinthios, muy util para todos los amadores de la piedad Christiana." Schelhorn attributes also to him the two following works—"Due Dialoghi; l'uno di Mercurio et Caronte; l'altro di Latantio et di uno archdiacono," translated from the Spanish and published in Italy; "Modo di tenere, nell' insegnar et nel predicar, al principle della Religione Christiana." The Divine Considerations were translated into English by Nicholas Farrer, as above mentioned, who had fallen in with the book in his foreign travels:—"The Hundred and Ten Considerations of Signior John Valdesso, treating of those things which are most profitable, most necessary, and most perfect in our Christian profession. Written in Spanish, brought out of Italy by Vergerius, and first set forth in Italian at Basil by Coelius Secundus Curio, anno 1550. Afterwards translated into French, and printed at Lyons, 1563, and again at Paris, 1565; and now translated out of the Italian copy into English, with notes. Whereunto is added an epistle of the author's, or a preface to his Divine Commentary upon the Romans. 1 Cor. 2—'Howbeit we speak wisdome among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdome of this world.'" Oxford: printed by Leonard Lichfield, printer 