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Article THE LIFE OF XIMENES, ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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The Life Of Ximenes, Archbishop Of Toledo.
he received the bulls of Alexander VI . and of Julius II . for the erec . U ° ° L ' Seat ° f Jean " g- Although his situation so intimatel y connected him with the most important affairs of the kingdom , a , well as the hi gher duties of his profession and the good of the church yet the splendid entertainments of a court had no charms for him ) whose mind was ever meditating on things that were not of a transi- ' nature
tory . He had long felt the conviftion , that to theologists nothing was so necessary as an attentive reading and a careful investigation of the holy scriptures ; but that , notwithstanding this indispensable dut y instead of applying to the study ofthe sacred volume , the Doctors of the church too frequently amused themselves with subtle disputes and useless
speculations . The Archbishop , beholding then a great corruption of manners , and anxious to preserve the Old and New Testament in its utmost purity , undertook a new edition of the Bible , of which the Old Testament contains the Hebrew text , the Vulgate ) the Greek version of the 70 , translated into Latin , and the Chaldaic paraphrasewith a Latin versionthat nothing miht be wantino to
, , g - make the work complete . The New Testament has the Greek text , exceedingly correft , and the Vulgate . He likewise added a volume ) explanatory of the Hebrew idiomatic terms and phrases . This is held in great estimation by those who understand the sacred tonp-ue .
An undertaking of this kind involved in its execution great difficulty , and required powerful patronage , as well as diligent research and unremitted industry . The Archbishop sent for the most learned sages of his time : Demetrius of Crete , a Greek by nation ; Antony of Nebrissa ; Lopes Astuniga , Fernando Pintian , Professors of Greek and Latin ; Alphonsus , physician of Alcala ; Paul Coronel and Alphonsus Zamora , very learned in Hebrew literature , who had once
professed Judaism ; but" having been since called to the faith of Christ , had given proofs of deep erudition and sincere piety . To these scholars he intimated his design , promised to entertain them at 3 ns own charge , and allow them ample rewards for their labour . Above all things , he recommended them to be diligent , and said , ' Make haste , my friends , lest you are deprived of" me , or I of ' you ,-for you stand in need of a protection like mine , and I want such
assistance as you can afford . ' He obtained the most ancient manuscript copies from the Vatican and elsewhere ; and after an uninterrupted attention of fifteen years , produced a work that alone will immortalize his name . He purchased from different countries seven Hebrew manuscripts , which cost him four thousand ducats , beside the Greek manuscripts sent him from " and those of
Rome , Latin in grotesque letter , which he collected from distant countries , or borrowed from the principal libraries in Spain . _ All these were at least ei ght hundred years old . So that die salaries of the learned men , the wages of the copyists , the pi-ice of the books , and the expence incurred in sending for and bringing them , and the charge of the impression , cost the Arch-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Ximenes, Archbishop Of Toledo.
he received the bulls of Alexander VI . and of Julius II . for the erec . U ° ° L ' Seat ° f Jean " g- Although his situation so intimatel y connected him with the most important affairs of the kingdom , a , well as the hi gher duties of his profession and the good of the church yet the splendid entertainments of a court had no charms for him ) whose mind was ever meditating on things that were not of a transi- ' nature
tory . He had long felt the conviftion , that to theologists nothing was so necessary as an attentive reading and a careful investigation of the holy scriptures ; but that , notwithstanding this indispensable dut y instead of applying to the study ofthe sacred volume , the Doctors of the church too frequently amused themselves with subtle disputes and useless
speculations . The Archbishop , beholding then a great corruption of manners , and anxious to preserve the Old and New Testament in its utmost purity , undertook a new edition of the Bible , of which the Old Testament contains the Hebrew text , the Vulgate ) the Greek version of the 70 , translated into Latin , and the Chaldaic paraphrasewith a Latin versionthat nothing miht be wantino to
, , g - make the work complete . The New Testament has the Greek text , exceedingly correft , and the Vulgate . He likewise added a volume ) explanatory of the Hebrew idiomatic terms and phrases . This is held in great estimation by those who understand the sacred tonp-ue .
An undertaking of this kind involved in its execution great difficulty , and required powerful patronage , as well as diligent research and unremitted industry . The Archbishop sent for the most learned sages of his time : Demetrius of Crete , a Greek by nation ; Antony of Nebrissa ; Lopes Astuniga , Fernando Pintian , Professors of Greek and Latin ; Alphonsus , physician of Alcala ; Paul Coronel and Alphonsus Zamora , very learned in Hebrew literature , who had once
professed Judaism ; but" having been since called to the faith of Christ , had given proofs of deep erudition and sincere piety . To these scholars he intimated his design , promised to entertain them at 3 ns own charge , and allow them ample rewards for their labour . Above all things , he recommended them to be diligent , and said , ' Make haste , my friends , lest you are deprived of" me , or I of ' you ,-for you stand in need of a protection like mine , and I want such
assistance as you can afford . ' He obtained the most ancient manuscript copies from the Vatican and elsewhere ; and after an uninterrupted attention of fifteen years , produced a work that alone will immortalize his name . He purchased from different countries seven Hebrew manuscripts , which cost him four thousand ducats , beside the Greek manuscripts sent him from " and those of
Rome , Latin in grotesque letter , which he collected from distant countries , or borrowed from the principal libraries in Spain . _ All these were at least ei ght hundred years old . So that die salaries of the learned men , the wages of the copyists , the pi-ice of the books , and the expence incurred in sending for and bringing them , and the charge of the impression , cost the Arch-