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Charles de Bovelles and Nicholas de Pax: Two Sixteenth-century Biographies of Ramon Lull

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2016

Joseph M. Victor
Joseph M. Victor*
Affiliation:
Syracuse University
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Extract

Admiration for the achievements of the thirteenth-century Catalan mystic Ramon Lull ran deep in many currents of learning in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was during this period that Lullism became a potent force in the intellectual life of Western Europe, being blended with mysticism by Lefèvre, with philosophical encyclopedism by Lavinheta, and with occultism and symbolism by Agrippa and Bruno. The penetration of Lull's thought into diverse areas of intellectual life was in agreement with his own contention that the Ars was universally applicable, but at the same time it obscured Lull's fundamental apologetic aims, his eremitic ideals, missionary wanderings, and his martyrdom.

Type
Articles
Information
Traditio , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , 1976 , pp. 313 - 345
Copyright
Copyright © The Fordham University Press 

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References

1 On the influence of Lull's thought in the Renaissance see the following: T. and Carreras y Artau, J., Historia de la filosofía española II (Madrid 1943 ); Rossi, P., ‘Enciclopedismo e combinatoria nel secolo XVI,’ Revista critica di storia della filosofia 3 (1958) 243–272, and the partial English translation, ‘The Legacy of Ramon Lull in Sixteenth-Century Thought,’ Medieval and Renaissance Studies 6 (1961) 183–213; Zambelli, P., Il ‘De auditu kabbalistico’ e la tradizione lulliana nel Rinascimento (Florence 1965); Hillgarth, J. N., Ramon Lull and Lullism in Fourteenth-Century France (Oxford 1971) esp. 278-292; Victor, J. M., ‘Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples, Charles de Bovelles and Bernardo de Lavinheta: The Revival of Lullism at Paris, 1499-1516,’ Renaissance Quarterly 28 (1975) 504–534. Italian Lullism is surveyed in Batllori, M., ‘El Lulismo en Italia,’ Revista de filosofía 2 (1943) 253–313, 479-537. During the Renaissance there was formed a substantial manuscript collection of Lull's works at San Candido (Innichen); cf. Paul Oskar Kristeller, Iter Italicum II (London-Leiden 1967) 140–141 and Rubió y Balaguer, J., ‘Los Códices lulianos de la Biblioteca de Innichen' Revista de filología española 4 (1917) 303-340.Google Scholar

2 The Sorbonne manuscript (Paris, BN lat. 15450) is the subject of Hillgarth's Ramon Lull (supra, note 1); see pp. 348-398 for a detailed description of its contents. The Vauvert manuscript (Paris BN lat. 14586) is described by H. Riedlinger in Opera Latina Raimundi Lulli V (Palma 1967) 211. For Lull manuscripts at Paris see Tarré, J., ‘Los códices lulianos de la Biblioteca nacional de Paris,’ Analecta sacra tarraconensia 14 (1941) 155–182. The diffusion of the Vita of Lull is described by Hillgarth, op. cit. 276-278. For the eighteenth-century editions of the Vita Beati Raimundi Lulli see Rogent, E. and Duràn, E., Bibliografia de les impressions lul.lianes (Barcelona 1927) nos. 281 and 302. This work is referred to hereafter as RD. A critical edition of the Vita beati Raimundi Lulli has been published by de Gaiffier, B., Studia monographica et recensiones 11 (1954) 130-178. This edition is based on Paris BN lat. 15450, BN lat. 14586; Vaticanus lat. 10275; Munich Clm. 10561 and Clm. 10573 as well as several fragments.Google Scholar

3 A careful comparison of Paris BN lat. 14586 and 15450 with Bovelles' Vita Raemundi Eremitae confirms Hillgarth's judgment (p. 287) that it was the former manuscript that Bovelles followed in composing his Vita. The catalogue of Lull's works printed by Bovelles resembles, but does not correspond exactly to, the catalogue of Paris BN lat. 15450, fols. 89v-90 (cf. Hillgarth, op. cit. 335-345). Hillgarth, following R. d'Alos (Los catálogos lulianos [Barcelona 1918] 17ff.), asserts that Bovelles probably copied his catalogue from Paris BN lat. 14586. This catalogue was lost in the sixteenth century, making verification impossible. The conjecture of Tarré, op. cit. pp. 172ff. that the catalogue was removed by Bovelles strikes me as unfounded. Bovelles probably utilized Paris BN lat. 15450 in his other works. Compare Lull's definition and use of ‘suppositio’ in the De Suppositione (Paris BN lat. 14540, fols. 323vb-357 va) with Bovelles' in his De Generatione; cf. Qui in hoc volumine continentur: liber de intellectu, liber de sensu. … liber de generatione … (Paris: H. Estienne, 1 February 1511) fols. 105-106. Perhaps further evidence is supplied by Bovelles' Vita, fol. 40. See discussion in Hillgarth, op. cit. 287 and 381-382.Google Scholar

4 Janer, J., Ars metaphisicalis (Valencia, L. Hutz, 28 February 1506) (RD no. 36). The account of Lull's death is from Officium gloriosissimi et beatissimi martyris Raymundi Lulli, fol. 281 v.Google Scholar

5 On Bovelles see Cassirer, E., Das Erkenntnisproblem in der Philosophie und Wissenschaft der neueren Zeit (2nd ed.; Berlin 1911) I 61-72; Rice, E. F., Jr., The Renaissance Idea of Wisdom (Cambridge, Mass. 1958) 106–123; Victor, Joseph M., Charles de Bovelles (1479-1553): An Intellectual Biography (diss. Columbia University 1971).Google Scholar

6 On Lefèvre see Rice, E. F., Jr., ‘Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and the Medieval Christian Mystics,’ in Florilegium Historiale: Essays in Honor of Wallace K. Ferguson (Toronto 1970 ); Renaudet, A., Préréforme et humanisme à Paris pendant les premières guerres d'Italie 1494-1517 (2nd ed.; Paris, 1953). For Lefèvre's publication of Lull's works see Rice, E. F., Jr., The Prefatory Epistles of Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and Related Texts (New York-London 1972) and RD nos. 24, 35, 62. Lefèvre's use of Lull in his lectures is attested by Beatus Rhenanus' reportatio of Lefèvre's lectures, preserved in Sélestat, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 58, cf. fols. 36 and 39 v. Cf. Adam, P., L'Humanisme à Sélestat (Sélestat 1962) 126; Hillgarth, , op. cit. 287, n. 103.Google Scholar

7 Cf. Victor, , ‘Jacques Lefèvre’ 522-530.Google Scholar

8 On Lull's ideal hermit, see Platzeck, E. W., ‘La vida eremítica en las obras del beato Raimundo Lulio,’ Revista de espiritualidad 1 (1942) 61–79, 117-143 and his more recent ‘Esencia del arte luliano,’ Orbis catholicus 2 (1960) 287–295. Lefèvre spoke of Lull as a ‘pius eremita’ in the preface to his 1499 edition of Lull's works (cf. Rice, Prefatory Epistles 76, no. 22; cited also in Hillgarth, J. N., ‘Some Notes on Lullian Hermits in Majorca saec. XIII-XVII,’ Studia Monastica 6 [1964] 303, n. 19). The purpose of Bovelles's biography was recognized almost immediately by Nicholas de Pax; cf. his letter to Bovelles of May, 1514, printed in RD, no. 75, fol. 2: ‘Vidi enim et legi quicquid de nostri a deo illuminati Raimundi vita (licet carptim vere tamen et ornato eloquio) scripsisti. Et quantum ex tuae scripturae signis interior homo coniicere potest . …’Google Scholar

9 On Nicholas von der Flühe see Durrer, R., Bruder Klaus (2 vols.; Samen 1917-1921 ); Blanke, F., Bruder Klaus von Flüe: seine innere Geschichte (Zurich 1948); Lamb, G. R., Brother Nicholas (New York 1955). Bovelles' biography, in epistle form, can be found in Commentarius in primordiale evangelium divi Ioannis . … philosophicae et historicae aliquot epistolae (Paris: Badius, 13 December 1514) fols. 60 v ff. On Grambusius see Rice, Prefatory Epistles 141, 143.Google Scholar

10 Bovelles, , Qui in hoc volumine continentur: Liber de intellectu, liber de sensu … epistolae complures . … (Paris: H. Estienne, 1 February 1511) fol. 166 v: Bovelles to Jiménez, August 22, 1509.Google Scholar

11 Ibid. fol. 166 v.Google Scholar

12 Cf. Vita fol. 34-34 v.Google Scholar

13 Among them were Alfonso Yáñez, canon of the cathedral of Toledo (cf. Qui in hoc volumine … epistolae complures fol. 167-167v). His ideas were not always warmly received in Spain; cf. M. Bataillon, Érasme et l'Espagne (Paris 1937) 59. On the reception of Bovelles' Vita in Spain, see Guilleumas, R., ‘La biblioteca de Joan Bonllavi,’ Revista valenciana de filología 4 (1954) 40.Google Scholar

14 Cf. Vita fol. 34. Google Scholar

15 On his sudden conversion see Bovelles, , Metaphisicum Introductorium cum alio quodam opusculo … (Paris, G. Marchant, 30 January 1504) sig. e iii v: Jean Molinier to Lefèvre, 25 January 1504.Google Scholar

16 Hillgarth, , Ramon Lull 276-8, cf. 476-9.Google Scholar

17 On the diffusion of Spanish Lullism in the fifteenth century see M. Madurell Marimon, J., ‘La Escuela de Ramón Llull de Barcelona,' Estudios Lulianos 6 (1962) 187–209; Batllori, M., in Mélanges E. Tisserant VI (Studi e Testi 236; Vatican City 1964) 123; Hillgarth, , Ramon Lull 278; id., ‘Hermits’ 307-312; F. de Bofarull, ‘El Testamento de Ramón Lull y la Escuela luliana en Barcelona,’ Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 5 (1896) 440ff.; y Artau, Carreras, op. cit. On Llobet, Cabaspre, Dagui and Genovard, see below.Google Scholar

18 On Nicholas de Pax see Avinyó, J., Historia del lulisme (Barcelona 1925) 370–374; y Artau, Carreras, op. cit. II 207-209, 250, 252-254; Bover, J., Biblioteca de escritores baleares (Palma 1868) 590 no. 896 and addenda; Antonius, N., Bibliotheca Hispana Velus II (Madrid 1788) 129. On the edition of the Desconort see RD no. 90.Google Scholar

19 On the Liber de rationali anima see RD no. 73; the Dyalecticae introductiones illuminati doctoris et martyris Raymundi Lulli (Alcalá, A. Brocar, 27 October 1518) (RD no. 69) was possibly the work of Pax (cf. Carreras y Artau, op. cit. II 254). His Commentaria super artem divi Raymundi Lulli was cited by Bover, op. cit. II 76-80.Google Scholar

20 Cf. Vita fol. a iii v.Google Scholar

21 García-Pastor, J. and Hillgarth, J. N., Manuscritos lulianos de la Biblioteca Pública de Palma (Barcelona-Palma 1965) nos. 6, 33, 53; for Vincentius Valerius, who styles himself ‘discipulus Nicolai Pachis,’ see García-Pastor, op. cit. nos. 39, 49.Google Scholar

22 His letter to Bovelles was published by the latter in Caroli Bovilli Samarobrini Responsiones ad novem quesita Nicolai Paxii Maioricensis seu Balearici in arte lullistarum peritissimi (Paris: Badius, 15 March 1521/1522) (RD no. 75) fols. 2ff. Google Scholar

1 In hoc opere contenta: Commentarius in primordiale evangelium divi Ioannis. Vita Raemundi eremitae. Philosophicae et historicae aliquot Epistolae. Haec de novo castigatius impressa sunt cum nonnullis additionibus et epistolis pluribus (Paris: Badius, 13 September 1514; RD no. 51). I have used the text of the second edition because this is the last printing in which Bovelles had a hand. The other editions are RD no. 45 (Paris 1511); RD no. 196 (Lyons 1625); RD no. 291 (Antwerp 1708); RD no. 292 (Antwerp 1709); RD no. 324 (Venice 1744).Google Scholar

2 Raymond Boucher was a lawyer who had assisted Lefèvre in the 1505 compilation of Lull's works. Cf. Rice, , Prefatory Epistles 144 ep. 45. Bovelles dedicated his Libellus de mathematicis supplementis to him.Google Scholar

3 Bovelles, following the Vita coetanea (de Gaiffier, op. cit. 155, no. 18), has Lull lecture at Paris on the Ars generalis at the request of the Chancellor Bertaldus (Bertauld de Saint-Denis). Peers, E., Ramon Lull: A Biography (London 1929) 201–202, has shown that this was chronologically impossible.Google Scholar

a malim: Nestorianos

b Jonah 3:4

c malim: quod

d malim: quod

a malim: quod

b lacuna (?)

c trinitate, ed.

d inaeternum, ed.

a vires, ed.

b ediverso, ed.

a increbuit, ed.

4 Thomas Le Myésier was a direct disciple of Lull. They met on Lull's first visit to Paris (1287-89). From Arras, where he had become a canon, Le Myésier sent Lull a series of fifty quaestiones (Quaestiones Atrebatenses) designed to test the practical applicability of Lull's ars. Though they deal with theology and natural philosophy, Pax' quaestiones to Bovelles offer a striking parallel to this practice. It was Le Myésier who caused the great Electorium manuscript (Paris, BN lat. 15450) to be drawn up early in the fourteenth century. Cf. Hillgarth, Ramon Lull. Google Scholar

Vale. Ex Ambianis xxvii. Iunii. MDXI.

1 Cui voluere simul Deus et natura fauere prospera constantis signa dedere Rote. Oraque purpureo resplendens aurea campo non nisi quid magnum significare potest Illuminati Doctoris et Martyris Raymundi Lulli. Opusculum De Anima Rationali: Et vita eiusdem Doctoris (Alcala: Arnau Brocar, 14 August 1519) RD no. 73. The other editions of the Vita are RD no. 291 (Antwerp 1708); RD no. 292 (Antwerp 1709); RD no. 324 (Venice 1744).Google Scholar

2 Ioannes Ruffus Teodolus was appointed bishop of Cosenza on November 6, 1511; on March 3, 1513 he became Apostolic Nuncio to the Kingdom of Aragon and Apostolic Collector General. He died in 1527. Cf. Eubel, C., Hierarchia catholica medii aevii III (Münster 1910) 183; Gams, P. B., Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae (2nd ed.; Leipzig 1931) 878.Google Scholar

a hec, ed.

b srontis, ed.;

c illuminatus nostra, ed.;

d immodum, ed.

e compendis, ed.

3 Joan Cabaspre (1455-1529), a Majorcan Lullist who taught Lull's doctrines for twenty-six years, during which time Pax was his student. He composed the De ordinatione superioris et inferioris essentiarum in 1506. On this work, see Munich Clm. 10595 and MS Palma Bibl. Pública 1048 described in García-Pastor, , op. cit. 60. For further information on Cabaspre, consult Bover, op. cit. I 182; Avinyó, , op. cit. 370; Pasqual, A. R., Vindiciae lullianae (Avignon 1778) I i 5; Carreras-Artau, op. cit. II 253-254.Google Scholar

a malim: dignissime

b malim: perniciosae

4 Lupetus (Lobetus): Pere Joan Llobet from Barcelona. He was active on Majorca 1449-1460 where he was responsible for erecting Lull's tomb. A much esteemed Lullist, he was included in the ‘prima classis’ of Lullists by Lull's eighteenth-century editor Ivo Salzinger (cf. Salzinger, I., Beati Raimundi Lulli Opera [Mainz, 1721-1742; repr. Frankfurt 1965] Testimonia I 37). Few of Llobet's works have survived, though he certainly had written many. For catalogues see the letter of Gabriel Desclapés (Clapesius), cited in Hillgarth, ‘Hermits’ 310 n. 54 and Salzinger, , Testimonia I 37. For further information on Llobet, consult Pasqual; op. cit. I i 23; Avinyó, , op. cit. 250-251; Custerer, J., Disertaciones historicas del culto immemorial del B. Raymundo Lullio (Mallorca 1700) 539-540.Google Scholar

Llobet may well be identified with the mysterious ‘Pelagius’ with whom ‘Libanius Gallus,’ the correspondent of Trithemius, studied and whom Trithemius praised. This observation, first made by Pasqual A. R., Descubrimiento de la aguja naútica … (Madrid 1789) 166 ff., is accepted by Hillgarth, ‘Hermits’ 310. For Trithemius's remarks, see his Epistolarum familiarium libri II (Hagenau 1536) esp. 340. For Trithemius and Libanius Gallus, see Secret F., ‘Qui était Libanius Gallus le maistre de Jean Trithème?’ Estudios lulianos 6 (1962), 127-137.

5 Catanius: probably Bartomeu Catany, a Franciscan Observant who spent some years as a hermit near Soller and on Mt. Randa in Majorca during the first part of the fifteenth century. During this time he may have lived with Llobet; cf. Furió, A., Vida del Bendito P. Fr. Bartolomé Catany (Palma 1851) 59; Bover, op. cit. I no. 258; Hillgarth, ‘Hermits’ 325.Google Scholar

6 Clapesius: Gabriel Desclapés (fl. 1460), canon of the cathedral of Barcelona and student of Llobet. Cf. Pasqual, Vindiciae I i 5; Avinyó, op. cit. 251-252, 270-271, 274; Hillgarth, ‘Hermits’ 310-311; Bover, , op. cit. I 351; RD pp. 8, 377; Carreras y Artau, op. cit. II 63, 65, 68.Google Scholar

7 Tornerius, a doctor cited by Pasqual, Vindiciae I i 5. Google Scholar

8 Gerpus: unknown to me. Google Scholar

9 On the Lullism of Nicholas of Cusa see Pasqual, , Vindiciae I i 3; Platzeck, E. W., ‘Observaciones del P. A. R. Pasqual sobre lulistas alemanes,’ Revista española de teología 1 (1941) 731–765; Colomer, E., Nikolaus von Kues und Raimund Llull (Berlin 1961); Carreras y Artau, op. cit. II 177-196; for Lull manuscripts in Cusanus' library see Honecker, M., ‘Lullus-Handschriften aus dem Besitz des Kardinals Nikolaus von Cues,’ Spanische Forschungen der Görresgesellschaft I 6 (1937) 252-309.Google Scholar

10 Daguinus: Pere Dagui from Tarragona, active on Majorca 1481-1487. Through his writings he became one of the fifteenth century's most influential Lullists. Perhaps he was a student of Llobet; certainly he continued Llobet's teaching on Mt. Randa on Majorca. See Madurell, J. M., Analecta sacra tarraconensia 23 (1950) 31–66; Avinyó, , op. cit. 285-288; Salzinger, Testimonia I 43-44; y Artau, Carreras, op. cit. 65-7, 72-6, 250 f.; Hillgarth, ‘Hermits’ 311; L. Perez Martínez, Estudios lulianos 4 (1960) 291–306. On Dagui at Rome see Batllori, M., ‘El lulismo en Italia,’ Revista de filosofia 2 (1943) 493 f., 499 f. For his publications see RD nos. 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 23, 26, 27, 29, 61.Google Scholar

11 Caldenteius: Bartomeu Caldentey, a teacher of Lullism at Miramar on Majorca in the late fifteenth century († ca. 1500). During the 1490's he operated a printing press there for a short time. See Muntaner Bujosa, J., ‘La primera imprenta mallorquina,' Bolleti de la Societat Arqueologica Lulliana 31 (1953-1960) 467–503, esp. 479-484; also Bover, , op. cit. I 199; Avinyó, op. cit. 276-277; Hillgarth, , ‘Hermits’311, 325, y Artau, Carreras, op. cit. II 66, 70, 82, 251, 256.Google Scholar

12 On Lefèvre, see above. Google Scholar

13 On Bovelles, see above.Google Scholar

a malim: viventes

14 Fontanus: unknown to me. Google Scholar

15 On Cabaspre, see note 3 supra. Genovard, Genovard († 15 December 1533) was a teacher of Lullism on Majorca during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. See Bover, op. cit. I 526; Avinyó, , op. cit. 370; y Artau, Carreras, op. cit. II 253-254, 256.Google Scholar

16 Arnaldus de Villanova (Arnau de Vilanova) was a contemporary of Lull's who had great admiration for Lull's works and missionary plans. A fascinating figure whose ideas penetrated many disciplines, he is still relatively unstudied. See Hillgarth, , Ramon Lull passim; Carreras y Artau, op. cit. I 228 ff.Google Scholar

17 On the limitations of Pico's Lullism see the analysis in Hillgarth, Ramon Lull 282-283; in essential opposition to Hillgarth are Zambelli, P., op. cit. 119 f. and Carreras, y Artau, , op. cit. II 198-201, 203.Google Scholar

18 On Jiménez' dedication to Lull, see Victor, , ‘Jacques Lefèvre'; also, Avinyó, op. cit. 365-367 and Peers, E. A., Ramon Lull: A Biography (repr. New York 1969) 383.Google Scholar

19 The date of the document is February 10, 1310. It is quoted in Denifle, H. and Chatelain, A., Chartularium universitatis Parisiensis II (Paris 1891) 142 no. 679 and by Pasqual, , Vindiciae I 276-277. There seems to be no doubt the document is authentic; cf. Longpré, E., ‘Lulle, Raymond (Le bienheureux)’ in DThC 9.1085 ff. and Hillgarth, , Ramon Lull 155 f.Google Scholar

a chrianissimus, ed.

b malim: Viennae

c 1639, ed.

20 Denifle-Chatelain, , op. cit. Il 144 no. 684, and Pasqual, , Vindiciae I 282, n. 1.Google Scholar

21 Rubió y Lluch, A., Documents per l'historia de la cultura catalana mig-eval (2 vols; Barcelona 1908-1921) I 222-224; Pasqual, , Vindiciae I 361.Google Scholar

22 Pasqual, , Vindiciae I 362-363; Salzinger, , Testimonia 108.Google Scholar

23 Avinyó, , op. cit. 249-251.Google Scholar

24 Cf. Salzinger, , Testimonia 109.Google Scholar

25 I can find no record of this confirmation.Google Scholar

a postet, ed.

b proviencie, ed.

c malim: infidelium

d malim: bello

e malim: Viennae

26 Ioannis de Rocascisa: John of Rupescissa; cf. Hillgarth, , Ramon Lull 137 n. 5; Salzinger, , Testimonia 37-39; Avinyó, , op. cit. 254.Google Scholar

a immodum, ed.

b Hebrews 13:2

27 Cf. Avinyó, , op. cit. 550-551.Google Scholar

a malim: a lapidibus

a meledicentiam, ed.

b experientiam eos, ed.

c inspicant, ed.

d desola, ed.

a subito, ed.

b pobris, ed.

c meretissime, ed.

28 On Nicolaus Eymerich († 1399) see y Artau, Carreras, op. cit. II 32-43; J. Roura Roca, Posicián doctrinae de Fr. Nicolós Eymerich, O.P., en la polémica luliana (Gerona 1959 ); Madre, A., Die theologische Polemik gegen Raimundus Lullus (Münster 1973) passim. The Bull of Gregory XI can be found in C. du Plessis d'Argentré, Collectio judiciorum de novis erroribus (Paris 1725-1736) I 248.Google Scholar

29 I can find no record of this. Google Scholar

30 Leonardo Rossi de Giffonio, O.F.M. († 1407); cf. Eubel, op. cit. 47. Google Scholar

31 Cf. Sollier, J. B., Acta Sanctorum … (Antwerp 1709) 485–490; Bernardus Bartholomei, bishop of Città di Castello, August 9, 1409. He died in 1424; cf. Eubel, op. cit. 191.Google Scholar