Juan de Quintana (c.1482–1534) was an imperial theologian and

Confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...

to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

First years

Though it is unclear if he was born in

Vic Vic, vic or VIC may refer to: People and fictional characters * Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name * V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper Places * Vic, Spain, a town and ...

(

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

) or Sariñena (

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

), Juan de Quintana was the son of Pedro de Quintana ''alias'' Navarro, a merchant who descended from the Quintanas, a family of butchers from the town of

, in the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...

. This family had apparently taken the name from a square called , where butchers used to work in the same town. Pedro Quintana moved to the village of Sariñena in the last quarter of the 15th century, and Juan had at least two brothers, Sebastián and Pedro Quintana.

Education and first royal assignments

By 1495 Juan Quintana was already a student, most likely in the Studium Generale of Arts in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, and he later continued his education at the Sorbonne. During his studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Juan Quintana interceded in favor of Llulism, along with professors Antonio and Luis Coronel. He later obtained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at this university in May 1520. At some point afterwards, and before 1522, Quintana became the

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in King

's retinue, and he started participating as a theologian in special royal assignments, such as the trials against the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Probst and Grapheus. Quintana kept traveling with the royal retinue, and during the 1530s he kept being assigned to take part in additional royal religious decisions, clearly aimed at containing (and also repressing) theological ideas that would not be in agreement with the Catholic faith, which King Charles wanted to be preeminent: in 1525 he participated in the Edict against the

Alumbrados The (, ''illuminated''), also called the , were the practitioners of a mystical form of Christianity in the Crown of Castile during the 15th–16th centuries. Some were only mildly heterodox, but others held views that were clearly heretical, ...

, in 1526 in the Edict against the

morisco ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable Mus ...

s from

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, and in 1527 was one of the experts who attended the Conference of

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, in order to judge Erasmus's theological ideas.

Contact with Michael Servetus

Some authors think that Dr. Juan de Quintana was an Erasmian, but others think otherwise, especially due to how extensively Quintana attacked

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

and his ideas during the Conference of Valladolid, saying that his ideas were false,

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

al, deceiving, erroneous, or incredibly dangerous. One of the reasons for some authors to consider him a follower of Erasmus was that the famous

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

Michael Servetus claimed that he had been working in the service of Juan de Quintana, and as Servetus was an Erasmian, it was taken for granted that he learned those ideas from the royal chaplain, while they were in the royal retinue, in which there were some Erasmians. It seems clear that Quintana knew Servetus's family in Villanueva de Sigena, for his family was neighbor of the Conesas, the maternal family. And it also seems Quintana could have known the young Servetus while he was a studying in the

Latin Grammar Latin is a heavily inflected language with largely free word order. Nouns are inflected for number and case; pronouns and adjectives (including participles) are inflected for number, case, and gender; and verbs are inflected for person, numbe ...

Studium of Sariñena near 1520, whose head was mosén Domingo Manobel. But it also seems that Servetus—whose name was not known in the royal retinue—learned Erasmus's ideas from the Studium Generale of Arts in

, in which several of Erasmus's works were read to the students, and in which Servetus had been living from 1520 to 1527, first as a student and then as one of the four "Masters of Arts" (professors of Arts), while Quintana was traveling with the retinue.

Last years

In 1530, shortly after

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

crowned

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Dr. Juan de Quintana became the Emperor's

and participated in the

Diet of Augsburg The diets of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such se ...

, where he met and discussed theological issues with

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

. In 1532, from

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

, the emperor appointed him Abbot of Montearagon (with an income of 64,000 ), which his nephews from Vic took possession of. Juan de Quintana was also named Lord of the village of Sipán (Huesca), and came back to Spain with the emperor in 1533, for the celebration of the Corts of Monzón. He then visited the

Castle of Montearagón The Castle of Montearagón was a fortress-monastery in Quicena, near Huesca, Aragon, Spain, built in the Romanesque style. It is now in ruins. In 1094 Sancho Ramirez reinforced the castle to help with the siege of the Muslim stronghold of '' ...

, where he made several appointments. He remained with the imperial court until his death in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

at the end of 1534.González Ancín, Miguel & Towns, Otis. (2017
''Miguel Servet en España (1506-1527). Edición ampliada''
pp,346-354.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quintana, Juan de Spanish Franciscans University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Zaragoza 1534 deaths Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain 1480s births