Loyola's Acts: The Rhetoric of the SelfLoyola's Acts: The Rhetoric of the Self offers a nuanced exploration of Iñigo López de Loyola's pivotal spiritual transformation and its rhetorical framing within the Christian tradition. Far from being a straightforward autobiography, the text, titled Acta, is positioned as a work of epideictic rhetoric—a genre focused on praise and moral persuasion rather than strict factual recounting. Loyola's recounted experiences, from his formative wounding at Pamplona to his spiritual exercises and reflections, are interpreted not as direct self-narration but as filtered through the lens of his scribe, Gonçalves da Câmara. The book argues that Acta aligns more with Renaissance rhetorical traditions than modern autobiographical norms, emphasizing moral edification over empirical detail. This study situates Loyola's Acts within the cultural and rhetorical milieu of the sixteenth century, drawing connections to classical and medieval traditions of memory, imitation, and spiritual meditation. It examines how Loyola's recitations, shaped by Gonçalves da Câmara's interpretive role, were less about chronicling personal events and more about exemplifying divine governance and moral lessons. By uncovering the layers of rhetorical strategy, intertextuality, and cultural context, the book reinterprets Acta as a profound moral and spiritual artifact, offering a fresh lens on Loyola's legacy and the broader tradition of Christian rhetorical literature. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997. Many titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Knight Errant | 22 |
The Ascetic | 53 |
The Flying Serpent | 100 |
The Pilgrim | 147 |
Notes | 185 |
Primary Sources | 255 |
| 271 | |
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Acta Alain de Lille angel ascetic Augustine Autobiography Barcelona Bartolomé Bermejo Bernard of Clairvaux body Cambridge University Press capital vices Caro Baroja Chicago chivalric Christ Christian church cited classical color confession confessor culture devil divine epideictic Erasmus Exercitia spiritualia eyes Father flying serpent glory Gonçalves da Câmara hagiography Harvard University Press History holy honor human ibid Iconography idem imitation Institutiones oratoriae Jerome Jerusalem Jesuit John Leonardo da Vinci Libro Literature London Loyola Loyola's recital Madonna Madrid Manresa Mary memory mirror moral motif Opera omnia Oxford painting Paris Parzival peacock person Peter pilgrim pilgrimage popular Praefatio scriptoris praise pride Princeton University Press Quintilian religious Renaissance Reproduced retable rhetoric river Roman Rome Saint Jerome saints siècle sins sixteenth century social Society of Jesus soul Spain Spanish Kingdoms spiritual Studies Sumption symbolized temptation topic trans vainglory Virgin virtue vision Vita vols wings York