Mariana, Juan De (?1535/1536–1624)

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MARIANA, JUAN DE (?1535/1536–1624)

MARIANA, JUAN DE (?1535/1536–1624), Spanish Jesuit (Alcalá de Henares, 1554), historian and economic and political theorist. Born in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), Mariana was among the most important Spanish scholars of his time, and taught at Rome, Sicily, Paris, and Toledo.

Mariana published his history of Spain, De Rebus Hispaniae, in 1592, and revised and translated it into Spanish in 1601 as Historia general de España. His Castilian-centric vision of Iberian history, full of rousing speeches and moral lessons, was typical of the historiography of the period, in the tradition of Livy. Written in the wake of the Armada's defeat (1588) and reissued after Philip II's (ruled 1556–1598) death, a time when Spain's glory was beginning to fade, it was both pessimistic and romantic. It was also the first general history of Spain, and became an important source for later readers, particularly in the history-crazed late eighteenth century.

In 1599, Mariana published his great political treatise, De Rege et Regis Institutione, written as a guide for the young Philip III. In it, Mariana set out his vision of the best form of government: a hereditary monarchy in which the king is advised by a council and limited by an elected assembly. Thus, Mariana is justly thought to have originated the idea of constitutional monarchy. In De Rege, he praised the Cortes (parliament) of Aragón, the representative assembly of eastern Spain, which had retained more rights than the Cortes of Castile. During the reign of Philip III (ruled 1598–1621), the Cortes, whose members represented Castile's major cities, became the arena for an ongoing struggle between the monarchy, in desperate need of money, and the cities, increasingly prone to place conditions on their grants. Behind the struggle over taxation lay a deeper conflict over the true location of authority.

Mariana advocated equality under the law: "If the king requires obedience of his subjects, he must also show obedience to the laws, because the king must be subject to those laws sanctioned by the Republic, whose authority is greater than his" (De Rege, I.9). He was neither a democrat nor a revolutionary, and he was not alone in believing that sovereignty originated in the kingdom, not the king (Jean Bodin had published La république in 1577), but his words were more adamant than those of his contemporaries. For Mariana, government was partly the result of nature but also of human will; if people made government, they could also unmake it and were justified in doing so if rulers violated their contract. If monarchs ignored the words and wishes of their subjects, and if the Cortes were unable, because of a monarch's attitude, to continue meeting, then "any citizen, in the name of the people, has the right to kill the tyrant" (De Rege, I.6). His analysis was taken by some to be a justification for the 1589 murder of Henry III of France (ruled 1574–1589). When Henry IV of France (ruled 1589–1610) was assassinated in 1610, De Rege was publicly burned in French bonfires and listed on the Inquisition's Index, which, ironically, Mariana had collaborated on a decade earlier.

In 1605 Mariana turned his attention to economics, writing seven economic treatises, the most influential of which, De Monetae Mutatione, dealt with currency. The work proved as controversial as De Rege. Mariana was one of a chorus of economists who saw in debased coinage the ultimate explanation for Spain's decline, and his criticisms of copper coinage, which he regarded as taxation because it increased the money supply, causing inflation, drew the attention of the powerful duke of Lerma, Philip III's favorite. Lerma persuaded the king to seek papal approval for Mariana's arrest in 1610. On trial in Madrid, he defended himself by pointing out that his writings had aimed only to defend the king; nonetheless, the charge of lèse-majesté was proved. Philip, who had not prosecuted Mariana for De Rege, left punishment to Rome, which dropped the matter. Mariana was released in 1611. He continued living in Toledo until his death in 1624.

A work published after his death, written around 1605, Discurso de los grandes defectos que hay en la forma del govierno de los Jesuitas, was a criticism of his own order. It was aimed particularly at the government of Claudius Aquaviva, the general of the Society of Jesus, who in Mariana's opinion was excessively bureaucratic and dictatorial. Seen as a plea for greater democracy, it was immediately condemned by the order.

See also Bodin, Jean ; Henry III (France) ; Henry IV (France) ; Jesuits ; Lerma, Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st duke of ; Philip II (Spain) ; Philip III (Spain) ; Spain .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grice-Hutchinson, Marjorie. The School of Salamanca: Readings in Spanish Monetary Theory, 1544–1605. Oxford, 1952.

Lewy, Guenter. Constitutionalism and Statecraft during the Golden Age of Spain: A Study of the Political Philosophy of Juan de Mariana, S.J. Geneva, 1960.

Mariana, Juan de. Obras. Biblioteca de autores españoles, vols, 30–31. Madrid, 1950.