VÁZQUEZ (err. Vásquez), GABRIEL. – Jesuit
theologian among the foremost of the sixteenth century, alongside Suárez,
born at Villaescuela del Haro, near Belmonte del
Tago (hence the appellation “Bellemontanus”) in
1549, died at Alcalá on 30 September 1604.
He entered the Order in 1569 and, immediately after completing his studies,
taught moral theology at Ocaña (1575–77), scholastic theology at
Madrid (1577–79), Alcalá (1580–85), and in Rome at the Collegio
Romano (1585–91), succeeding Suárez. Not finding himself
comfortable with the character of the Italians, he returned in 1551
to Alcalá, where he devoted himself to his work until 1593, when
he again succeeded Suárez, who had been transferred to Salamanca,
remaining there until his death, which came suddenly.
He began with De cultu adorationis (Alcalá 1594), later
included in the following work, the one in which he left his
strong imprint and which won him universal renown: Com-
mentarii et disputationes in 1am partem s. Thomae (2 vols.,
ibid. 1598); in 2am-2ae (2 vols., ibid. 1599–1605); in 3am
(4 vols., ibid. 1609–15), followed by Opuscula moralia (ibid.
1617), containing several treatises he had prepared
on the 2a-2ae. As the dates show, V. saw only the first
three volumes in print; all the others were published
posthumously from manuscripts already prepared, without revision.
His philosophical treatises were subsequently extracted from the Commentarii
and collected in the Metaphysicae disputationes ex variis locis suo-
rum operum, edited by Murcia de la Llama (Madrid 1617),
which, alongside those of Suárez, were cited, almost
as canonical doctrine, by Protestant philosophers of the seventeenth century.
His contemporaries called V. the “Spanish
Augustine,” not only because of his profound knowledge of the holy
Doctor, but also because of his biblical, patristic, and
conciliar erudition. Concise, clear, ingenious, of extraordinary quick-
ness of mind and liveliness of speech, he often drew
applause from his students; but, although he surpasses Suárez in
method and acuteness, he remains inferior to him in the depth and
breadth of his doctrine and in the moderation of his judgments.
Indeed, characteristic of V. are the audacity of certain recherché
and subtle assertions, which led him not infrequently to
unjust and bold conclusions, and the fault of lingering over
secondary questions of no utility. Much has also been said of his
disagreements and discussions with Suárez, which, although they
could lend liveliness to the school, contributed little or nothing
to the progress of theological science; whoever, however,
strips the matter of its many exaggerations, the fruit of
imagination, will find that everything ultimately comes down to a
certain intolerance of their reciprocal ideas, even though at that time
V. expressed it in an excessively heated and impetuous manner. In the
question of Grace he defended Suárez (v.); among moral systems he adheres to probabilism, but with a certain discretion.
Many other writings, including some of considerable value, by V. remain
unpublished; others appeared posthumously, among them: Paraphrasis et
compendiaria explicatio ad nonnullas Pauli epistolas (Ro-
mans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians,
Hebrews [Madrid 1612]).