Spina, Alphonso De
Spina, Alphonso de
Spanish Franciscan, date of birth unknown; died about 1491. A convert from Judaism, he was for many years superior of the house of studies of the Friars Minor at Salamanca, and in 1491 was created Bishop of Thermopylæ in Greece. He was a man of great learning and attained considerable renown as a preacher, but his chief title to fame is the work entitled “Fortalitium Fidei” which Mariana (lib. XXII “De rebus Hispan.”, c. xlvi) describes as “opus eruditum, splendido titulo, voce barbara, et divinarum rerum cognitione præstanti”. As appears from the text, this work was written in 1458, but it was added to by the author at different times up to the year 1485. The first edition was issued about 1464-76; the edition published at Nuremberg in 1485 begins thus: “Incipit prohemium Fortalitii Fidei conscriptum per quendam Doctorem eximium ordinis minorum anno MCCCCLIX in partibus occidentis.” The fact that the “Fortalitium Fidei” appeared anonymously gave rise to some difference of opinion as to its authorship. The reason why the work is included in the “Scriptores O. P.” is that one edition of it appeared under the auspices of Gulielmus Totani, O. P., for its author was undoubtedly a Franciscan, as Echard himself notes (Script. Ord. Præd., ed. 1721, II, 61), and modern scholars are practically unanimous in attributing it to Alfonso de Spina. The “Fortalitium Fidei” deals with the different kinds of armour to be used by preachers and others in their warfare against the enemies of the Christian religion. It is divided into five books, the first directed against those who deny the Divinity of Christ, the second against heretics, the third against the Jews, and the fourth against the Mohammedans, while the fifth book treats of the battle to be waged against the Gates of Hell. In this last book the author dwells at length upon the demons and their hatred of men; the powers they have over men and the diminution of these powers, owing to the victory of Christ on the Cross, the final condition of the demons, etc.
Besides the “Fortalitium”, Alfonso de Spina published at least three other works: (1) Sermones de Nomine Jesu Vigintiduos, issued about 1454 (erroneously confounded with the “Fortalitium” by Oudin); (2) “Sermones plures de excellentia nostræ fidei”, preached in 1459; (3) a treatise on fortune, dedicated to John, King of Castile (1404-54).
———————————–
WADDING, Annales minorum, ad an. 1452, XXXI; IDEM, Scriptores ord. min. (Rome, 1906), 14; SBARALEA, Supplementum, pt. I (Rome, 1908), 29-30; HURTER, Nomenclator, II (1906), 1019.
PASCHAL ROBINSON. Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Spina, Alphonso De
a Christian apologist, lived in Spain in the 15th century. He was of Jewish extraction, but was converted and received into the Order of Franciscan monks, after which he became rector of the high school at Salamanca, and ultimately bishop of Orense, in Galicia. He wrote an apologetical work entitled Fortalitium Fidei contra Judoeos, Saracenos Aliosque Christianoe Fidei Inimicos, which was published in 1484, and repeatedly afterwards, and which was famous in its time. It consists of four books, each of which includes several considerationes. Book 1 proves from the fulfilment of prophecy that Jesus is the true Messiah. Book 2 deals with heretics and the punishments they incur. Book 3 is devoted to the Jews and to the refutation of their arguments in opposition to Christianity. Book 4 is directed against the Mohammedans, and contains a detailed criticism of their religious system, followed by a not uninteresting description of the conflicts the Christians were obliged to sustain against the Saracens. The work was first published anonymously, and was in time attributed, but erroneously, to the Dominican Bartholomew Spina (died 1546; see Zedler, Universal-Lexikon) and others. For a thorough characterization of the work, see R. Simon. Biblioth. Critique, par M. de Saingre, 3, 316-322; and comp. Bayle, Dictionnaire; Zedler, Universal-Lexikon; Schrckh, Kirchengesch. 30, 573 sq.; 34, 361 sq.