Juan de Torquemada (Cardinal)
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Juan de Torquemada (1388 - September 26, 1468), or rather Johannes de Turrecremata, Spanish ecclesiastic, was born at Valladolid, and was educated in that city.
At an early age he joined the Dominican Order, and soon distinguished himself for learning and devotion. In 1415 he accompanied the general of his order to the Council of Constance, whence he proceeded to Paris for study, and took his doctor's degree in 1423. After teaching for some time in Paris he became prior of the Dominican house first in Valladolid and then in Toledo.
Torquemada attended the Council of Basel (1431-1449) as a representative of his order and of the king of Castile. At the Council of Basel he was one of the ablest supporters of the view of the Roman curia, and he was rewarded with the office of Master of the Sacred Palace and then with a cardinal's hat in 1439. Torquemada participated in the Council of Florence. He also worked on behalf of Pope Eugenius on missions to Germany and France before settling in the Roman Curia. Torquemada supported papal Crusade policy, reform of religious houses and papal primacy. He participated in four papal elections, casting the deciding vote in the election of Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455). He died at Rome and was buried at Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
His principal works are:
- In Gratiani Decretum commentarii (4 vols., Venice, 1578)
- Expositio brevis et utilis super toto psalterio (Mainz, 1474)
- Quaestiones spirituales super evangelia totius anni (Brixen, 1498)
- Summa ecclesiastica (Salamanca, 1550) [or Summa de ecclesiastica potestate]
The last-named work has the following topics:
- De universa ecclesia
- De Ecclesia romana et pontificis primatu
- De universalibus conciliis
- De schismaticis et haereticis
His De conceptione deiparae Mariae, libri viii. (Rome, 1547), was edited with preface and notes by EB Pusey (London, 1869 seq.).
Other works include polemical tracts and sermons.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
