ESPARZA ARTIEDA, MARTIN de. — Jesuit theologian, born in Escsároz (Navarra) on 29 March 1606, died in Rome on 21 April 1689. He taught dogmatic theology in
Valladolid, Salamanca, and Rome, where from 1654 he also held the office of theologian of the Order and censor of books.
At that time, the question was being debated whether one should say Conceptio immaculata Virginis or Conceptio immaculatae Virginis. Alexander VII, who ordered that the former expression be adopted permanently, commissioned E. to advocate and defend it, which he did in his first work: Conceptio immaculata B. Virginis Mariae deducta ex origine peccati originalis (Rome 1655). His principal work, however, is the Cursus theologicus (2 vols., Lyon 1666), in which he brought together various treatises previously published. The appendix is noteworthy and clear; it was also published separately (Rome 1685). Appendix ad quaestionem de seu licito opinionis probabilis.