Explaining an Early Modern Magnum Opus

Abstract

This essay explains the approach used to formulate a historical explanation behind the early modern natural philosophy of Benito Arias Montano, as articulated in his Anima, Corpus, and Vestis trilogy, works he considered his magnum opus. This involved inquiring into his personal motivations, identifying the epistemological and methodological issues concerning natural philosophy he found to be in need of reform, and situating these within the social, economic, religious, and political imperatives that drove these issues and, as a consequence, the textual effort that resulted in the magnum opus. The research program outlined here also sought to expand our understanding of the imperatives driving natural philosophy in sixteenth-century Spain.