JUAN DE LOS ANGELES

Franciscan Observant, mystical theologian, court preacher; b. probably near Oropesa (Ávila), 1536; d. Madrid?, 1609. Juan de Los Angeles (Martinez) studied at the University of Alcalá, and after joining the Friars Minor sometime before 1562 was transferred to the Province of San José (Madrid). He spent the rest of his life preaching, confessing, writing, and traveling on foot in Spain and abroad. He was spiritual director to the Infanta, Sor Margarita de la Cruz (a nun) and preacher to the royal chapter of her mother, the Empress Maria. In 1601, having served as guardian of San Antonio in Guadalajara (1595) and of San Bernardino in Madrid (1598), he was elected provincial minister of San José, but resigned in 1603 because of ill health. He remained active, however, until his death. His writings may be classified as Neoplatonic, affective, and psychological; they deal with such problems as the absorption of the soul in God, love without knowledge (which he seems to admit), active and passive recollection, kinds of ecstasy, mystical phenomena, and spiritual enslavement to Mary. His works, which are numerous and have appeared in many editions and translations, include: Triunfos del amor de Dios (Medina 1589–90), Conquista del reino de Dios (Madrid 1595), Lucha espiritual y amorosa (Madrid 1600), Tratado de las soberanos misterios … de la misa (Madrid 1604), Cofradia y devoción de las esclavas y esclavos de … Virgen María (Alcalá 1608?), and the Manual de vida perfecta (Madrid 1608).

Bibliography: juan de los angeles, Obras místicas, ed. j. sala, 2 v. (Madrid 1912–17); Fray Juan de los Angeles (Antología ), ed. j. domÍnguez berrueta (Madrid 1940). m. menÉndez-pelayo, Historia de las ideas estéticas en España (4th ed. Madrid 1928—) 3. j. domÍnguez berrueta, Fray Juan de los Angeles (Madrid 1927). a. torrÓ, Fray Juan de los Angeles, místicopsicólogo, 2 v. (Barcelona 1924). f. de ros, Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire, ed. m. viller et al., (Paris 1932—) 2.2:2015–16; "La Vie et l'oeuvre de Jean Anges," Mélanges offerts au R. P. Ferdinand Cavallera (Toulouse 1948) 405–423. Místicos Franciscanos españoles, 3 v. (Madrid 1948–49) 3:461–701. e. a. peers, Spanish Mysticism; A Preliminary Survey (New York 1924); Studies of the Spanish Mystics, 2v. (London 1927–30) 1:347–405.

[m. f. laughlin]