Abstract
OF CAUTIVAS AND COLLARES: RE-FIGURING THE IDEOLOGY BEHIND ALO DIVINO POETRY Tyler Fisher Magdalen College University of Oxford. At the close of the sixteenth century a Cistercian abbot, Lorenzo de Zamora, penned an Apología contra los que reprehenden el uso de las humanas letras and included it as a preface to a re-edition of his massive theological treatise, Monarquía mística de la Iglesia. Overall, the arguments of Zamora’s apology represent a standard defense of the study of secular literature and pagan myths, as well as standard prescriptions for how a Christian writer or preacher could properly use such texts in the composition of sermons and edifying literature. His justifications and admonitions frequently reflect those of similar Patristic apologies, such as Basil the Great’s “On the Right Use of Greek Poetry” and Justin Martyr’s Cohortatio ad Graecos, which endorse the use of select aspects of Hellenic learning for their compatibility with Christian doctrine. Zamora revives these ideas by applying them to contemporary Spanish literature.