CISNEROS, GARCÍA DE

Benedictine abbot of the abbey of montserrat, monastic reformer, and ascetical writer; b. Cisneros, diocese of Léon (Castile), 1455 or 1456; d. Montserrat, Nov. 27, 1510. Cousin of Cardinal Francisco ximÉnez and only son of a poor but proud nobleman, García early gave up the possibility of social privilege to enter the austere Castilian monastery of San Benito de Valladolid in 1475. Chosen as subprior in 1488, he played a prominent role in Valladolid's efforts to centralize and reform monastic observance in the newly united Spain of Ferdinand and Isabella. When called to initiate the observance of Valladolid in the Catalan monastery shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, he found himself favoring the independence of that monastery and accepted papal permission to become its abbot for life. He succeeded in winning Valladolid's recognition of his adaptations for the venerable pilgrimage center. In 1500 he published Directorio de las horas canónicas (Directory of the Canonical Hours ) for community prayer at Montserrat; the Constitutions of 1501 established the monastery's character and observances for the next two centuries. His most famous work (also 1500), Ejercitatorio de la vida espiritual (Exercises for the Spiritual Life ), is a skillful compilation drawn from Devotio Moderna sources and intended for both monks and pilgrims (such as St. Ignatius would be in 1522) as a practical, systematic guide toward contemplation. He was an important link between medieval, monastic piety and the psychological, analytical systems of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Spanish mystics later in the century.

Bibliography: Obras completas, ed. c. baraut (Montserrat 1965), bibliog. e. a. peers, Studies of the Spanish Mystics, v. 2 (London 1930; repr. 1960) 3–37, 401–407. g. colombÁs, Un reformador benedictino en tiempo de los reyes católicos: García Jiménez de Cisneros, abad de Montserrat (Scripta et documenta 5; Montserrat 1955), biog. and bibliog.

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