CHAPTER TWO

THE ANTWERP : MAPS, SCHOLARSHIP, AND EXEGESIS

The (1545–64), the founding event of the Counter- Reformation, also marked the beginning of the spectacular ecclesiasti- cal career of Benito Arias Montano (1527–98, Figure 1).1 Poet laureate, member of the Military Order of St. James, Doctor of Theology, Ori- entalist, and a leading biblical scholar, Montano was chosen by Bishop Martín Peréz de Ayala to join the Spanish delegation to the third ses- sion-period of the Council (1562–64), and won praise for his inter- ventions on communion and on marriage.2 For Montano, however,

1 An earlier version of this chapter appeared as “Sacred Geography, Antiquari- anism and Visual Erudition: Benito Arias Montano and the Maps in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible,” Imago Mundi 55, no. 1 (2003): 56–80. For a recent reevaluation of the historiographical tradition of Trent and the Counter-Reformation see John W. O’Malley, Trent and All That: Renaming Catholicism in the Early Modern Era (Cam- bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000). On Montano’s activities in Trent see C. Gutiérrez, Españoles en Trento, Corpus Tridentinum Hispanicum, 1 (Valladolid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Instituto “Jerónimo Zurita” Sección de Historia Moderna “Simancas”, 1951), 180–81, n. 366; Benito Arias Montano, Elu- cidationes in quatuor euangelia, Matthaei, Marci, Lucae & Johannis. Quibus accedunt eiusdem elucidationes in Acta Apostolorum (Antwerp: Plantin, 1575), 62; T. Gonzáles Carvajal, “Elogio histórico del Dr B. Arias Montano,” Memorias de la Real Academia de la Historia VII (1823): 1–199, esp. 32–36. 2 We still lack a full intellectual biography and a full correspondence edition for Montano, a fascinating and central figure of early modern scholarship, though more and more particular studies and modern editions of his works shed light on his work and thought. Rekers’ standard biography is useful mainly as to Montano’s activities, yet less so regarding his works: Ben Rekers, Benito Arias Montano (1527–1598) (London: The Warburg Institute, 1972). See also, among others, Vicente Becares Botas,Arias Montano y Plantino: el libro flamenco en la España de Felipe II (León: Universidad Secretariado de Publicaciones, 1999), Luis Gómez Canseco, ed., Anatomía del human- ismo: Benito Arias Montano, 1598–1998 (Huelva: Servicio de Publicaciones Universi- dad de Huelva, 1998); Sylvaine Hänsel, Der spanische Humanist Benito Arias Montano (1527–1598) und die Kunst (Münster: Aschendorff, 1991); Paul Saenger, “Benito Arias Montano and the Evolving Notion of Locus in Sixteenth-Century Printed Books,” Word & Image 17, no. 1&2 (2001): 119–37. Mark P. McDonald, “The Print Collec- tion of Philip II at the Escorial,” Print Quarterly 15, no. 1 (1998): 15–35. Guy Lazure, “Possessing the Sacred: Monarchy and Identity in Philip II’s Relic Collection at the Escorial,” Renaissance Quarterly 60, no. 1 (2007): 58–93. Benito Arias was educated in , and then in the University of Alcalá de Henares, a center for Hebraic and biblical studies. In 1560 he became a member of the military order of St. James. After 24 chapter two

Figure 1. Ph. Galle, engraved portrait of Benito Arias Montano. Galle and Montano, Virorum doctorum de disciplinis benemerentium effigies XLIIII (Antwerp, 1572). Source: Princeton University Library, Rare Books Divi- sion. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, (Ex) CT 206 .G35x 1572q.