La Mariología de Francisco de Vitoria: cuestiones Bibliográficas

Abstract

The immediate purpose of the present study is to clarify the problems of a bibliographical character which might arise for one who wishes to penetrate into the mariological thought of Francisco de Vitoria. The author's final objective is to prepare the edition of the Commentaries which the famous restorer of Theology in the sixteenth century was carrying out on mariological questions from his chair of Theology at the University of Salamanca, where he was teaching the Tertia of St. Thomas. The work is divided into two parts. The first is a documental exposition of the present state of theological production of the theologian of Salamanca. As is known, if we make exceptions of four prologues, a brief work adressed to confessors and a few works of moral opinion, Vitoria was not published during his lifetime. A this death, however, he left behind a considerable legacy of theological material, consisting of his Relecciones and his university theological Lecturas. Various editions of his Relecciones have been published, some of them being annotated, the most outstanaing by P. Urdanoz. But the greater part of Lecturas still remain unpublished. In this regard, the most important publication up to he present moment is the editions of the Comentarios a la Secunda Secundae, in six volumes, by P. Beltran de Heredia. The author points out, interestingly enough, that the Lecturas which have come down to us are not the originals of Vitoria himself but the notes taken down by his students (dictata, reportata, reportationes) either closesly adhering to the explanations given in class (academic manuscripts) or those which were carefully composed later by copyists (extra-academic manuscripts). The author, at this point, considers the research of all those who have studied the material, especially that carried out by Cardinal Ehrle, P. Beltran de Heredia and prof. Stegmuller. Thanks to these, we can determine the number of manuscripts in existence, the material treated, the date on which each lecture was given, the library where they can be found or the professor to whom they belong. All of this data means that we are in conditions to be able to consider the theological production of Vitoria with sufficient assurance of objectivity, whether, to study his thought or to edit all or part of this material. The second part is dedicated to the presentation and analysis of the sources of the mariological doctrine of Vitoria, that is to say, to the five manuscripts which contain his Comentarios in III, 99. 27-37. It is a through analysis, in which the author, considering the diverse elements, attempts to arrive at a reliable conclusion in regard to the documental value of each of these manuscripts. The manuscripts are the following: 1. Manuscript 1.202 from the Section of Universities, in the National Historical Archives of Madrid. It is an extra-academic manuscript, made up of Lecturas of diverse origin. In the author's judgement the explanations which accompany questions 27-37 are not Victoria's. 2. Manuscript 44.XII.20 found in the Library of Ajuda, Lisbon. Likewise, this manuscript is extra-academic, although with notable similarities to the Evora Manuscript, the Latin Ottoboniano Manuscript 1.056 and the Zaragoza Manuscript. 3. Manuscript 123-1-17 found in the Public Library of Evora. It is academic, of outstanding value. 4. Manuscript 20/89 of the Capitular Archives of La Seo in Zaragoza. Only mentioned by P. Beltran de Heredia, it had not been studied until the present time. It is an academic manuscript, the best preserved and the most extensive of the Commentarios of Vitoria on the Tertia. 5. The Ottoboniano Latin Manuscript 1056 in the Apostolic Vatican Library, also academic. Once its authorship can be attributed to Vitoria, it could be the most important, but after q. 31 it is almost completely illegible. The author concludes by indicating that for his edition of questions 27-37 he will take as his basis the Manuscript from Zaragoza.