Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo
Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo was a prominent Spanish priest and diplomat, born in 1404 in Santa María de la Nieva, Spain. His extensive education at the University of Salamanca prepared him for a multifaceted career in both the church and diplomacy. Initially, he gained recognition through his theological writings, particularly in defense of papal authority amidst the antipapal sentiments during the Council of Basel in 1431. As a delegate from Castile, he played a significant role in advocating for the interests of the papist King Juan II and engaging with various European courts.
Sánchez de Arévalo's notable works include his 1440 publication, *Dialogus de remediis schismatis*, which tackled political issues of his time, and *De arte, disciplina, et modo alendi et erudiendi filios, pueros, et iuvenes*, a pioneering educational treatise in Spain. His later life saw him appointed to prestigious positions by various popes, including bishop of Oviedo and castellan of Castel Sant'Angelo, where he produced a significant volume of literature. His literary contributions shifted towards political themes, marking a transition from ecclesiastical discussions to broader political discourse. He passed away in 1470, leaving behind a legacy commemorated in Rome.
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Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo
Writer
- Born: 1404
- Birthplace: Santa María de la Nieva, Segovia, Spain
- Died: October 4, 1470
Biography
Spanish priest and diplomat Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo is remembered through a significant corpus of theological and political writings. Much of his early writing was in defense of papal authority, a reaction to the antipapal movement surrounding the Council of Basel in 1431. Sánchez de Arévalo was a delegate to the council from Castile, Spain, and a valued member of the court of Castile’s King Juan II.
Born in 1404 in Santa María de la Nieva, a town in the Segovia region of Spain, Sánchez de Arévalo received his primary education at the town’s Dominican convent. He trained as a lawyer at the University of Salamanca, where he received multiple degrees, including bachelors degrees in law, theology, and arts and doctorates in both theology and law. Despite his legal training, Salamanca chose a career in the church instead of the law. He met future bishop Alfonso de Cartagena while serving in a position at the cathedral of Burgos, and de Cartagena introduced him to courtly service.
By 1440, the year Sánchez de Arévalo published his first book, Dialogus de remediis schismatis, he was an experienced diplomat and courtly servant, holding a position as ambassador to the court of King Frederick III in Vienna. Representing the interests of the papist Castilian king, Sánchez de Arévalo advocated against the Viennese court’s neutrality regarding the Council of Basel. The Dialogus addresses the politics of that issue.
In the months following his trip to Vienna, Sánchez de Arévalo visited the courts of King Charles VII of France, King Alfonso V of Aragón, and the Duke of Milan, all to advocate for the exiled Pope Eugene V and to support the Castilian position. Throughout 1441, he traveled between Germany and Castile, attending meetings and reporting on the settlement of the schism. By 1443, he had been promoted to vicar general of his diocese under Bishop Alfonso de Cartegena, another position that kept him traveling on church business.
In 1448, Sánchez de Arévalo began a prolonged stay in Italy in the aftermath of a conflict over his appointment as dean of the cathedral of León. He was chosen by the cathedral council, but in reality the selection of a new dean was the responsibility of the newly ascended Pope Nicholas V, who named a nephew of Cardinal Cervantes to the post. Sánchez de Arévalo protested and was excommunicated. King Juan II intervened on his behalf and Sánchez de Arévalo was reinstated both to the church and to the deanship. He traveled to Italy to head the delegation from Castile swearing loyalty to the new pope and remained in Italy until 1450, advising and contributing to further discussions regarding the schism and the election of the antipope Felix V in 1447. It is likely that Sánchez de Arévalo also consulted with Pope Nicholas regarding matters of Castilian warfare.
Sánchez de Arévalo returned to Burgos in 1450 and began work on De arte, disciplina, et modo alendi et erudiendi filios, pueros, et iuvenes, a treatise about the art and discipline of instructing infants and young men. Published in 1453, the treatise is the first known educational document to be written in Spain and is Sánchez de Arévalo’s most humanistic work. Shortly after its publication, Sánchez de Arévalo began writing explicitly about politics, without the ecclesiastical context. His Suma de la política was the first work he produced in Spanish rather than in ecclesiastical Latin.
The last years of Sánchez de Arévalo’s life were a period of high honor and great literary productivity. He received many prestigious appointments from the popes who succeeded Nicholas, most especially from Pope Callistus III, who named him bishop of Oviedo, and from Pope Paul II (Pietro Barbo), who in 1464 made Sánchez de Arévalo the castellan of Castel Sant’Angelo, the site of the papal treasury. Sánchez de Arévalo’s most prolific period of literary production occurred during his years as castellan, most likely because the position did not allow him to travel. In the last five years of his life, Sánchez de Arévalo held the bishoprics of Zamora (1465-1469) and Palencia (1469- 1470.) He died after a brief illness in 1470 and was buried at the Spanish Church of Santiago in Rome. The Church of Santa María de Monserrat in Rome houses an epitaph and sculpture commemorating his life.