Martín de Azpilcueta: biography of this theologian and economist

Martín de Azpilcueta, by many known as the Navarrese Doctor, was a theologian, priest and economist who lived well at the beginning of the Modern Age, the same year in which America was stepped on by Cristóbal Colon.

As a witness to the great importation of valuable metals to the Peninsula, he also witnessed how the massive arrival of gold and silver made the economy local and European change drastically, something that allowed him to propose several theories that, with the passage of time, would be the basis of the economy basic.

Next we will see the life and work of this thinker through a biography of Martín de Azpilcueta, especially highlighting his economic thesis, truly innovative for the time.

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Brief biography of Martín de Azpilcueta

Martín de Azpilcueta, also known as the Navarrese Doctor, he was an important figure in the history of Spain, especially for his innovative ideas on economic theory. He was, like many men of his time, very versatile: priest, theologian, philosopher and economist. He served as a teacher in several institutions spread over France, Spain and Portugal and was part of the School of Salamanca, a fact that allowed it to have a great intellectual impact on the cultural scene of the epoch.

Early years

Martín de Azpilcueta was born in Barásoain, Kingdom of Navarra, on December 13, 1492 in the bosom of a family belonging to the Navarrese nobility. He came to the world at a really important time for the history of Spain, at that time the Crown of Castile, Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre. The Middle Ages came to an end with the exploration of a new world, and with its end began a new epoch with new ideas, ideological currents and novel visions of how the society.

In 1509 he entered the University of Alcalá to study theology. Upon finishing them, he followed in the footsteps of many of his contemporaries, pursuing his doctoral studies in Canons in France. In that country he also began his career as a university professor, going first to the University of Cahors and, later, to the University of Toulouse. In the city of Toulouse he was ordained a priest and began to practice as a professor of canon law..

Navarrese doctor, teacher in Salamanca

Due to his Navarrese origin, Martín de Azpilcueta was also known as Doctor Navarro or Doctor navarrus Azpilcueta, and was a productive man in many of the intellectual arts and knowledge of the epoch. He worked not only as a teacher, but also as a counselor, essayist, and prolific writer. The themes of his writings focus on the concerns of the time and, above all, on those of the authors of the well-known School of Salamanca, also called Late Scholastica.

In the year 1524, at just 32 years old, Martín de Azpilcueta He began his stage as a teacher at the University of Salamanca, occupying the chair of Prima en Canones. He remained in Tormes until 1537 and, during the time he was in that city, Azpilcueta became one of the great professors of the Salamanca university. His classes and lessons greatly influenced the ideas of later thinkers, such as Diego de Covarrubias and Leyva.

Last years

After living in Tormes and working as a professor in Salamanca, he moved to the University of Coimbra, occupying the same chair that he had taught at his previous university. In 1556 he returned to Spain but, after about ten years, he embarked on a new journey, this time towards Rome. His mission was to take care of the defense of the Archbishop of Toledo Bartolomé de Carranza, who had been accused of heresy. The oratory of Martín de Azpilcueta attracted a lot of attention in court, which made him end up gaining the confidence of the papal power.

After that event He managed to perform an important task as a counselor to Popes Pius V, Gregory XIII and Sixtus Vas well as being widely recognized as a great canonist during his time. He was also a trusted man of nobles, including Charles I of Spain himself, although he had more than one disagreement with his successor Felipe II, monarch who in fact vetoed his appointment as cardinal.

He resided in Rome until the day of his death on June 21, 1586, at the age of 93., a milestone for anyone of his time. He was buried in that same city, just as he wanted, specifically in the Church of San Antonio de los Portugueses.

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Thought, works and contributions to economic theories

The theme of the Navarrese doctor's writings respond to the concerns of the time, a society who had just passed the Middle Ages and discovered all kinds of new resources outside the Old Continent, focusing squarely on the issues addressed by the authors of the School of Salamanca.

Among his most important works we can highlight the following as the most important:

• Manual de Confessores y Penitentes (1553) and his Adittiones.
• Resolutory Commentary on Usuras (1556).
• From redditibus beneficiorum Ecclesiasticorum (1566).
• Compendium horum omnium Navarri operum (1598).

One of the topics that most attracts the attention of Martín de Azpilcueta's work is how exposes the idea of ​​the fair price and the theory of value-scarcity. When talking about these topics, very advanced for his time, Dr. Navarro is considered by many to be the father of the quantity theory of money, a theory which He points out that the value of the coin varies inversely with its supply or the amount of coin available, ideas also discussed by the French Jean Bodin in 1568.

The historical context in which he had to live made him see this phenomenon first-hand. In the 16th century, the Hispanic Monarchy along with Portugal were expanding worldwide. The conquest and exploitation of new territories created an extensive commercial network between distant territories, increasing resources in Europe thanks to its import from the Americas, including metals beautiful. This had an impact on the availability and prices of things.

In his 1556 work "Commentary resolutory of Usuras" he analyzed how the arrival of precious metals to the Iberian Peninsula pushed prices up. In this work he argues that prices respond to the amount of money that is in circulation in a country. Therefore, the more precious metals there are, the more prices rise, and the reverse is also the case, that is, if there are few minerals, prices tend to be low.

When arriving en masse in Europe, the quantity of precious metals increased faster than the rest of goods. This caused metals to lose value relative to the latter, causing strong inflation. Later, Azpilcueta himself pointed out that prices were also altered by the speed of money circulation. According to his theory, the speed of economic movements influences the increase in prices

One of the most advanced and surprising ideas of Martín de Azpilcueta is his defense of the legitimacy of applying interest in loan operations. This opinion was based on his idea that money could be another commodity with which to trade, ideas that he defended both in his “Commentary on changes in resolution” and in “De usuris”. This opinion clashed with that of the Church centuries before, which considered the application of interest an act of usury.

Azpilcueta argued that the price of money, that is, interest, was easily determinable if financial transactions were carried out in a single country. Since within a state money was just another commodity, its price was based on the law of supply and demand. However, this was more complicated if the transaction was an international operation. If the money supply was different between the two countries, its price would also be.

Bibliographic references:

• Arigita and Lasa, M. (1998) The Navarrese doctor Don Martín de Azpilcueta and his works: critical historical study. Analecta Editorial. Pamplona.
• Martínez Tapia, R. (1997) Political philosophy and law in the thought of the 16th century: the canonist Martín de Azpilcueta. Notarial College of Granada. Grenade.
• Muñoz de Juana, R. (1998) Moral and economy in the work of Martín de Azpilcueta. Eunsa. Editions Universidad de Navarra, S.A. Barañáin.
• Olóriz Azparren, H. (1998) New biography of Dr. Navarro D. Martín de Azpilcueta and an enumeration of his works. Analecta Editorial. Pamplona.
• Pardo Fernández, R. (2011) Martín de Azpilcueta and his time. Pamplona, ​​Government of Navarra.