Diego de Zúñiga facts for kids
To avoid confusion with Diego López de Zúñiga (theologian) (who died in 1531) Diego de Zúñiga (born 1536, died 1597) was a Spanish scholar from Salamanca. He was an Augustinian Hermit, which is a type of monk. Diego de Zúñiga became famous for being one of the first people to publicly agree with the Copernican theory. This theory said that the Earth moves around the Sun, not the other way around.
About Diego de Zúñiga
Diego de Zúñiga was a student of a famous scholar named Luis de León. Later, Diego himself became a teacher. He taught at two important universities in Spain: the University of Osuna and the University of Salamanca.
In 1584, Zúñiga published a book called In Job commentaria. This book was a commentary on a part of the Bible, specifically Job 9:6. In his book, he wrote that the Copernican theory was okay and did not go against religious teachings. The Copernican theory, also known as heliocentric theory, states that the Sun is at the center of our solar system, and the Earth moves around it.
At that time, very few Catholic scholars openly supported Copernicus's ideas. Zúñiga was one of them. However, later in his life, he changed his mind about Copernicanism. He wrote another book called Philosophia prima pars. In this book, he said that the Copernican theory did not fit with the ideas of Aristotle, a very old and respected Greek philosopher.
His book Philosophia prima pars was a big work about metaphysics, which is a branch of philosophy that explores basic ideas like existence and knowledge. Zúñiga wrote it to help improve how philosophy was taught at universities. He wanted to make sure that Aristotle's ideas were still seen as important and scientific.
Books Placed on the Index
The Catholic Church had a list of forbidden books called the Index. In 1616, the Church decided to add Zúñiga's book In Job commentaria to this list. Copernicus's famous book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, was also placed on the Index at the same time.
The Church explained its decision:
(...) This Holy Congregation has also learned about the spreading and acceptance by many of the false Pythagorean doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy Scripture, that the earth moves and the sun is motionless, which is also taught by Nicholaus Copernicus's 'On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres' and by Diego de Zúñiga's 'On Job'. (...) Therefore, in order that this opinion may not creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the Congregation has decided that the books by Nicolaus Copernicus ('On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres') and Diego de Zúñiga ('On Job') be suspended until corrected.
This meant that the Church did not want people to believe that the Earth moved around the Sun. They saw this idea as going against the Bible. So, they stopped the sale and reading of both Copernicus's and Zúñiga's books until they could be changed.
Works
- Philosophiae prima pars, qua perfecte et eleganter quatuor scientiae Metaphysica, Dialectica, Rhetorica et Physica declarantur Toledo: 1597.
- Partial Spanish translation: Metafísica (1597) - Introducción, traducción y notas de Gerardo Bolado - Pamplona, Eunsa 2008.
- Física (1597) - Introducción, traducción y notas de Gerardo Bolado - Pamplona, Eunsa 2009.
See also
In Spanish: Diego de Zúñiga para niños
