()n Alfonso Valdes, see Kauraer, Gesch. Europas seit d. 15. Jahrh. i, 264, Docum. Inedif. para la Hist, de Es- pana, vol. xxiv ; iMiiller, f/isf. von d. Protestation u. Ap- j)ellation, etc. (Jena, 1705), p. 18-190 ; Saubert, Wunder- werck d. Auyspurfj. Confession (Nuremb. 1631), p. 220, etc. ; Jonas, in Niediier's Zeitschrift, 1861, p. 630 ; Her- zog, Real-Encyklop. s. v.
2. Juan (1) was, physically and intellectually, strik- ingly like his twin brother Alfonso; and, like him, he tirst came before the public with a dialogue, publish- ed anonymously and, at the same time, as his broth- er's production— probably in 1529. His piece was en- titled A Dialogue beticeen Mercury and Charon. It be- gins with the narration by Mercury of the emperor's attempt to settle his quarrel with king Francis of France by a duel (see La Fuente, Hist, de Espana, xii, 497 sq.) ; but the narration is repeatedl}'' interrupted by the in- troduction of newly deceased persons, who enter into the conversation, and through whom the whole obtains a political and religions character. The general corrup- tion of the Church is censured. The ignorance and im- morality of the clergy and the superstition of the peo- ple are plainly characterized, and the Scriptures and the grace of (Jod are extolled above the adoration of relics and the Virgin Mary. The use of force as a means of conversion is condemned. Part second of the work is chiefly political, and is a sort of Anti-Machiavel. The whole reveals the simplicity of a truly noble mind and the tact of a courtier. In 1531 Juan was at Rome, having come thither from Naples, and was engaged in the study of natural history. He planned a collection of Spanish proverbs, and wrote a Didlogo de la Lengna (2d ed. Madrid, I860), which is highly commended by writers on the literature of Spain. His chief interest, however, centred in religious reform. For it he labored incessantly with tongue and pen, and in its interest he became the centre of an association of Christians who endeavored to lay the foundations of an independent kingdom of God without direetlv assaulting the Church of the State.
In 1536 the emperor issued an edict at Naples which
forbade association with persons infected with or sus- pected of the Lutheran heresy, under pain of death and the contiscation of property. After the emperor's de- parture, March 22, the viceroy forbade the preacliing of Ochino (q. v.), thoujj:h he was afterwards induced to permit its continuation to the end of Lent. But during this same Lenten period Valdes had a conversation with (iiulia (ionzaga, the childless widow of Vespasian Co- lonna, duke of Traietto, who had been powerfully awak- ened under the preaching of Ochino; and he had the courage to commit the substance of their conversation to paper, under the title Alfaheto Christiano (1st ed. in Italian [Venice. 1546] ; 2d ed. Italian, English, and Span- ish [Lond. 1860 sq.], consisting of only 150 copies for private distribution). In this dialogue he teaches that the law shows what we are to d«, while the Gospel gives the Spirit by which to do it. He insists that the soul must choose between God and the world, and de- clares that persons whose outward life is entirely correct may need a reformation of the inward feelings and dis- positions. Christian perfection consists in loving God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. Monks and non-monks have only so much of Christian perfection as they have of faith and love to God. As the tire can- not refrain from giving forth heat, so faith cannot avoid the performing of works of love. The soul may have full assurance of the forgiveness of sins and of salvation in Christ. The evil of sin requires a radical cure, ap- plied at the seat of the disease, and cannot be overcome by any mere surface remedy. Giulia insists, however, upon rules by which to regulate the use of institutions of the Church, and Valdes responds that benefit may be derived from the adoration of the sacrament, from the reading of the Epistles and Gospels, and from the pray- ers in the mass; that masses ought to be heard except when they would interrupt works of charity ; that the preaching of the Word should be hutnbly received. He discountenances the repetition of a given number of psalms and paternosters. Of confession he says that God does not forgive sins because of the confession, but because the sinner believes in Christ. The result was that Giulia entered the Franciscan convent of Santa Chi- ara, though she did not take the vows of the order nor exclude herself wholly from society.
It was perhaps in the same year (1536) that Valdes dedicated to the duchess Gonzaga his version of the Psalms, after the Hebrew (a work never published and now lost), and in the following year T/ie Epistle to the Romans and The Eirst Epistle to the Corinthians (1st ed. Geneva, 1556 sq.; 2d ed. 1856), which works reveal faithful research and sincere modesty in the author, and possess both scientific and practical value. Other works by Valdes have, almost without exception, been lost to posterity, the exception being Consideraziones Divinas, an Italian edition of which appeared in 1550 at Basle, and translations of which were made into Spanish, French, English, and Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries.