Masculinity, War, and Pursuit of Glory in Sepúlveda's "Gonzalo"

The Dialogus de appetenda gloria qui inscribitur Gonsalus (1523) is Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda's first reflection on the moral aspects of war. In it, he addresses whether it is morally licit for Christians to desire worldly honor and glory, a question that Christian mystics, Irenicists, and humani...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hispanic review 2012-07, Vol.80 (3), p.391-412
Main Author: Nájera, Luna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aristocracy
Christianity
Christians
Humanism
Isidore, of Seville, Saint (560-636)
Masculinity
Men
Morality
Protestant Reformation
Soldiers
Soul
Theology
Virtue
War
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Summary:The Dialogus de appetenda gloria qui inscribitur Gonsalus (1523) is Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda's first reflection on the moral aspects of war. In it, he addresses whether it is morally licit for Christians to desire worldly honor and glory, a question that Christian mystics, Irenicists, and humanists like Desiderius Erasmus and Juan Luis Vives posed in writings through which they sought to renew and reform spiritual practices in Christendom. Their skepticism was linked to a larger doubt over the compatibility of Christian principles that commanded men to love one another and the state's injunction to kill one's fellow man. In redressing those concerns, Sepúlveda advances a theory that embraces the pursuit of glory and that serves as the foundation for his justificatory theories of war in subsequent writings. His discourse on glory accommodates social mobility, simultaneously inscribing a martial moral code on the terrain of the masculine self and the male body.
ISSN:0018-2176
1553-0639
1553-0639
DOI:10.1353/hir.2012.0037