Cypriano Soarez y Herrera, S.J. (1524–1593) was a sixteenth-century

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

who wrote ''De Arte Rhetorica'', the first Jesuit rhetoric textbook.The De Arte Rhetorica (1568) by Cyprian Soarez, S.J.: A Translation with Introduction and Notes. Diss. University of Florida, 1955. Ann Arbor: UMI: 2001.

Life

Soarez was born in Ocaña in the Kingdom of Toledo. His mother was Lady Francesca de Hererra and Soarez had

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...

heritage. He joined the

Jesuit order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

in Portugal on September 21, 1549, with the support of

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. He taught rhetoric in Jesuit schools, including the College of Saint Anthony in Lisbon and the Royal College of Coimbra. In Coimbra, he also served as a cook, porter, and sweeper. Emmanuel Alvarez, who would later write the first Jesuit Latin grammar handbook (''De institutio grammatica libri tres''), also worked with Soarez. He attained the office of Prefect of Studies in the College of Arts. Later, he attained the degree of

doctor of theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

at the Jesuit College of Evora, and became rector in the College of Braga. In 1580, he moved to Castile. With

Francisco Suarez Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

, Soarez was appointed to the committee to offer feedback on the Society's developing '' Ratio studiorum.'' He later died in Placentia.

Works

Concerned that young students in Jesuit colleges were not ready for major rhetorical texts such as

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's ''

Rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

'', Cicero's ''

De Oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius, the oth ...

'', and

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

's ''

Institutio Oratoria ''Institutio Oratoria'' ( English: Institutes of Oratory) is a twelve-volume textbook on the theory and practice of rhetoric by Roman rhetorician Quintilian. It was published around year 95 AD. The work deals also with the foundational education ...

'', Soarez wrote ''De arte rhetorica'' as digest of their work as an introduction for students still learning Latin. Soarez wrote the first draft of the work around 1562; it was revised by fellow Jesuit

Pedro Juan Pepinyá Pedro Juan Pepinyá, S.J. (1530 - October 28, 1566) was a Spanish Jesuit humanist who contributed to the development of the Jesuit '' Cursus Conimbricensis'' commentaries on Aristotle and who revised Cypriano Soarez' ''De arte rhetorica.'' Life ...

in about 1565. The ''De arte rhetorica'' (1568) was organized in Aristotelian form but borrowed its content heavily from Cicero. Soarez intended the ''De arte'' ''rhetorica'' as an introductory digest that would introduce students to the principles of rhetoric and oratory; though students had learned Latin grammar, he found that they were not guaranteed to have facility reading “Quintilian, Cicero, Virgil, Sallust, and the other authors." The ''De arte rhetorica'' went through more than 75 printings from 1460 to 1700. This included printings in Mexico City. The Jesuit '' Ratio Studiorum'' marked Soarez' ''De arte rhetorica'' the required rhetoric handbook in the second semester of the Humanities course for students at Jesuit colleges all over the world.

References

Bibliography

* Flynn, Lawrence J., S.J. "The De Arte Rhetorica of Cyprian Soarez, S.J." ''Quarterly Journal of Speech'', 42 (1956): 367–74. Print. * Flynn, Lawrence J., S.J. "Sources and Influence of Soarez’ De Arte Rhetorica." ''Quarterly Journal of Speech'', 43 (1957): 257–65. Print. * Flynn, Lawrence J., S.J. ''The De Arte Rhetorica (1568) by Cyprian Soarez, S.J.'' A Translation with Introduction and Notes. Diss. University of Florida, 1955. Ann Arbor: UMI: 2001. Print. {{DEFAULTSORT:Soarez, Cypriano De 1524 births 16th-century Spanish Jesuits 1593 deaths Rhetoric theorists Spanish Renaissance humanists 16th-century Spanish male writers Trope theorists