JOSÉ SÁENZ DE AGUIRRE. - Benedictine theologian, born in Logroño (Spain) in 1630, created cardinal by Innocent XI in 1686, died in Rome in 1690.
A., professor of Sacred Scripture, dogmatic theology, and moral theology at Salamanca, published works on theology and canon law, including a *Defensio cathedrae Sancti Petri adversus declarationes clerici gallici* (Salamanca 1683). He is best known, however, for a collection of ecclesiastical laws pertaining to Spain and Latin America, which he grandly titled, in the style of the time: *Collectio maxima conciliorum omnium Hispaniae et Novi Orbis, epistolarum, decretalium celebrorum, necnon plurium monumentorum veterum ad illam spectantium, cum notis et dissertationibus quibus sacri canones, historia ac disciplina ecclesiastica et chronologia accurate illustrantur*. The collection was published in two editions: the first, in 4 volumes in folio, in 1693–94; the second, in 6 volumes in folio, in 1753–56.
As is evident from the title, the collection gathers conciliar laws and other legislative documents, all accompanied by learned historical and doctrinal dissertations. The collection remains of practical interest even today.