#cardinal cisneros

[josh-lanceero]

Commission for @quaesumus 😈😈

[quaesumus]

It was told in a biography of the cardinal that in the early years he “appears to have been a high-spirited young man, ending up behind bars on one occasion for playing his guitar late at night and disturbing the peace of his neighbours.”

As quite a dramatic transformation later after all those worldly sufferings (such as seeking for a prelate job in Uceda and the later coming prisoning),I thought this young man has changed so much that almost unrecognizable into the cardinal we know nowadays.

[isadomna]

Complutensian Polyglot Bible

With the rise of the printing press in the 1450s, the Bible could be distributed much more efficiently. At great personal expense, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros acquired many manuscripts and invited the top religious scholars of the day to work on the ambitious task of compiling a massive and complete polyglot "to revive the languishing study of the Sacred Scriptures." The  scholars met in the city of Alcalá de Henares, a city near Madrid, at Complutense University. Work on the project began in 1502 under the direction of Diego López de Zúñiga, and continued there for fifteen years.

The New Testament was completed and printed in 1514, but its publication was delayed while work on the Old Testament continued, so they could be published together as a complete work. The Complutensian Old Testament was completed in 1517, but it was not until 1520 —after receiving authorization from Rome— that the book was distributed. Cardinal Cisneros died in July 1517, five months after the Polyglot's completion, and never saw its  publication. Henry VIII of England was one of the first monarchs to own a Complutensian Polyglot Bible.

The Bible consists of separately-bound volumes adding up to 1,500 pages; 600 copies were printed on paper, and six on vellum. Volume one contains the text of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The upper three-quarters of the pages are divided in three columns that contain the Greek text in the left column; the text of the Latin Vulgate in the middle column; and the Hebrew text in the right column. The lower section of the page is divided into two columns: the left contains the Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch known as the Targum Onkelos, the right the Latin translation of this text. Each page includes an epigraph and apostilles on the right margin. Volumes two and three contain the remainder of the Old Testament, in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Volume four contains the New Testament, in Greek and Latin. The last part of volume four and volume five consist of a Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, a Hebrew grammar, and a Greek dictionary. (x)(x)