Un érasmiste espagnol : Alvar Gómez de Ciudad Real, ou la conciliation de la poésie et de la théologie

Abstract

We propose here the translation of an excerpt of Alvar Gómez de Ciudad Real's Latin letter to Pope Clement VII, to whom he dedicated his Musa Paulina. In the letter, he claims that the transposition of saint Paul's letter into Latin lines which he has started is legitimate from both the literary and the theological points of view. Although he asserts his faithfulness to the Vulgate, Alvar Gómez is positive about the high literary value of his work, contrary to previous translators of profane classical works into the vernacular, who traditionally acknowledged the inferior quality of their transposition by comparison with the original text (which was usually due to the inherent limitations of the target language).Alvar Gómez attitude, which may look paradoxical in someone who, with a mind imbued with humanism, willing to reform the mentality of clergymen through reading, aims at a strict return to the original texts of the Catholic faith, can be accounted for by the influence of Erasmus' thought on him, and by his quite compatible support for a certain sacralisation of poetry. In the excerpt of the letter under study, the author, who is obviously very close to both the clerical circles and the humanist and Erasmist university of Alcalá de Henares, establishes the grounds for a Latin vernacular which can be seen as the controlled, original and lively product from a blend of the sacred prose of the Holy Scriptures and poetical invention.

Keywords

• saint Paul's epistles
• neo-latin poetry
• translation
• sacred poetry
• Erasmism