View source for Francisco de Vitoria

{{Short description|Spanish philosopher (c. 1483–1546)}}
{{for|the bishop|Francisco de Vitoria (bishop)}}
{{infobox philosopher
| image =   Franciscodevictoria.jpg
| caption = Statue of Francisco de Vitoria at [[Convento de San Esteban, Salamanca|San Esteban]], [[Salamanca]]
|school_tradition=[[Thomism]]<br>[[School of Salamanca]]|birth_date={{circa|1483}}|death_date=12 August 1546|influences={{flatlist|
* [[Aquinas]]
* [[Peter Crockaert|Crockhaert]]
* [[Erasmus]]
* [[Thomas Cajetan|Cajetan]]
}}|influenced={{flatlist|
* [[Navarrus]]
* [[Edmund Burke|Burke]]
* [[Joseph De Maistre|Maistre]]
* [[Domingo de Soto|Soto]]
* [[Grotius]]
* [[Rothbard]]
* [[Carl Schmitt|Schmitt]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Gottfried |first=Paul |title=Carl Schmitt |year=1990 |publisher=Claridge Press |isbn=978-1-870626-46-0 |page=27}}</ref>
}}|birth_place=[[Burgos]], [[Crown of Castile]]|death_place=[[Salamanca]], Crown of Castile|notable_ideas=[[International law]]<br>[[Freedom of the seas]]|main_interests=[[Natural law]]|region=[[Western philosophy]]
* [[Spanish philosophy]]|era=[[Renaissance philosophy]]}}
{{Catholic philosophy}}
'''Francisco de Vitoria''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Dominican Order|OP]]}} ({{circa|1483}} – 12 August 1546; also known as '''Francisco de Victoria''') was a Spanish Roman Catholic [[philosophy|philosopher]], [[theology|theologian]], and jurist<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anghie |first=Antony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJuHlZ1_fbEC |title=Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law |date=2007-04-26 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-70272-0 |language=en}}</ref> of [[Renaissance]] Spain. He is the founder of the tradition in [[philosophy]] known as the [[School of Salamanca]], which laid the groundwork for early [[Free market|free-market economics]] and [[individual rights]], influencing the development of [[Libertarianism|libertarian thought]]. Vitoria's work on [[natural law]] and the freedom of exchange contributed to later [[Austrian school of economics|Austrian School economists']] emphasis on the moral basis for voluntary commerce.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grice-Hutchinson |first=Marjorie |url=https://cdn.mises.org/The%20School%20of%20Salamanca_3.pdf |title=The School of Salamanca: Readings in Spanish Monetary Theory, 1544-1605 |publisher=Mises Institute |year=1952}}</ref> Although less known than others of his kind, he has been considered one of the most influential [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]]s of the Renaissance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Frayle Delgado|first=Luis|title=Pensamiento humanista de Francisco de Vitoria|url=https://www.google.es/books/edition/Pensamiento_humanista_de_Francisco_de_Vi/B8-cT4pCD00C?hl=es&gbpv=0|date=2004|publisher=San Esteban|page=28-29|isbn=9788482601458}}</ref>

Noted especially for his concept of [[just war]] and [[international law]], his defense of individual [[property rights]] and the notion of liberty in trade were pivotal in shaping ideas about non-intervention and [[economic freedom]]. He has in the past been described by scholars as the "father of international law",<ref name=":0" /> along with [[Alberico Gentili]] and [[Hugo Grotius]]. American [[jurist]] [[Arthur Nussbaum]] noted Vitoria's influence on international law as it pertained to the right to trade overseas. Later this was interpreted as "freedom of commerce".<ref name="Nussbaum1947">{{cite book|author=Arthur Nussbaum|title=A concise history of the law of nations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxkQAQAAMAAJ|year=1947|publisher=Macmillan Co.|place= New York |page=82}}</ref> His emphasis on voluntary exchange and opposition to monopolistic practices foreshadowed later [[free market]] economics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grice-Hutchinson |first=Marjorie |url=https://cdn.mises.org/The%20School%20of%20Salamanca_3.pdf |title=The School of Salamanca: Readings in Spanish Monetary Theory, 1544-1605 |publisher=Mises Institute |year=1952}}</ref>

==Life==
Vitoria was born {{circa|1483}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Alves |first1=Andre Azevedo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7gCxAgAAQBAJ&dq=Francisco+de+Vitoria+born%E2%80%891483+in+Burgos&pg=PT21 |title=The Salamanca School |last2=Moreira |first2=Jose |date=2013-03-14 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-62356-185-7 |language=en}}</ref> probably in [[Burgos]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vitoria |first=Francisco de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9HLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR29 |title=Vitoria: Political Writings |date=1991-10-31 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-58344-9 |language=en}}</ref> and was raised in [[Burgos]], the son of Pedro de Vitoria, of Alava, and Catalina de Compludo, both of noble families.<ref name="Hernandez">[http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1325&context=ilj Hernandez O.P., Ramon. "The Internationalization of Francisco de Vitoria and Domingo de Soto", translated by Jay J. Aragones, ''Fordham International Law Journal'', Vol. 15, Issue 4, 1991]</ref> According to modern scholarship, he had [[Jewish]] ancestry on his maternal side (the Compludos), being related to famous converts like [[Paul of Burgos]] and [[Alfonso de Cartagena]].<ref>Carlos G. Noreña, ''Studies in Spanish Renaissance Thought'', Springer Science & Business Media (2012), p. 37</ref> He became a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] in 1504, and was educated at the College Saint-Jacques in [[Paris]], where he was influenced by the work of [[Desiderius Erasmus]]. He went on to teach theology from 1516 (under the influences of [[Pierre Crockaert]] and [[Thomas Cajetan]]). In 1522 he returned to [[Spain]] to teach theology at the college of Saint Gregory at [[Valladolid]], where many young Dominicans were being trained for missionary work in the New World. In 1524, he was elected to the chair of theology at the [[University of Salamanca]], where he was instrumental in promoting [[Thomism]] (the philosophy and theology of [[St. Thomas Aquinas]]). Francisco de Vitoria died on 12 August 1546<ref name="Schroeder">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06232a.htm Schroeder, Henry Joseph. "Francis of Vittoria." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 10 Sept. 2014]</ref> in [[Salamanca]].

==Positions on the status of Indigenous Americans==
A noted scholar, he was publicly consulted by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]] and King of Spain. He worked to limit the type of power the Spanish Empire imposed on the Native Peoples. He said, "The upshot of all the preceding is this, then, that the aborigines undoubtedly had true dominion in both public and private matters, just like Christians, and that neither their princes nor private persons could be despoiled of their property on the ground of their not being true owners."<ref>Francisco de Vitoria, “The Law of War,” in War and Christian Ethics, ed. Author F. Holmes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1975), 118-119.</ref> Vitoria denied that the native peoples could be understood as slaves by nature in Aristotelian terms.<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/francisco-de-vitoria "Francisco de Vitoria", Columbia University]</ref> He adopted from Aquinas the Roman law concept of [[Jus gentium|''ius gentium'']] ("the law of nations"). His defense of American Indians was based on a Scholastic understanding of the intrinsic dignity of man, a dignity he found being violated by Spain's policies in the New World.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

In three lectures (relectiones) held between 1537 and 1539 Vitoria concluded that the Indians were rightful owners of their property and that their chiefs validly exercised jurisdiction over their tribes. This had already been the position of [[Juan López de Palacios Rubios|Palacios Rubios]]. Neither the pope nor Charles V had a rightful claim over Indian lives or property. No violent action could be taken against them, nor could their lands or property be seized, unless the Indians had caused harm or injury to the Spanish by violating the latter's lawful rights.<ref name=Pagden>{{cite book|last=Pagden|first=Anthony|title=Vitoria: Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)|year=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=UK|isbn=0-521-36714-X|page=xvi}}</ref> In one of his lectures, "On the evangelization of unbelievers", Vitoria establishes that firstly, Indians, "should not be forcibly converted; but a second conclusion is that they may be forcibly restrained from hindering the missionaries of the faith, and from insulting Christ and Christians."<ref>Francisco de Vitoria, “On the Evangelization of Unbelievers,” 1534-35, in ''Colonial Latin America : A Documentary History''. Denver: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002, 70.</ref>

Throughout his lecture, "On the evangelization of unbelievers", Francisco de Vitoria employed the concept of what was considered Spanish Christian [[Universalism]]. Spanish Christian Universalism was the belief that all matters, arguments, and events were connected in the world, and Vitoria "visualized a universal society in the world into which any number of independent states might fit and foster relationships."<ref>Kenneth Mills et al., ''Colonial Latin America : A Documentary History.'' Denver: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002, 67.</ref>

Francisco de Vitoria argued that forcible conversion of the Indians would, "cause great provocation and unrest among the heathen." Secondly, "instead of the benevolent and proper affection required for belief, forcible conversion would generate immense hate in them, and that in turn would give rise to pretense and hypocrisy."<ref>Kenneth Mills et al., ''Colonial Latin America : A Documentary History.'' Denver: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002, 71.</ref>

Vitoria defended the Indians against other forms of harm which were being proposed, such as indirectly coercing the Indians into Christianity, "by taxes and levies by which they may be encouraged to become converts to the faith." He argued, "but as for tributes which cannot also be demanded of the faithful, I assert that they cannot be demanded of unbelievers with the intention of making them convert. Unbelievers cannot be deprived of their goods on the grounds of their unbelief, any more than other Christians, because they possess true right of ownership over their own property."<ref>Kenneth Mills et al., ''Colonial Latin America : A Documentary History.'' Denver: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002, 75-76.</ref>

A supporter of the [[just war theory]], in ''De iure belli'' Francisco pointed out that the underlying predicate conditions for a "just war" were "wholly lacking in the Indies".<ref name=Salas>[http://legacy.avemarialaw.edu/lr/assets/articles/AMLR.v.10i2.salas.pdf Salas Jr., Victor M., "Francisco de Vitoria on the ''Ius Gentium'' and the American Indios", ''Ave Maria Law Review'', 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911001651/http://legacy.avemarialaw.edu/lr/assets/articles/AMLR.v.10i2.salas.pdf |date=2014-09-11 }}</ref> The only area where he saw justification for Spanish intervention in native affairs was to protect victims seized for human sacrifice, and because of the inherent human dignity of the victims themselves—whose rights were being violated and thus in need of defense.<ref name=Salas/>

[[Thomas Woods|Thomas E. Woods]] goes on to describe how some wished to argue that the natives lacked reason, but the evidence was against this because the natives had obvious customs, laws, and a form of government.<ref name="Woods">{{cite book|last=Woods|first=Thomas E. (Jr.)|title=How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization|year=2005|publisher=Regnery Publishing|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-89526-038-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/howcatholicchurc0000wood}}</ref>

The Spaniards were in the practice of invoking in their American conquests the so-called "[[Spanish Requirement of 1513|Requerimiento]]", a document read to the Indians before the commencement of any hostilities. The "Requerimiento", declared the universal authority of the Pope, and the authority the Spanish monarchs had received from the Pope over this part of the New World for the purpose of colonizing and evangelizing it. The Indians had to accept the sovereignty of the Spanish monarchs or be compelled to submit by force. Vitoria denied the legitimacy of this document.<ref name=Hernandez/>

Vitoria follows the arguments against Spanish rule of South-American territories by arguments that justify the Spanish practices, which are grounded in natural law. He asserts the right of the Spaniards to travel freely, and to trade, which includes searching for, mining, and exporting the abundant natural resources they find in South America. Unlawful resistance infringing upon the Spaniard's rights of travel, trade and exploitation, or infringing upon the Pope's right to spread Christianity, can be used to justify a "just war" of the Spaniards against the indigenous inhabitants, ending in Spanish rule over the territories in question.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bentancor|first=Orlando|date=2014|title=Francisco de Vitoria, Carl Schmitt, and Originary Technicity|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/pc/12322227.0005.002|journal=Política Común|language=en|volume=5|issue=20200129|doi=10.3998/pc.12322227.0005.002|issn=2007-5227|doi-access=free|hdl=2027/spo.12322227.0005.002|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Vitoria's works are known only from his lecture notes, as he has published nothing in his lifetime. Nevertheless, his influence such as that on the Dutch legal philosopher [[Hugo Grotius]] was significant.<ref>{{cite book|last=Borschberg|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Borschberg|title=Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese and Free Trade in the East Indies |year=2011|publisher=NUS Press and KITLV Press|location=Singapore and Leiden|isbn=978-9971-69-467-8}}</ref> ''Relectiones Theologicae'' was published posthumously several times (Lyon, 1557; Salamanca, 1565; Ingolstadt, 1580; Lyon, 1586 & 1587; Venice, 1626; Venice, 1640; Cologne & Frankfurt, 1696; and Madrid, 1765).<ref>Ernest Nys, introduction to Francisco de Vitoria, [http://www.constitution.org/victoria/victoria.txt De Indis et Ivre Belli], English translation of a substantial portion of ''Relectiones XII Theologicae'', available online.</ref><ref>Coujou, Jean-Paul, & Zorroza, María Idoya. ''Bibliografía Vitoriana''. Pamplona: Publicaciones Universidad de Navarra, 2014. [https://dadun.unav.edu/bitstream/10171/37937/4/CPE%20052%20%282014%29.pdf]</ref>

Francisco de Vitoria's writings have been interpreted by various scholars to support contrary policies.<ref>Francisco Castilla Urbano, ''El pensamiento de Francisco de Vitoria. Filosofía, política e indio Americano'' (Barcelona, Anthropos, 1992) note 5, 317-323]</ref> Antony Anghie and others argue that Vitoria's humanitarianism legitimized conquest.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/eci/Publications/Koskenniemi/Zaragoza-10final.pdf |last1=Koskenniemi|first1=Martti|title=Colonization of the 'Indies' – the Origin of International Law? |publisher= University of Helsinki |date= December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216020252/http://www.helsinki.fi:80/eci/Publications/Koskenniemi/Zaragoza-10final.pdf |archive-date= Dec 16, 2017 }}</ref>

Francisco de Vitoria presented strict interpretation of [[baptism of desire]]:<blockquote>When we postulate invincible ignorance on the subject of baptism or of the Christian faith, it does not follow that a person can be saved without baptism or the Christian faith. For the aborigines to whom no preaching of the faith or Christian religion has come will be damned for mortal sins or for idolatry, but not for the sin of unbelief. As St. Thomas says, however, if they do what in them lies, accompanied by a good life according to the law of nature, it is consistent with God's providence that he will illuminate them regarding the name of Christ.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_LBIpmkOzvIC&pg=PR28|title=The Spanish Origin of International Law: Francisco de Vitoria and His Law of Nations|last1=Scott|first1=James Brown|last2=Vitoria|first2=Francisco de|date=2000|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-58477-110-4|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

==Works==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2017}}
[[Image:Francisco de vitoria (estatua).jpg|thumb|Statue of Francisco de Vitoria, in [[Vitoria-Gasteiz]]]]
Notes of his lectures from 1527 to 1540 were copied by students and published under the following titles:
* ''De potestate civili'', 1528
* ''Del Homicidio'', 1530
* ''De matrimonio'', 1531
* ''De potestate ecclesiae I and II'', 1532
* ''De Indis'', 1532
* ''De Jure belli Hispanorum in barbaros'', 1532
* ''De potestate papae et concilii'', 1534
* ''Relectiones Theologicae'', 1557
* ''Summa sacramentorum Ecclesiae'', 1561
* ''[[s:De Indis De Jure Belli|De Indis et De Jure Belli]]'' (1917 translation of a large part of the ''Relectiones Theologicae'')

==Critical translations==
* ''Francisco de Vitoria: Political Writings'', translated by Jeremy Lawrance, ed. Jeremy Lawrance and [[Anthony Pagden]], Cambridge University Press, 1991.
* ''Francisco de Vitoria: Relection on Homicide & Commentary on Summa theologiae IIa-IIae Q. 64 (Thomas Aquinas)'', translated with an Introduction and Notes by John P. Doyle, Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1997.

==References==
{{Library resources box|by=yes||onlinebooks=yes|lccn=n83011385}}
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Johannes Thumfart: ''[https://www.academia.edu/3067339/Die_Begru_ndung_der_globalpolitischen_Philosophie_Francisco_de_Vitorias_Vorlesun%20g_u_ber_die_Entdeckung_Amerikas_im_ideengeschichtlichen_Kontext Die Begründung der globalpolitischen Philosophie. Zu Francisco de Vitorias "relectio de indis recenter inventis" von 1539].'' Berlin 2009. (256 pp.)

{{wikisource|works=or}}

==External links==
*[http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Francisco-de-Vitoria-on-War.pdf Francisco de Vitoria, ''De Indis'' (1532)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitoria, Francisco}}
[[Category:1480s births]]
[[Category:1546 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century Spanish jurists]]
[[Category:16th-century Spanish male writers]]
[[Category:16th-century Spanish philosophers]]
[[Category:16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Salamanca]]
[[Category:Catholic philosophers]]
[[Category:International law scholars]]
[[Category:Natural law ethicists]]
[[Category:Scholastic philosophers]]
[[Category:School of Salamanca]]
[[Category:Spanish Dominicans]]
[[Category:Spanish male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Spanish people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Spanish Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Spanish theologians]]
[[Category:Spanish humanists]]
[[Category:Thomists]]