Author: Robert Junqueira
Part of: Conimbricenses Posteriores (coord. by Mário Santiago de Carvalho)
Peer-Reviewed: Yes
Published: June, 11th, 2021
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4927937

The latest version of this entry may be cited as follows: Junqueira, Robert Martins, “Areda Diogo de”, Conimbricenses.org Encyclopedia, Mário Santiago de Carvalho, Simone Guidi (eds.), doi = “10.5281/zenodo.4927937”, URL = “https://www.conimbricenses.org/encyclopedia/baltasar-alvares”, latest revision: February, 12th, 2019.

Life

Diogo de Areda was born in 1568, in Arraiolos, in the Portuguese Alto Alentejo. In Évora, on May 25, 1584, he joined the Society of Jesus. He became known as Diogo de Areda after 1588, for he had adopted the surname Silveira up to then. Areda was ordained a priest in Évora, in 1594, and took his perpetual vows in Coimbra, on November 16, 1603. He taught both philosophy at the Lisbon St. Antão College (1594-1598) and theology at the Coimbra Jesuit College (1598-1608). In Ms 50-11-1 of the BNP – Portuguese National Library, containing nineteen folia, the following can be found: “Ad Quaestionem 57. 2ae-2 d- Thomae. Disputatio 1ª de Justitia absolute sumpta. 1601.” There is a note in the 2nd safety folium where one can read: “Continetur in prior pars Iust.ae Vltimis de Justitia in genere a P. Jacobo Dareda.” According to Mário Santiago de Carvalho, this is likely referring to Diogo de Areda and the theology course lectured by him at the Coimbra Jesuit College in 1601 on the topic of Justice (a commentary on “Whether right is the object of Justice?,” from Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae II-IIae, q. 57, a. 1). Areda was in Porto a number of times (1602, 1604-1605, 1620-1622). Following a short-term residency in Porto, he went on to the professed house of St. Roque in Lisbon, where he spent over a third of his life. Areda died in Lisbon late in 1641 (December 12), just 53 weeks and 5 days after the collapse of the Iberian Union, against which Areda is reported to have campaigned. A Jesuit personality noted for his presence in the memory sites of Coimbra, Areda has been educated in philosophy and theology as a man of the humanities, meaning at the very least that he was trained in Latin, the common tongue for high culture and scientific excellence at that time. And yet, the humanities cannot be reduced, even in retrospect, to the use of Latin: like all students attending the Jesuit colleges of his day, Areda was instructed in grammar, rhetoric, Greek, and Hebrew. Areda was particularly noted for his erudition in dogmatic and moral theology, in Holy Scripture, history, as well as in canon and civil law. Areda

  1. payed special attention to the study of theology,
  2. responded to concerns of a historical nature,
  3. thought about themes such as morality and religious values,
  4. contributed to the dialogue regarding the Corpus Iuris Civilis, as well as the laws and regulations made or adopted by the Church for governing the organization and its members, and
  5. brought distinct learning of the Holy Scriptures together with his full body of understanding (see O’Neill and Domínguez 2001).

Besides all the above, it is remarkable that Areda raised questions concerning social justice and inspired others to take a look ahead. On account of his tenure as a theology professor, he was frequently solicited for advice. As Burdick suggested (2012, 92–93), applying the knowledge and methods brought by the humanists leads to:

  1. the development of inquiring (or “inchoiring;” see De Tienne 2020, 288–89) minds,
  2. the devising of novel directions, and
  3. the unfolding of an enlightened societal dynamism that values otherness, openness toward differing understandings, and all sorts of cultural sophistication inherent in human affairs.

Acknowledged to be a very exceptional speaker, Areda has also engaged in writing. Much of his output was produced in the fulfillment of his obligations, resulting in the issuing of dozens of opinions on the most varied issues. In 1696, a manuscript volume containing one hundred queries answered by Areda was published. There are at least two sermons given by Areda that have been published in books (see 1628; 1630), and other sermons and opinions have been preserved (see O’Neill and Domínguez 2001). Nevertheless, Areda’s most impactful piece seems to have been the treatise he wrote concerning the means to handle Judaism in Portugal (see 1625). At least for once, through handwriting, a volume was produced containing the “Tratado sobre os meios de remediar o Judaismo em Portugal, offrecido a El Rey Catholico” (in Areda 1801, 3–96), evidencing the ongoing attention paid to Areda’s treatise over the course of the centuries. Even though Areda did not sign the original version of the treatise, his authorship came to be acknowledged by Gomes (1964, 1027). All signs point to Areda  as a subversive player at the heart of Philippine rule, as must have been Álvaro Pires, Gaspar Correia, and Sebastião do Couto, the latter being the author behind the true Logica of the Coimbra Jesuit Course (see Carvalho 2019a; 2018). These four Jesuits were summoned to Madrid near the end of the 1630s when they were charged with inciting a revolt. Areda, Correia, Couto, and Pires, as reported by Carvalho (2019b), seem to have been engaged in radical political activism, using their talents and skills to convince people to stand up for themselves in the face of the Crown. From the city of Évora, where Areda graduated as a master of arts, those Jesuits may have given a word to those who were speechless or otherwise silenced, thus nourishing the liveliness of social action. Those who, based in Madrid, sought definitive authority over a neighboring kingdom frowned upon it. It could be said that Areda, whose scientific genius and judgment have made him a much-in-demand reference figure, did not have to flee from his native soil for the sake of devoting to a mission of undeniable geopolitical import. Indeed, Areda seems never to have gone on any overseas adventures.

Bibliography

  • Areda (1625), Diogo de. Tratado sobre os varios meyos, que se offereceraõ a sua Magestade Catholica para remedio do judaismo neste Reyno de Portugal. [s.l]: [s.n]. http://purl.pt/24405/4/res-6729-p_PDF/res-6729-p_PDF_24-C-R0150/res-6729-p_0000_capa-capa_t24-C-R0150.pdf.
  • Areda (1628), Diogo de. Sermam Que o Padre Diogo de Areda Da Companhia de Iesus Pregou Nas Exequias, Que o Sancto Officio Mandou Fazer Na Igreja de S. Roque de Lisboa Da Mesma Companhia, Ao Illustrissimo, & Reverendissimo Senhor Bispo Dom Gernão Martins Mascarenhas, Inquisidor Geral Nestes Reynos, & Senhorios de Portugal. Lisboa: Pedro Craesbeeck Impressor delRey. http://purl.pt/24043/4/454844_PDF/454844_PDF_24-C-R0150/454844_0000_capa-capa_t24-C-R0150.pdf.
  • Areda (1630), Diogo de. Sermaõ Que o Padre Diogo de Areda Da Companhia de Iesu, Fez Na Igreja de Sancta Iusta Na Cidade de Lisboa, Estando o Sanctissimo Sacramento Em Publico, Pello Caso Que Socedeo Na Igreja de Sancta Engracia Da Mesma Cidade. Lisboa: Pedro Craesbeeck Impressor delRey. http://purl.pt/23374/4/454732_PDF/454732_PDF_24-C-R0150/454732_0000_rosto-14v_t24-C-R0150.pdf.
  • Areda (1696), Diogo de. “Pareceres Sobre Várias Matérias.” Lisboa. https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=3906816.
  • Areda (1801), Diogo de. “Discurso Juridico Politico sobre os papeis que se deram a S. Mag[esta]de na occasiam do sucesso de S[an]ta Engracia, e roubo que nella houve do Sant[issi]mo Sacramento no anno de 1630 nos quaes se apontavam meios convenientes para se extinguir o Judaismo em Portugal.” http://purl.pt/35595/2/.
  • Burdick (2012), Anne (ed.). Digital Humanities. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Carvalho (2018), Mário Santiago de. “In Universam Logicam Aristotelis (Logica Furtiva, Ed. 1604). Editorial History.” In Conimbricenses.Org Encyclopedia. Coimbra: Instituto de Estudos Filosóficos. https://www.conimbricenses.org/in-universam-logicam-aristotelis-logica-furtiva/.
  • Carvalho (2019a), Mário Santiago de. “Cursus Conimbricensis.” In Conimbricenses.Org Encyclopedia, edited by Mário Santiago de Carvalho and Simone Guidi. Coimbra: Instituto de Estudos Filosóficos. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3234133.
  • Carvalho (2019b), Mário Santiago de. “Couto, Sebastião Do.” In Conimbricenses.Org Encyclopedia, edited by Mário Santiago de Carvalho and Simone Guidi. Coimbra: Instituto de Estudos Filosóficos. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3234133.
  • De Tienne (2020), André. “Postprandial Peirce: A Final Talk.” Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 56 (2): 279. https://doi.org/10.2979/trancharpeirsoc.56.2.08.
  • Gomes (1964), João Pereira. “Areda (Diogo de) — 1.” In Verbo, Enciclopédia Luso-Brasileira de Cultura, vol. 2. Lisboa: Verbo.
  • O’Neill (2001), Charles E, and Joaquín María Domínguez. Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús: biográfico-temático. Roma; Madrid: Institutum Historicum and Universidad Pontificia Comillas. http://www.sjweb.info/arsi/documents/DHSI_complete.pdf.

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