Juan de Lucena facts for kids
Juan de Lucena (born around 1430, died 1506) was a smart Spanish thinker during the Renaissance. He was known for his writings and for being one of the first to print Hebrew books in Spain.
About Juan de Lucena
Early Life and Printing
In 1476, Juan de Lucena set up printing presses in two towns in Spain: Villarejo de Montalbán and Toledo. These presses were special because they printed only Hebrew books. Many of these books were needed by Jewish people living in Granada. Some important books printed included the Bible, Orhot hayim, and Halakhot. The last two were legal books written by Spanish Jews. Sadly, most of these books were later destroyed due to the Inquisition, so only small pieces remain today. Lucena was the first person known to print Hebrew writings in Spain.
Before 1481, Lucena worked with two other people, Íñigo de Burgos and Pedro de Monbil. Íñigo de Burgos was a converso (someone whose family had converted from Judaism to Christianity), just like Lucena. Pedro de Monbil was a Christian.
Life After Spain
In 1481, a powerful group called the Inquisition began to investigate Lucena and Monbil. Because of this, Lucena and his sons had to leave Spain. They first went to Portugal. Later, Lucena moved to Rome, Italy. In Rome, he worked for Pope Pius II. His job was similar to an ambassador for the Spanish rulers, known as the Catholic Monarchs.
His Famous Book
Juan de Lucena wrote a dialogue called Libro de vida beata. A dialogue is like a conversation between different people. This book explored a big question: Can humans truly be happy? The book concluded that humans cannot achieve perfect happiness.
Another thinker named Lorenzo Valla had discussed happiness in 1431. He believed that because people set goals and feel good when they reach them, it's natural for them to find happiness. Later, in 1444, the Inquisition investigated Valla because they misunderstood his ideas.
Bartolomeo Facio, who disagreed with Valla, wrote his own book called De felicitate in 1448. Facio's book argued against Valla's ideas about happiness. Juan de Lucena based his own dialogue, Libro de vida beata, on Facio's work. Experts say that Lucena's book is very important for understanding the cultural ideas of his time.
Not much information is available about Juan de Lucena's life. This is partly because several other people during the 1400s had the same name.
See also
In Spanish: Juan Ramírez de Lucena para niños
