The Teaching of the Mathematical Disciplines

in Sixteenth-Century Spain*
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS
Instituto de Historia de la Ciencia y Documentacion Lopez Pinero, Universidad de Valencia-
CSIC, Valencia, Spain (E-mail: victor.navarro@uv.es)
Abstract. This essay examines some aspects of the teaching of mathematics and its applica-
tions in three of the principal sixteenth century Spanish universities (Salamanca, Valencia and
Alcala ) and in other institutions sponsored by the monarchy, such as the Casa de la Con-
tratacio n (House of Trade) of Seville and the so-called Academy of Mathematics of Madrid.
All three of the above universities had chairs of mathematics. In the Casa de la Contratacion
and other nautical schools the teaching of mathematics was oriented toward providing the
foundations of navigation (nautical astronomy, instruments and maps, etc.). The Academy of
Mathematics was oriented mainly towards subjects related to cosmography and navigation.
Although the dierent areas of the teaching of mathematics imposed conditions on the dis-
courses and practices of the mathematical disciplines, they did not impede the circulation of
persons, knowledge, and practices among these areas.
1. Introduction
The teaching of mathematical disciplines and their applications in sixteenth
century Spain presents common characteristics with other countries or
European regions as those of the Italian Peninsula or the Germanic area,
and some peculiarities derived from the character of the Spanish monarchy
and from its ambitions and imperial projects.
1
This teaching was carried
out in dierent places or institutions, from the imparted in schools or by
private tutors, oriented to the training of the merchants, or to the prepara-
tion for dierent trades or occupations that were requiring mathematical
knowledge, until that one developed in the universities. In this work we do
not intend to oer an exhaustive panorama of these activities, but only of
the ones developed in the universities where this teaching took place in a
meaningful form, and in the most outstanding centers encouraged by the
Spanish monarchy, particularly the Casa de la Contratacio n of Seville and
the Academy of Mathematics of Madrid.
* This work has partially nanced by grants from Spanish Ministry of Science and
Technology (BHA 20001456) and from Ministry of Education and Science (BHA2003-08394-
(02-01).
Science & Education (2006) 15:209233 Springer 2006
DOI 10.1007/s11191-005-8860-6
Concerning the universities, there is a considerable contrast between the
medieval panorama and that of the sixteenth century. One peculiar aspect of
medieval Spain, compared to the rest of Europe, was the weakness of the
universities. The monasteries, the cathedrals, the courts and nobility circles
and the Jewish aljamas, along with a few universities, were the places
where scientic, medical and philosophical ideas were developed.
2
Poor in
rents, low in reputation, many Spanish youths avoided the universities, pre-
ferring instead to study abroad. But after the middle of the fteenth century
the fortunes of higher education in Spain improved decisively. The new
structure and dynamic of the Spanish monarchy and its secular and religious
institutions provoked a rapid expansion in the number of positions open to
graduates.
3
During the sixteenth century, a number of universities were cre-
ated in the Spanish peninsular and insular kingdoms, including 18 in the
kingdom of Castilla and 12 in Arago n. In addtion, the Spanish monarchy
organized universities in their new American territories very quickly.
Some new universities became quite prominent, such as those of Alcala and
Valencia. Others, such as Salamanca and Valladolid, consolidated and
gained greater importance. The Law, the subject with the widest opportuni-
ties for advancement and prestige, was also the subject most in demand in
Spanish universities. In this sense it has been noted that the most signicant
contribution of the universities in sixteenth century Spain, particularly in
Castilla, was the formation of a new social class: the letrados.
4
The theol-
ogy also attracted many students, above all with a view to the ecclesiastical
oces and careers. Nevertheless, in the rst half of the sixteenth century, the
new humanists trends found wide echo in some Spanish universities, that
had professors as noteworthy as Elio Antonio de Nebrija, Herna n Nu n ez
El Pinciano o Francisco Sa nchez El brocense. The University of Alcala ,
responding to the humanists call for studies of sacred texts in their original
languages, gave Europe its rst institution the Colegio Trilingu e
wholly dedicated to the study of classical languages. Likewise, the universi-
ties met head-on the intellectual problems posed by the emergence of
imperial Spain. On the other hand, the nominalist trends, both in logic (ter-
minist logic) and natural philosophy and also in theology, which had scar-
cely caused a ripple in Spain at the end of the Middle Ages, were widespread
in the rst half of the sixteenth century in the universities of Salamanca,
Alcala , Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza. This, in addition to impelling the
studies of logic and natural philosophy, also contributed to encourage the
teaching of mathematics. To all that, one must add the creation of the medi-
cal schools in the new universities (Alcala and Valencia, especially) and the
new development of the ones already existing, that also contributed to the
cultivation and teaching of mathematics, especially, but not solely, by the
relationships of medicine with astrology (and cosmology). And if jurists and
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

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theologians participated actively in the problems outlined by the Habsburg
ultramarine expansion, the abilities and knowledge of the teachers of mathe-
matics was also required to solve the cosmographical problems as well as to
form experts in cosmography in the universities.
The Casa de la Contratacion and the Academy of Mathematics were
created especially to answer to the scientic and technical demands im-
posed by the geographical explorations, the control and rule of the lands
conquered, the maintenance of empires and the construction of the state.
The Casa de la Contratacion, in particular, was created to administer all
the problems related to navigation to the New World (la carrera de In-
dias), included technical aspects such as the design of instruments, the
creation of navigational charts, the centralization and organization of the
information and the training and license of pilots. The existing literature
on this institution and the teachings imparted in it is very abundant.
5
In
the case of the Academy of Mathematics, the process of its creation, as
well as the type of teachings imparted and its evolution until the middle of
the seventeenth century has been reconstructed with documents with
detail.
6
But what we know about the particular content of the teachings, as
well as about the results of its activities is still scarce. The documentation
at our disposal indicates that the bulk of those teachings was located in
the matters related to cosmography, though the initial project was much
more ambitious. We intend to oer here a panorama of the teaching of the
mathematics disciplines in these two institutions and to provide some new
data and considerations of the most relevant aspects.
1.1. THE CASA DE LA CONTRATACIO

N
The Casa de la Contratacion was established in 1503 and in 1508 was cre-
ated the post of Pilot Major or Chief Pilot, which was responsible for over-
seeing the drafting of the Padro n real, or master chart, and for training
and examining the pilots sailing the Indies Route towards the West Indies.
In 1523 the post of cosmographer and master of making charts, astrolabes
and other navigation devices was created.
Two cosmographerchartmaker posts were created in 1537. Mean-
while, in 1524 Charles I established the Consejo de Indias (Council of the
Indies), run at the outset almost exclusively by lawyers until Juan de
Ovandos reforms in 1571. His reforms led to the creation of the position
of Chroniclercosmographer Major of the Indies. Apart from these posts,
other mathematicians were named honorary cosmographers and ocially
licensed to make charts and instruments, without being appointed to a
particular post or paid any salary. One of them was Pedro de Medina.
Howewer, the were not the only cosmographers and pilots at the service
of the Spanish crown in relation to the Casa de la Contratacion. There
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 211
were also a considerable number from Portugal and, to a lesser extent,
from other countries.
7
Among the functions of the Pilot Major was that of training pilots.
The Pilot Major instructed and examined the pilots in his house. In 1528
Alonso de Chaves (cir.14931587), appointed Cosmographer and Master
chart-maker obtained a license to teach future pilots. The aspiring pilot
had to bring proof (testigos o escrituras) that he had sailed for six or
more years to the New World (Indias) and that he had been in Hispani-
ola, Cuba, Tierra Firme and New Spain. He had to bring his own chart,
astrolabe and quadrant, to demonstrate that he could use them to calculate
latitude and time; and to answer the questions posed by the Pilot Major
and from the pilots present at the examination
8
. In 1539 Pedro Medina
(14931567), who was authorized to examine pilots, also began to teach
cosmography and navigation privately, as did other cosmographers linked
to the House.
9
The need to regulate and control the content of the teachings in order to
avoid the abuses and mutual accusations of corruption among the cosmog-
raphers eventually led to the creation in 1552, of the chair of cosmography,
with the appointment of Alonso de Chavess son Jero nimo de Chaves
(15231574). According to the royal decree of 1552, the subjects to be
taught by the chair were: Introduction to the sphere; procedures and
regiments (rules) for calculating latitudes by the altitude of the sun and
the pole; the use of charts; the manufacture and use of instruments, particu-
larly the compass or seafarers needle, astrolabe, quadrant and cross-
staff; knowledge of how to calculate magnetic declination; the use of
day- and night-time clocks; lunations and rules for forecasting tides.
10
This
was the state of the organization of pilot training at the Casa which so
aroused the admiration of Stephen Borough, the English navigator who
visited it in 1558, that he pressed for similar provision in England,
recommending the creation of a pilot-major post.
11
The content of the teachings and the exams of the pilots can be followed
through the texts written by the cosmographers, particularly those of Alonso
of Chaves and Pedro of Medina. Alonso of Chavess unpublished Quatri
Partitu en cosmographia practica, i por otro nombre llamado espejo de naveg-
antes (Mirror for Seamen) dealt with the following subjects: Book 1 treats
all matters pertaining to days of religious celebrations, and to instruments
for navigation. Book 2 deals with all aspects of cosmography (astronomical
phenomena, tables of the movement of the sun and the declination of the
sun; rules for nding the latitude by measuring the altitude of the North
Star; declination of some xed stars, etc.) and the practical art of navigation;
Book 3 with the age of the moon and the natural movements of ocean
waters; and book 4 with navigators itineraries to all parts of the Indies.
12
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

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Pedro Medina prepared several texts on the instruction of pilots and
cosmographers, including the Libro de Cosmographia, the Arte de navegar
(1545), the Regimiento de navegacion (1552) and the Suma de cosmographia.
13
Medinas most important work is the Arte de Navegar (1545), which was
translated into French, Dutch, and English and republished 15 times in these
languages. Another widely diused text was Mart n Corte s Breve compendio
de la sphera y de la arte de navegar (1551), which was translated into English
at the recommendation of Borough and printed six times in this language.
14
Apparently, Corte s was teaching cosmography and the art of navigation to
the pilots of Ca diz, although his book was published in Seville. Corte ss text
is superior to Medinas in certain aspects concerning the systematizing of
knowledge and techniques, and is more updated in various aspects, such as
in the tables of declination of the sun. We can also see the inuence of Pedro
Nunes (15021578) on Martin Corte ss discussion of the la carta de
marear (chart of navigation) and in his introduction to a procedure for
determining the altitude of the pole by means of extrameridian (out of the
meridian) heights of the sun, also based on Nunes.
15
In these works, the general cosmographic framework was usually an exposi-
tion based on the Sphere of Sacrobosco, with the pertinent corrections in topics
such as the doctrine of the zones, the shape of the earth and the arrangement of
seas and lands on its surface. The geographical discoveries not only disproved
beliefs about the uninhabitability of the torrid zone, but they were decisive for
the construction of the modern concept of the terrestrial globe.
In the second half of the century, two important texts relative to the
education of pilots were elaborated: the Itinerario de navegacion de los mares
y tierras occidentales by Juan Escalante de Mendoza (cir. 15451595), a
ships captain, and the Compendio de la Arte de Navegar (1581) by Rodrigo
Zamorano (d. 1620), Pilot Major and professor of the Casa from 1575 until
1613. Zamoranos text was re-edited six times in Spanish until 1591 and
once in Dutch (Amsterdam, 1598). It was also translated into English and
published as an appendix to an edition of Edward Wrights Certain Errors
in Navigation (1599). In his Compendio Zamorano introduced new tables of
the Suns declination based on the Ephemerides of Johannes Stadius (which
in turn were based on the Prutenic Tables) and revised the values of the
regimiento del Norte.
16
Zamorano also published an edition in Spanish of
the rst six books of Euclids Elements (1576) and a treatise on Chronologie
(1585).
1.2. THE ACADEMY OF MATHEMATICS
In 1571 the Council of the Indies, the monarchys supreme advisory board
for the governance and administration of the New World, underwent a
profound reform initiated by its chairman, Juan de Ovando. An important
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 213
result was the creation of the post of Chief (or Major) Cosmographer
chronicler of the Indies. Ovando appointed to this position his assistant,
Juan Lo pez de Velasco (ca. 15301598), who attempted to develop Ovandos
programme of producing an accurate and thorough geographic descrip-
tion of both Spain and the New World, including geographic co-ordinates
calculated by astronomic methods.
17
At the same time, the urgent necessity
of improving navigational charts and instruments was taken up. That task
involved several initiatives, one proposed by Juan de Herrera, architect,
engineer and Aposentador (Steward) de Palacio.
18
After the annexation of
Portugal, Philip II, from Lisbon, approved Herreras initiative along with
another, also from Herrera: the creation of an Academy of mathematics in
Madrid. The text that Herrera drafted concerning the objectives of the
proposed Academy noted on the dearth of good mathematicians in the king-
doms of the Spanish monarchy, and also stated that the aim of the Academy
was to train theoretical and practical arithmeticians, geometricians, astrono-
mers, musicians with a theoretical background, cosmographers, pilots,
architects, designers of fortications, engineers, machinists, gunners, instru-
ment-makers, plumbers, levellers, clock experts, perspective experts and
sculptors and painters with practice in perspective. It would also take on the
task of training the sons of noble courtiers in mathematics. For each
matter or activity Herrera recommended a relevant group of texts, which
display his intimate familiarity with the mathematical disciplines and their
applications. In addition, Herrera recommended that the classes be taught in
Spanish.
19
Juan Bautista Lavanha (15551624), a Portuguese cosmographer of
noble descent who had studied in Rome, was chosen to run the academy,
and in December 1582 Lavanha was appointed by a royal patent letter, to
take charge of matters relating to cosmography, geography and topogra-
phy in our court and elsewhere as ordered, and to read mathematics....
20
At the same time, Pedro Ambrosio of Onde riz (?-cir.1596) was appointed
Lavanhas assistant and made responsible for translating scientic texts.
Onde riz, who had studied classical languages and had also a good training
as a mathematician and cosmographer, having studied two years in
Portugal (sent there by Herrera), translated into Spanish Euclids Optics
and the pseudo-Euclidean Catoptrics; books XI and XII of the Elements,
Teodosios Sphaerica and Archimedess On the equilibrium of planes.
21
Two manuscripts of the classes taught by Lavanha and Onde riz in the
academy have survived. One of them is an incomplete Tratado del arte de
navegar (Treatise on the art of navigation) copied in 1588 by Camilo
Madea, evidently a pupil from Italy.
22
An interesting aspect of Lavanhas
text is the attention paid to the contributions and proposals of Pedro
Nunes regarding the Art and Science of Navigation (as was entitled
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 214
Nuness work).
23
Thus, relating to instruments, Lavanha describes Nuness
nautical ring as an alternative to the astrolabe, and for the quadrant and
astrolabe, suggests using the technique of tracing scales put forward by
Nunes. He also describes, following Nunes, the shadow instrument used
to calculate the altitude of the sun on earth. Lavanha also discusses
cartographic projections and how to plot navigational charts.
One manuscript by Onde riz entitled Uso de los Globos leydo en
Madrid el an o 1592 (Use of Globes, read in Madrid in 1592), has
survived.
24
As the title of the manuscript suggests, it covers the use of
celestial and terrestrial globes to determine the position of the Sun, the
altitude of the pole, the declination of stars, the hour of day or night, the
zenithal distances of planets and stars, the distances between places (by
means of a terrestrial globe), and other uses.
In 1591, the Academia was subordinated to the Council of the Indies,
although Herrera continued to be in charge of its activities. The post of
Cosmographerchronicler was divided in two: Onde riz was named
Cosmographer Major of the Indies and Juan Arias de Loyola was
appointed Chronicler. Lavanha moved to Portugal where he took up the
position of Cosmographer Major in that kingdom. Arias and Onde riz
looked after the teaching in the Academia until 1595. In that year, follow-
ing the death of Onderiz and the cessation of Arias, Julian Firruno from
Milan was appointed to teach all the lessons. Firruno had taught artillery
in Burgos and Seville. After the death of Herrera, in 1597, and on the ini-
tiative of the Count of Pun oenrostro, an artillery general and member of
the Council of War, the lectures and the number of professors of the Acad-
emy were expanded, although the new professors did not receive ofcial
appointments. Thus, Juan Cedillo D az taught trigonometry, Juan Angel
lectured on On Floating Bodies of Archimedes, and the soldiers Rodriguez
de Mun iz and Cristobal de Rojas taught military tactics and fortications.
25
In addition to the Elements of Euclid and cosmography, Firruno also
lectured on artillery, for which he prepared a text titled Descripcion y trata-
do muy breve y lo mas provechoso de Artillera...(Description and brief Trea-
tise and the greatest advantages of Artillery) which is preserved in a
manuscript dated 1599.
26
Among those interested in these matters, particu-
larly nobles, courtiers and knights, was a Swedish diplomat, Botwild
Nericius, who had studied at the Collegio Romano and maintained corre-
spondence with Clavius. In this correspondence, based principally on
mathematical matters, Nericius informed Clavius that members of the
Academia de Madrid were interested in his mathematical works. Moreover,
Nericius was engaged in an argument with Guidobaldo dal Monte through
Clavius on matters of statics. This argument was initiated, it appears, in the
Academia de Madrid between supporters and critics of Guidobaldo.
27
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 215
When the court moved to Valladolid, the activities in the chair of
Madrid was discontinued, and it is not known whether they were carried
on in Valladolid. Firruno died in 1604. In 1607, the chair recommenced
its activities, again in Madrid. The new holder was the Cosmographer
Major of the Indias, Andres Garc a de Ce spedes (d. 1611), a distinguished
cosmographer, astronomer and engineer who succeeded Juan Cedillo D az
in 1611. Garc a de Ce spedes wrote extensively on these themes and two of
his works were published: el Libro de instrumentos de geometria (1606) and
the Regimiento de navegacion (1609). The former includes a magnicent
treatise on hydraulics, the most comprehensive on the subject published in
Spain during the Renaissance.
28
The latter is a collection or summa of all
the knowledge and techniques developed in Portugal and Spain in relation
to the art of navigation, besides the incorporation of the contributions by
authors from other countries. The Regimiento also presented the results of
the amendment, or programme for revising navigational tables, charts and
instruments initiated by Onde riz and completed by Garc a de Ce spedes.
29
Garcia de Ce spedes and his collaborators were the rst Cosmographers of
Iberian territories to elaborate tables of the Suns declination from new
observations required to calculated the longitude of the Sun and the obliq-
uity of the ecliptic. Until then, all authors of nautical tables had been
based either on the Alphonsine Tables or the Prutenic Tables, by means of
Ephemerides calculated by various authors (Zacut, Stoeer, Stadius,
Magini,...). The results of Garc a de Ce spedes established a notable
improvement in the tables precision with a margin of error of less than
two minutes for the declination of the sun.
30
1.3. THE UNIVERSITIES
The three Spanish universities known to have a separate chair for teaching
mathematical disciplines in the sixteenth century were Salamanca, Valencia
and Alcala .
The University of Valencia was founded in 14991500. Its doors opened
in 1501 and by the middle of the sixteenth century it became the foremost
university in the Crown of Arago n with chairs of theology, canon law,
civil law, medicine, mathematics, logic, philosophy natural and moral,
grammar and humanities.
31
Following the ocial foundation of the Estudi
General, a chair of mathematics was established in 1503, although we have
no documentary evidence of the subjects taught there in the early decades
of that century. The rst person to occupy the chair was Toma s Dura n
(ca.14751545), a Dominican from Salamanca who published (Valencia,
1503) Bradwardines Arithmetic and Geometry and also Pechams Perspec-
tiva, together with Questiones super perspectivam by Henricus or Heinrich
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 216
of Hesse (or of Langenstein). In the early years of the university, the
teaching of mathematics must have concentrated basically on preparing
pupils to study natural philosophy and logic, mainly under the inuence of
the University of Paris and nominalistic trends.
32
In this regard, it is inter-
esting to note that Juan de Celaya, a leading member of the terminist and
calculatory group at Paris, teacher of Domingo de Soto, was from
Valencia, where his works had a great inuence.
33
From the year 1540 onwards, it was compulsory for students of medicine
to have arts degrees, as was already the case for students of law and theol-
ogy. This must have increased the interest in the study of astronomy and
astrology. According to certain documents, in the years 15401550, the
study of mathematics included arithmetic, geometry, geometrical optics,
music, judicial astrology and cosmography (which included astronomy and
geography).
34
The upsurge in humanism led to greater interest in astronomy
and astrology amongst humanist physicians, who took them as a basis for
the interpretation of Hippocratic texts. The chair of astronomy was occu-
pied in the 15551556 academic year by the noteworthy physician and
humanist Pedro Jaime Esteve (ca.15001556). Esteve, in his commentaries
to the second book dedicated to the epidemics of the Hippocratic Collection
pointed out medicus astronomiae ignarus non est sectator hipocratis, and
show extensive knowledge of astronomical and astrological literature.
35
As regards mathematical subjects, the Constitutions of 1561 mention
only the teaching of astronomy, and list the following topics: the sphere,
the theorica of the planets, tables and the use of astrolabes. The Statutes of
1555, however, had already established the need to teach certain principles
of geometry (to enable Aristotles Analytica Priora and Posteriora to be
understood) and also arithmetic and geometry (in order to grasp natural
philosophy) and this practice was probably maintained.
The teaching of mathematics and related subjects in the Estudio General
in Valencia reached considerable heights during the period when the chair
was occupied by Jero nimo Mun oz (?1592), one of the most outstanding
scientists of sixteenth century Spain. Mun oz began his studies in Valencia,
where he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts (1537), and continued studying
in dierent locations in Europe. His own comments tell us that he was a
student of Oronce Fine and Gemma Frisius. He lived in Italy for some
time and taught Hebrew at the University of Ancona. Following his return
to Valencia, he was appointed to the chair of Hebrew in 1563 and in 1564
he combined this chair with that of mathematics, a position he held until
1578, the year he moved to the University of Salamanca.
36
In Valencia, in his chair of mathematics, Mun oz taught arithmetic, geom-
etry, trigonometry, geometrical optics, astronomy, geography and astrology.
Although Mun oz published very few works, holograph documents or copies
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 217
made by students of his in all these subjects are still to be found in several
libraries across Europe: Salamanca, Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, the
Vatican, Naples, and Copenhagen.
37
Mun oz became very well known in Spain as a mathematician, geogra-
pher, Hellenist and Hebraist. His fame elsewhere in Europe was due
mainly to his study of the supernova of 1572, discussed in his Libro del nu-
evo cometa (Valencia, 1573), which he wrote in response to Philip IIs
request for his opinion on the phenomenon. This book was translated into
French by Guy Lefe` vre de la Boderie, a pupil of Guillaume Postel who
collaborated with the Polyglot Bible of Antwerp as a Hebraist.
38
He also
became known because of the detailed descriptions of his results and con-
clusions that were made by such prominent authors as Cornelius Gemma
and Thaddaeus Hagecius. Mun oz also corresponded with Hagecius and
Bartholomaeus Reisacherus of Vienna, another of the authors who dealt
with the supernova. Hagecius also furnished Tycho Brahe with letters he
and Reisacherus had received from Mun oz about the supernova, which
Brahe copied and used in his discussion of the works by Mun oz in the
Astronomiae Instauratae Progyimnasmata (1602).
39
Mun oz was one of the authors who determined the position of the star
with the most precision. Similarly, he was one of the astronomers who was
most keenly understood the cosmological implications of the phenomenon,
namely how difcult it was to maintain the Aristotelian dogma of the
incorruptibility of the heavens and to make it compatible with the appear-
ance of the nova.
These works by Mun oz on the nova must be considered in the frame-
work of an ambitious revisionist programme of Aristotelian cosmology
and Ptolemaic astronomy such as can be seen in his commentaries on the
second book of the Natural History of Pliny and in his additions and com-
mentaries on Theon of Alexandrias Commentaries on Ptolemys Almagest.
The commentaries on Pliny are dated 1568, apparently the date when
Mun oz presented them at the University of Valencia in some extraordinary
lessons given by some of the most outstanding professors. In that work
Mun oz exposes his cosmological ideas, which were similar to that of the
Stoics. Mun oz rejected the idea of a sphere of re, and considered the cos-
mos as a continuum of air, which became more rareed the more distant it
was from the central earth, reaching its outer limits; beyond those limits
extended an immense vacuum. With dierent arguments, Mun oz also
rejected the existence of the celestial spheres arguing that the planets move
naturally through cosmic air.
40
Mun ozs most extensive and ambitious work on astronomy was his
translation of and commentaries on Theon of Alexandrias Commentaries on
Ptolemys Almagest, which he began in Valencia in about 1568 and nished
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 218
in Salamanca in 1582, although he continued to add notes and data to his
comments until at least 1589.
41
In this work, in his comments and compre-
hensive additions to Theons text, Mun oz reviewed many aspects of
Ptolemaic astronomy, comparing them with the observations, techniques
and calculations of other classic, medieval and renaissance astronomers
including Copernicus, whom he often quoted. He also provided his own
tables and numerous observations made in Valencia and Salamanca, and
described in detail a variety of observational instruments for astronomy and
their respective advantages. Like its model, Ptolemys Almagest, this work is
to a large extent a highly technical treatise on mathematical astronomy and
Mun oz takes great pains to clarify the most dicult sections for the sake of
beginners (ad tirones), as he himself points out. However, he also includes
broad-based discussions of cosmological matters, ranging from those
concerning the position of the earth in the world, with a discussion of the
heliocentric theory, to the nature of comets, and in this respect, he sets forth
certain ideas similar to those in his Commentaries on Pliny.
Another noteworthy aspect of Mun oz teachings is the attention he
devoted to the applications of astronomy, in particular to geography and
cartography and to the art of navigation. In both his introductory treatise of
Astronomy and Geography and his additions to Theons Commentary, he
paid particular attention to how geographic coordinates are established,
reviewing all known methods and commenting on the instruments
commonly used for this purpose. Mun oz was an expert geographer; he had
established the latitudes of certain locations on the Iberian Peninsula with
remarkable precision. He also estimated the longitudes of several places,
though less successfully. He began the geodesic triangulation of the territory
of Valencia, employing the method described by Gemma Frisius, and ex-
plained this procedure in his classes using real examples. The rst known
map of the Kingdom of Valencia, included by Abraham Ortelio in his
famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, is based to a considerable extent on the
work of Jero nimo Mun oz.
42
Although Mun oz was one of the best paid professors at the University of
Valencia, his salary was considerably lower than those paid at universities in
Castile. The prestige of the University of Salamanca, and its greater proxim-
ity to the seat of royal power, was probably one of the reasons why Mun oz
accepted the offer made to him by this university and moved there in 1578.
The University of Salamanca was, from the fteenth century, an active
center of the cultivation of astronomy. In the same way, from the late
fteenth century onwards, it was a centre of study and debate about cosmo-
graphic matters due to a considerable extent to the inuence of scientic
humanism led by Elio Antonio de Nebrija and also the increased importance
of cosmography attained in the enterprises of sea-faring expansion, the
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 219
control of the empire and the construction of the State. Nebrija, a teacher of
grammar, and Nu n ez de la Yerba, a teacher of medicine, published in Sal-
amanca works on cosmography, disseminating in Spain the Geography of
Ptolemy and incorporating information on the geographical discoveries. In
Salamanca, since 1504, there had also been an extraordinary chair teaching
Pliny.
43
The teaching of cosmography already formed part of the statutes of 1538,
which included an earlier project launched by the humanist Fernan Pe rez de
Oliva, and in the 1594 statutes, the pertinent regulations were made even
more specic.
44
Morover, from 1508 onwards the nominalist approach was
adopted in the teaching of logic, philosophy and theology at the University
of Salamanca.
45
Professors teaching according to the nominalist approach,
included Pedro Margalho, Juan Mart nez Sil ceo and Pedro de Espinosa,
noteworthy authors in the realms of both logic and natural philosophy.
46
All three also published works on mathematical disciplines. Thus Pedro
Margalho, a portuguese educated in Paris, published a Phisices compendium
(1520) including a Sphaera treatise based on Geminus (via pseudo-Proclus),
Aratus, Cleomedes and Ptolemy; a Treatise on proportione; a Phisices
Epitome, dealing with Aristotelian physics; a de intensione et remisione
formarum treatise expounding the doctrines of the calculatores and
nominalist of Oxford and Paris. In his Sphaera treatise, Margalho com-
pared the medieval doctrines about the distribution of land and water with
the experience of Portuguese seafarers and maintained that these two
elements constituted one and the same surface.
47
This is one of the several
instances that show how some scholastic philosophers followed the pro-
gress made in cosmography and geographical knowledge closely.
Juan Mart nez Siliceo was also educated in Paris, where he published a
treatise on arithmetic entitled Liber Arithmetice practice Astrologis, Phisicis
et Calculatoribus admodum utilis...(1513), that was reprinted in Paris (three
times), Salamanca and Valencia. He also published an edition of Richard
Swinesheads Liber Calculationum. Pedro de Espinosa, one of Siliceos
pupils, penned a Tratactus proportionum (1545), a commentary on
Sacroboscos Sphaera (1550) and a Philosophia naturalis (1535).
48
The statutes of 1538 for the teaching of mathematics established that
the professor of mathematics will read arithmetic, geometry, astrology,
perspective, and cosmography as the students might request. In 1561 new
statutes were drafted, and Copernicus was included among the authors
whose works could be used in astronomy instruction whenever the students
so voted.
The introduction of Copernicuss name in the constitutions was princi-
pally due to the activities of the Aguilera brothers, Juan and Hernando de
Aguilera.
49
Juan de Aguilera, a professor of astrology from 1550 to 1560
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 220
and a physician resided in Italy from 1540 to 1550, where he served both
pope Paul III and Julius III. Hernando de Aguilera succeeded his brother
in the chair of astrology. This fact, the incorporation of Copernicuss work
as a text that could be used if students voted for it, as an alternative to
Ptolemy or one of his commentators (Geber or Regiomontanus) has given
rise to the question of whether the work of Copernicus, including his helio-
centric theory, was in fact taught. The books in which the visits of the
rector to the chair are recorded show that Aguilera taught Euclids
Elements (books I to VI), the sphere, parts of the Almagest, theories (mod-
els) of planets and the Tables of Alfonso X, the astrolabe and its use,
cosmography according to Petrus Apianus and Gemma Frisius, and astrol-
ogy according to Alcabitius. The name of Copernicus does not appear in
these records.
50
Nevertheless, I believe that the possibility cannot be ruled
out that on certain occasions Hernando de Aguilera followed Copernicus
De revolutionibus or at least commented on aspects of the work when
expounding subjects related to the sphere or planetary theories. The infor-
mation contained in the books of visits is, in any case, incomplete. In
academic years 1562/1563 and 1563/1564 for example, there is no reference
to the chair of astrology. The most usual interpretation, in keeping with
the most widespread attitude in Europe towards the work of Copernicus,
is that the interest of the Aguilera brothers in De revolutionibus was more
concerned with the models, data and tables than with the cosmological
ideas it contained. To date however, documentary evidence has not
enabled us to answer this question nor to conrm this hypothesis.
Two years after Aguileras death, Mun oz was appointed to occupy the
chair. The subject matter taught by Mun oz in Salamanca was very similar
to what he had taught in Valencia. According to the rectors books of
visitations to chairs, the subjects taught by Mun oz in Salamanca between
1579 and 1587 included: arithmetic, geometry and perspective according to
Euclid, the sphere or introduction to astronomy, models or theories of
planets, tables and instruments, and astrology, geography, cartography and
the art of navigation.
51
Thanks to additional testimonies, we know that he
also taught some aspects of the military art (artillery in particular).
52
Given
the similarity in the subjects to be taught in Salamanca, he probably used
the same texts as in Valencia, and his work on Theon Commentary. Con-
cerning the Copernican theory, in his annotations to Theon, Mun oz
describes the theory and attempts to refute it with astronomical arguments,
inspired by Ptolemy and Theon. Likewise, in his Commentaries on Pliny,
and in his introductory treatise to Astronomy and Geography, which he
used in teaching in Valencia and also probably in Salamanca, Mun oz
discusses and rejects Copernicus theory with astronomical arguments and
occasionally with a mechanical one (the vertical trajectory of falling bodies).
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 221
As we have said before, the need to train skilled cosmographers was
one of the main reasons that led Philip II to establish the Mathematics
Academy of Madrid in about 1582. It was with a similar desire to train cos-
mographers in about 1590, and in response to the wishes of Philip II to
intensify the teaching of mathematics-related subjects, that the teaching of
these subjects was enlarged in the University of Salamanca where a division
(partido) or appointment of an associate teacher of mathematics was set
up. In the letter from Philip II granting the economic assistance requested
by the University, the king emphasized how necessary it was to train
well-educated and skilful professionals able both to teach the subject at
university and to be available at seaports or elsewhere, for they are very
necessary and navigation depends upon them.
53
The partido or division
was assigned to one of Mun oz pupils, Gabriel Serrano, until 1592. That
year, after the death of Mun oz, Serrano himself came into possession of the
chair and the physician Antonio Nun ez Zamora also a follower of
Mun oz, who was later to replace Serrano in the chair was appointed to
the division.
54
In 1594, new statutes were drafted for the university. The statutes
stipulated that the subjects taught in mathematics should be arithmetic,
geometry, Theodosius of Bithynia on spherical triangles, plane and spheri-
cal trigonometry (according to Clavius or another modern author),
perspective and land surveying. The texts or tables recommended for
astronomy were those by Ptolemy, Peurbach, the Tables by Regiomont-
anus (of the rst motive) or Reinhold, Clavius, the Alfonsine Tables and
the work of Copernicus, and it was stipulated that Ptolemys Almagest
should be studied in combination with Copernicus De revolutionibus,
always beginning with the former. This meant that the choice between
Ptolemy and Copernicus was no longer subject to the vote of the students.
Furthermore, astrology continued to be taught and included the study of
the comets, and it was also compulsory to study Ptolemys Geography,
Apianus Cosmografa, cartography, the use of the dierent types of astro-
labe, the Radius Astronomicus (or Jacob Sta), the art of navigation and
the military art (artillery and fortication).
55
These statutes of the chair of
mathematics must have been drafted by Mun oz students, for they were
strictly in line with his teaching. To judge from the visitation records,
neither Serrano nor Nu n ez expounded Copernicus De revolutionibus
closely. These authors in all likelihood followed in their teaching the prac-
tice of their master Mun oz, expounding and commenting on Ptolemaic
astronomy and comparing its quantitative results with the data and tables
of other authors, including Copernicus and Erasmus Reinhold.
The University of Alcala was a typical renaissance institution that opened
its doors in the academic year of 15081509. Theology, arts, medicine,
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 222
canon law and three levels of grammar were taught there, plus rhetoric and,
in the trilingual College, also known as San Jero nimos, Greek, Hebrew,
Arabic and Chaldean too. This University had both a mathematics and
astronomy chair since its foundation but even today, very little is known
about the subjects taught there.
56
One can assume that there was a strong
inuence in mathematics teaching, both from humanist trends and nominal-
ist ones. Nebrija was also a professor in Alcala, where he taught rhetoric.
Pedro Ciruelo was theology professor in Alcala between 1509 and 1523.
Ciruelo studied theology in Paris between 1492 and 1502 where he taught
mathematics and published various works on these themes: a treatise on
arithmetic re-edited four times (in Paris), the arithmetic and geometry of
Bradwardine and commentaries on the Sphaera of Sacrobosco (with the
questions of Pierre dA

illy). In Alcala, Ciruelo published a Cursus quattuor

mathematicarum artium liberalium (1516) dedicated to arithmetic, geometry,
perspective and music. The arithmetic and geometry is principally based on
Bradwardine, with additions from Ciruelo himself. The perspective is a
paraphrase of Pechams work. In his commentary on Aristotles Analytica
Posteriora (Alcala , 1529), Ciruelo considered mathematics to be the most
perfect case of Aristotelian demonstration and although he ranked theology
higher than astronomy, he did consider astronomy to be superior to all
other sciences due to the dignity of its aim and certainty.
57
In the middle of the sixteenth century, the teacher of mathematics in
Alcala was Pedro Esquivel (d. ca.1570), who left the chair in 1559 when he
was appointed Palace mathematician and chaplain by Philip II. As a tech-
nician, Esquivel carried out several assignments to improve inland water-
ways in Castile and Aragon and in 1566 the king commissioned him to
conduct a topographical description of Spain. For this purpose, Esquivel
used the geodesic triangulation method described by Gemma Frisius, and
produced truly remarkable cartography.
58
In 1564 took place a reform of the Constitutions of the University of
Alcala . Regarding the mathematics disciplines was established as matters
to teach: the four liberal (arts): arithmetic, geometry, perspective and
music, as well as speculative astrology (that is to say, astronomy):
sphere, theory of the planets, tables and if there is time surplus (of the
year) astrolabe or some other instruments.
59
Furthermore, if there are
enough students and they request other lessons as the Almagest of
Ptolemy, or Copernicus or some other speculative authors, the lesson will
have to be imparted in other hour so that the ordinary lessons would
not lack. That is to say, also in this reform was suggested the work of
Copernicus as alternative to that of Ptolemy for the teaching of astronomy
to students. In 1584 a new reform was accomplished, even though the text
for the teaching of the mathematics stayed unchanged.
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 223
As far as can be gathered, Gabriel Serrano, Mun ozs student, was also a
professor at Alcala , before moving to Salamanca.
60
In about 1586 the
chair of mathematics and astronomy at Alcala de Henares was occupied
by Diego Pe rez de Mesa, another of Mun ozs students.
61
In 1591, as
mentioned earlier, he competed for the chair at Salamanca left vacant by
Jero nimo Mun oz. He was awarded the chair but did not take possession of
it, deciding to remain in Alcala where he negotiated and obtained a salary
increase. In 1595, Pe rez de Mesa, apparently upon the kings commission
or order, moved to Seville to take up the chair created by the Town Coun-
cil, at the request of the Cortes (parliament) in Madrid, in collaboration
with the University and the Casa de la Contratacio n in Seville. The
creation of this chair therefore stems from Philip II concern, mentioned
earlier, for the training of well-prepared cosmographers, pilots and skilled
technicians.
We do not know what subjects Pe rez de Mesa taught, in fact at the
University of Alcala , although they may be supposed to be similar, at least
as regards astronomy, to what he taught in Seville, where he also gave
classes of arithmetic and algebra, practical geometry, astrology and their
applications in medicine and navigation, giving all classes in Spanish.
62
In his Comentarios de Sphera, written for the classes he gave in Seville,
Pe rez de Mesa denes the purpose of cosmography and indicates that this
subject is a science nearly mixed with philosophy and therefore it resolves
many most wonderful questions of philosophy.
63
Like his master Jero nimo
Mun oz, Pe rez de Mesa considered that astronomers were perfectly entitled
to make statements about natural philosophy and he devoted the rst part
of his commentary to a discussion of cosmological themes. He denied that
there was a sphere of re in the concavity of the moon and quoted Coperni-
cus and Cardano among other authors in support of this position. He also
denied the existence of and need for celestial spheres, as well as the
incorruptibility of the heavens. To support of this last point, he mentioned
the observations of the supernova made in 1572 by Mun oz. He devoted an
entire chapter (Chapter 6) to the motion of the earth, although he referred
only to its motion of rotation. For Pe rez de Mesa, the answer to this
question could not be one of absolute certainty but rather of possibility.
64
In the new reform of the Constitutions of the University of Alcala that
took place in 1603 the teaching of mathematics was established in three
years.
65
In the rst year, the matters were practical arithmetic (using
Gemma Frisius or Oronce Fine s books), the rst six books of Euclides,
trigonometry, perspective (using Witelo or Alhazens works) and practical
geometry following Oronce Fine or Fernel. The second year, the sphere of
Sacrobosco demonstrating their conclusions with geometry and perspec-
tive, as much as is possible, the use of the astrolabe by Gemma Frisius,
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 224
the Geography of Ptolemy and the navigation by the compendium what
seem best to the teacher. The third year was intended for the theory of
the planets according to Peurbach, interpreting each theory (model) by
Ptolemy; for this year were also indicated the Alfonsine Tables, De
ratione temporum and the ecclesiastic computus. This set of matters corre-
sponds to those which very probably had been imparted in the two last
decades of the century Mun ozs students, Gabriel Serrano and Diego Pe rez
of Mesa. They are similar to those taught by Mun oz in Valencia and
Salamanca. Nevertheless, it is interesting to emphasize some dierences: in
the rst place, it is notable the absence of all reference to astrology,
though it is very probable that, in spite of this, Serrano and Pe rez of Mesa
taught this matter, as in fact they did in Salamanca (Serrano) and Sevilla
(Pe rez de Mesa). We recall that Pedro Ciruelo, one of the most outstand-
ing teachers of Alcala of the rst decades of the century, was a notable
defender of the astrology against Pico della Mirandola criticism.
66
In the
case of optics, while Mun oz had followed the Euclidian tradition, in the
new reform it was recommended to follow Witelo or Alhazen, more in
agreement with Pedro Ciruelos tradition. In astronomy, the text eliminates
the reference to Copernicus that was present in the previous reforms. This
can be attributed to the growing dreads and anxieties on the part of the
philosophers and theologians of the risks that was implying the work of
this author; but the same could be said of Salamanca, where the reference
to Copernicus was maintained in the new statutes of this University
published in 1624, that is to say, after the ecclesiastic decree of 1616 in
which Copernicus De revolutionibus and Zu n igas In Job commentaria were
prohibited until corrected.
67
Because of this, this issue remains opened to
future investigations. Finally it is worth emphasizing also the incorporation
of the geography and the art of navigation, according to the preoccupation
of the Spanish rulers so that the universities provided a good training in
cosmography.
2. Conclusion
By way of conclusion, it must be said that the mathematical disciplines
were cultivated in Spanish universities in relation to medicine, humanism,
natural philosophy and cosmography. In the second half of the sixteenth
century, those disciplines were taught at the Universities of Valencia,
Salamanca, Alcala and Seville by the noteworthy astronomer Jero nimo
Mun oz and his followers. In addition to being an astronomer and mathe-
matician, Mun oz was a geographer and topographer, Hebraist and
Hellenist, and was also a follower and sustainer of humanist projects.
Despite the presence of a certain demarcation between the subjects of
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 225
astronomy and natural philosophy, Mun oz and his followers in the univer-
sities of Salamanca, Alcala and Sevilla expounded and debated on cosmo-
logical matters and considered themselves perfectly entitled to do so. In
their teachings, they incorporated critically the theoretical and technical
novelties of their time and placed particular emphasis on the applications
of the mathematical disciplines. Finally, it has been pointed out that the
great importance of cosmography in the reign of Philip II, particularly in
response to the needs of geographers, cartographers and professors of the
art of navigation, several of whom began their mathematical education in
the universities, was a driving force behind the study of this subject at uni-
versity, together with the study of astronomy. Similarly, university teachers
participated in various way in cosmographical and geographical activities.
Thus, although the different areas of the teaching of mathematics imposed
conditions on the discourses and practices of the mathematical disciplines,
they did not impede the circulation of persons, knowledge, and practices
among these areas.
Notes
1
As Maravall (1972) pointed out, when referring to Spanish Monarchy, we have to distinguish be-
tween three dierent levels: each peninsular kingdom, the combination of the kingdoms of Hispanic tra-
dition and the imperial conglomerate that had been built up under the Spanish Crown. With reference
to science and technology, the three levels aected scientic activity: the imperial project, the building
of a modern state and the diversity of the peninsular kingdoms with their own socialpolitical organisa-
tion and their own cultural traditions.
2
See Baujouan (1967) and Garc a Ballester (2001).
3
Nevertheless, as Kagan (1974), p. 79, has noted, it would be dicult to dispute that the Castilian
universities of the sixteenth century were lled with students lacking in professional aspirations.
4
See Kagan (1974), p. 232 and passim.
5
See below on this literature.
6
See especially Vicente, Esteban (1991).
7
See Albuquerque (1975) on nautical astronomy. See Haring (1918), Pulido (1950), Lamb (1995),
Lo pez Pin ero (1979), Esteban Pin eiro (1993), Barrera (1999), Sandman (2001), on the Casa de la Con-
tratacio n and the dierents posts and oces created. On the Consejo de Indias, see Scha fer
(19351947) and Lamb (1995).
8
Real ce dula, 1527, transcribed in Pulido (1950), pp. 140143.
9
On Medina, see Lamb (1972). Recently, Sandman (2001) has examined extensively the question rela-
tive to the teaching in the Casa de la Contratacion.
10
Real Ce dula, 1553, trancribed in Pulido (1850), pp. 7277.
11
From the article on him in the Dictionary of National biography. Borough promoted the translation
into English of Martin Corte s The Arte of Navigation, trans. Richard Eden (London, 1561).
12
See Lamb (1995), part.II. There is a modern edition; see Chaves (1983).
13
The Libro de Cosmographia and the Suma de cosmograa were not printed. On this books and on
Medinas works in general, see Lamb (1995) part. I and (1972).
14
See Navarro et alii (1998) for the editions and translations of Medinas and Corte ss books. There is
a modern edition; see Corte s (1990).
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 226
15
See Navarro (2003), on Nunes inuence on Corte s. On Nunes, see also Carvalho (1935-), Ventura
(1985), Gonc alves (1986), Leitao et alii. (2002).
16
The values of the declination of the Sun to calculate the geographical latitude were deducted from
the values of the daily position of the Sun in the ecliptic provided by the tables of ephemeredes, as
those of Abrahan Zacuto or Johannes Stoeer, using the formula: sen d=sen k. sen e (d =declination;
k=longitud of the Sun; e=maximum obliquity of the ecliptic). These ephemeris were elaborated from
the parameters provided by the Tables Alfons es. See Goldstein, Chaba s (2000), on Zacuto. On the use
of the Stoeers Ephemerides by Nunes, see Navarro (2000). In this last work I have shown that the
declinations given by Zamorano match those deducted from Stadius Ephemerides but are clearly dier-
ent from those deducted from Leovitius Ephemerides obtained from the Alphonsine Tables. Johannes
Stadius, born 1527, was the rst computer to adopt the Copernican parameters for a major ephemeris.
See Gingerich (1993), pp. 194 and . I have used J. Stadius, Ephemerides...secundum Antwerpiae
longitudinem, ab anno 1554 usque ad annum 1606 (Cologne, 1581).
17
See Scha fer (19351947); Goodman (1988). See in Edwards (1969) a english translation of Lo pez de
Velascos instructions to observe the eclipses in the New World.
18
See Vicente and Esteban (1991).
19
The Herreras text has 20 pages; printed in 1584, has been reedited by Jose Simo n D az and Luis
Cervera Vera, in facsimile form from a copy preserved in the Bibliothe` que Mazarin of Paris. On the
Academy of mathematics, see also Vicente and Esteban (1991), Esteban and Jalo n (1997).
20
See a transcription of the royal patent letter in Vicente and Esteban (1991), pp. 115. On Lavanha,
see Sa nchez Pe rez (1934) and Teixeira de Mota (1987).
21
See Vicente and Esteban (1991), pp. 90 and .; see also in p. 116, a transcription of the royal patent
letter with the appointment of Onde riz.
22
Ms. preserved in the Library of the University of Salamanca, Ms. 2317.
23
The edition of 1573 of Nuness work on the subject was entitled De arte atque rationi navigandi. On
Nunes inuence in Portugal and Spain, see Navarro (2003).
24
Library of the University of Salamanaca, Ms.2317.
25
The information of the activities of the Academy between 1597 and 1600 here described come from
Cristo bal de Rojas, in the preface to his Teorica y practica de forticacion (1598) and of Gine s Roca-
mora, in the preface to his Sphera del Universo (1599). There is no evidence of the fact that the new
teachers received an ocial appointment. See Vicente, Esteban (1991), pp. 137 and .
26
Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid, Ms. 9027.
27
The argument was on the demostracio n of the proposition 4 of Mechanicorum Liber of Guidobaldo.
See the letters 136 (february, 1597), p. 1719; 139 (october, 1597), pp. 2728; 149 (december, 1598), pp.
6869 and 153 (april, 1599), p. 77, from Neritius to Clavius, in Vol. IV of Clavius Correspondence edi-
ted by Baldini and Napolitani (1992). On Neritius, see ibid, Vol.I, Biograe, pp. 7577.
28
See Garcia Tapia (1990), pp. 158159. On Garc a de Ce spedes, see also Picatoste, Lo pez Pin ero et
alii (1983), Vol. I, pp. 375376; also Vicente, Esteban (1991) and (2000, 2002a).
29
On the amendment, see Vicente, Esteban (1991) and Navarro (2000).
30
See Navarro (2000).
31
On the University of Valencia, see Felipo (1993), Peset, coord., (1999). Gallego Salvadores (1980),
Febrer (2003).
32
In this sense, we can consider signicant the appointment of Toma s Dura n to the chair of mathe-
matics of the University of Valencia. Dura n published in Valencia mathematical works of Bradwardine,
a prominent member of mertonian calculatores, and in 1509 was proposed for the chair of nomi-
nales of the University of Salamanca created that same year. On Dura n, see Robles (1976).
33
See Gallego Salvadores (1975), Wallace (1981), Lo pez Pin ero et alii (1983), vol. I, pp. 203206,
Lo pez and Navarro (1995), pp. 8393, Febrer (2003).
34
In the inquisitorial process to Jero nimo Conque s, graduate in arts in 1545 in the University of
Valencia, he declared that he had studied arithmetic, music, geometry, perspective, judicial astrology
and cosmography. See Ardit Lucas (1969).
35
Pedro Jaime Esteve, Hippocrates Coi Medicorum omnium principiis epidemion liber secundus (1551);
Citation on fol.5v. In this work Esteve considers indispensable the astronomy to study the climate in
TEACHING OF MATHEMATICAL DISCIPLINES IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY SPAIN 227
the dierent regions and to predict the changes of the air. He mentions various observations
accomplished by him in 1549; according to Ximeno (1749), vol. I, p. 112, Esteve elaborated a Libro de
Ephemerides (Book of Ephemerides) for 14881600. On Esteve, see Lo pez Pin ero et alii (1983), vol. I,
pp. 312314.
36
On Mun oz, see Navarro (1983), Navarro and Rodr guez (1998), and the preliminary studies in
Mun oz (2004).
37
See in Navarro and Rodr guez (1998), pp. 205208, a list of Mun ozs works.
38
J.Mun oz, Traicte du nouveau comete, Paris, 1574. On Lefe` vre de la Boderie, see Secret (1960). For
the relationship between Lefe` vre and Postel and his contribution to the Polyglot Bible of Antwerp, see
Rekers (1972).
39
For Cornelius Gemmas discussion about Mun oz study of the nova, see Cornelius Gemma, De
Naturae Divinis Characterismis; seu Raris et admirandis spectaculis in Universo, Libri II (Amberes,
1575), vol. II, pp. 267274. Mun oz correspondence with Hagecius and Reisacherus is housed in the
Oesterreichische National Bibliothek, Cod. 10.868, No. 66 and Cod. 10.689, No. 41, fols. 1r-6v. J.L.E.
Dreyer published these letters in his edition of Tychonis Brahe. Opera Omnia (191319), vol. VII, pp.
395403. Mun oz (1981) includes a transcription and translation into Spanish and English accompanied
by a facsimile edition of the letter to Reisacherus, according to the copy of Cod.10.689 mentioned ear-
lier. This copy was apparently made by Tycho Brahe; see Navarro and Rodr guez (1998), pp. 207208.
40
The holograph manuscript is housed at the Arnamagnaeanske Institute, Copenhagen, AM 8812 4,
fols. 147. Published and translated into Spanish by Navarro, Rodr guez (1998).
41
The manuscript ends with the words Hieronymus Munnos... translation commmentariorum Theonis
Alexandrini in magnam constructionem CL. Ptolemaei... The holograph is housed at the National
Library in Naples, Ms. VIII, fols.21r-300r. See Navarro, Rodr guez (1998).
42
See Navarro, Rodr guez (1998) and the preliminary studies in Mun oz (2004).
43
See Flo rez et alii (1990); Navarro (1994); Navarro, Rodr guez (1998).
44
See Flo rez et alii (1990); Navarro (1994, 1995). For the assertions of Pe rez de Oliva, see Fuertes, ed.
(1984).
45
See Mun oz (1964, 1967); Beltra n de Heredia (1942).
46
On Espinosa and Mart nez Sil ceo, see Mun oz (1967); on Mart nez Sil ceo, see also Lo pez Pin ero
etalii (1983), vol. II, pp. 3839; on Margallo, see Flo rez (1990). See also Navarro (2002a). For this
authors, see also Lohr (1988).
47
See Randles (2000).
48
See Navarro et alii (1998) for the editions of Mar nez Sil ceo and Espinosa works.
49
On Juan and Hernando de Aguilera, see Bustos (1973), and Lo pez Pin ero et alii(1993), vol. 1, pp.
2830. On the statutes of Salamanca University see, in addition to Bustos, Navarro (1995, 1998).
50
The purpose of the inspections (visitas) stipulated in the 1561 statutes was to supervise the conduct
of the professors occupying chairs. For libros de visitas, see Ferna ndez (1974), and Navarro (1998).
51
See Ferna ndez Alvarez (1974) and Navarro (1998).
52
As refered by his student Diego de Alava in the preface to his book El Perfecto capitan instruido en
la disciplina militar y nueva ciencia de la artilleria (Madrid, 1590).
53
Letter from Philip II, March 26
th
1593, in Esperabe (19141917), Vol. I, pp. 608609; also published
in Bustos (1973).
54
See Beltra n (19701973), vol. IV, pp. 120 . For some information on Nu n ez Zamora, see Picatoste
(1981), pp. 223225, and Rodr guez San Pedro (1986), vol. III, p. 71.
55
Estatutos hechos por la muy insigne universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 1595.
56
Gonza lez Navarro (1984); Jime nez, coord.(1996).
57
On Nebrija, see Cotarelo (1947), Codon er and Gonza les Iglesias, eds., (1984), Flo rez et alii (1990)
and Lo Pez Pin ero et alii (1983), Vol. I, pp. 105107; On Ciruelo, see Mun oz Delgado(1967), Lo pez Pin -
ero et alii (1983), vol.I, pp. 223225; Alabares (1996) and Navarro (2002a, 2002b).
58
See Lo pez Pin ero et alii (1983), Vol. I, pp. 310312. Also, Reparaz (1980), Parker (1992), Esteban
(1996).
59
That is, the topics included in Pedro Ciruelos Cursus quattuor mathematicarum artium liberalium
(1516), that are also those ones of the quadrivium, with the exception of astronomy, not comprised in
VI

CTOR NAVARRO-BROTO

NS 228
Ciruelos work, and the distinction between geometry and perspective according to the late Middle
Ages tradition.
60
According to Beltra n (19701973), Vol. IV, p. 324.
61
F. Gil Ayuso, Historia de la Universidad de Alcala, quoted by A. Gonza lez Palencia, ed. (1944), in
the foreword, p. XXXVIII. In the dedicatory to his patron Gaspar de Borja and Velasco, in a Latin
manuscript of Cosmographia (Biblioteca Universitaria de Barcelona, Ms. 446), Pe rez de Mesa states
that he taught natural philosophy in his youth in Salamanca and Alcala .
62
Manuscripts of all these subjects written between 1595 (Astrologia judiciaria) and 1603 (the El arte
de navegar treatise) are housed at the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid and in the library of Salamanca
University. The manuscript entitled Astrologa judiciaria (Madrid, BN, Ms. 5917), states Judiciary
astrology read in Seville by Diego Pe rez Mesa, Professor at Alcala de Henares, by order of King Philip
in the year 1595. The treatise on the art of navigation features the date September 6th 1603 at the
end. Ms. 2294 of the Salamanca University Library concerns arithmetic, algebra, astrology and practi-
cal geometry and Pe rez de Mesa, professor of this city of Seville in the year 1598 is named as the
author on the rst page.
63
A copy of Comentarios de Sphera by Pe rez de Mesa, is housed in the Biblioteca Nacional, Ms. 8882.
It is dated in Seville, September 22nd 1596.
64
Pe rez de Mesa, Comentarios de Sphera, op.cit., fols. 19v-22r. The chapter ends with Copernicus
answers to the objections about the Earths motion.
65
The text of the Reforma de Portocarrero in Gonza lez Navarro, ed. (1999), pp. 431626, on pp.
499500.
66
See Navarro (2002 a), p.294.
67
On Zu n iga, see Navarro (1995).
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