José Francisco de Isla

File:Moreno de Tejada-Retrato de José Francisco de Isla.jpg

José Francisco de Isla (24 April 1703 – 2 November 1781) was a Spanish Jesuit, celebrated as a preacher and a humorist and satirist in the style of Miguel de Cervantes.

Biography

De Isla's parents were José Isla de la Torre and Ambrosia Rojo. Although born accidentally in Vidanes (close to Cistierna) in the eastern Leonese mountain, he spent his childhood in the village of Valderas where his mother was a native, in the southern province of Leon. Premature, bright and highly gifted intellectually, he was a compulsive reader from childhood and graduated with his bachiller in law at eleven years old, according to his biographer Jose Ignacio de Salas. He entered the Society of Jesus at sixteen (1719) in the novitiate of Villagarcía de Campos, studying philosophy and theology at the University of Salamanca. At nineteen he translated History of the Emperor Teodosio de Flechier. In collaboration with a teacher, also a Jesuit, Father Luis de Lozada (1681–1748), he wrote La juventud triunfante (Triumphant Youth) (Salamanca, 1727), a description in prose and verse, interspersed with four comedies by unnamed authors, on feasts celebrated, in recognition of the canonization of St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. Stanislaus Kostka.

Early career

De Isla was a professor of philosophy and theology in Segovia, Santiago de Compostela, Medina del Campo and Pamplona. In Pamplona he translated The Compendium of the History of Spain by Father Duchesne and the Christian Year by Father Jean Croisset, also noted as a preacher in Valladolid and Zaragoza.

His work Triunfo del amor y de la lealtad: dia grande de Navarra was a subtly satirical depiction of the celebrations held at Pamplona to mark the visit of King Ferdinand VI. Initially, the book got an enthusiastic reception from some high-ranking readers - but a scandal broke out when, on closer reading, the real intent, biting and far from flattering, was revealed. De Isla was forced to leave his city and took up the life of an itinerant preacher, where he gained considerable popularity.

The Marquis de la Ensenada recommended him as a confessor of Queen Barbara of Braganza, but he refused. He published under the assumed name of Francisco Lobón de Salazar, benefiting from Aguilar and priest of Villagarcia de Campos. It was during this time that the most important of his works, the first part of Historia del famoso predicador fray Gerundio de Campazas, alias Zotes was written and published, originally under the name of his friend Don Francisco Lobon de Salazar, in 1758, but de Isla's authorship of it was soon revealed. The work, full of fresh humor, depicted a peasant boy who rises to prominence as a preacher due to his smooth tongue. It constituted a biting satire on the charlatanism and bombast of the popular preaching friars of the day. This is a novel very low in action, in which two elements are combined in the most unusual way: a satirical and burlesque narrative fiction about bad preachers, who still followed the pompous and pedantic style of the Gongoran Baroque preachers, and a didactic treatise of sacred oratory. In this combination the author also intersperses various stories and jokes., the influence of the picaresque novel and Cervantes style are seen in this work. What stands out most is its wit and irony, despite its virtually nonexistent action.

Later life

Isla's reputation and his position in the history of Spanish literature are linked particularly to his satire against the preachers of his time. The Bishop of Palencia opposed the work that was printed in his diocese. As a result of this Isla published it in Madrid, and on 22 February 1758 the first part appeared under the title Historia del famoso predicador fray Gerundio de Campazas, alias Zotes. Of the 1500 copies that were printed, 800 were sold within the first twenty-four hours, and the edition was exhausted in three days.

The Council of the Inquisition, on 14 March 1758, ordered the suspension "until further notice" of the reprint of the first part and the second printing. Later, the book was banned, by decree of 20 May 1760, after a two-year process. The second part appeared in clandestine edition in 1768 and the Inquisition also banned it by decree in 1766. Although Isla's purpose for writing the book was to improve preaching, one of the foundations of pastoral activity, the satirical book contributed to feeding the poor image members of religious orders had among the popular classes, and was used as argument by the anticlericalism in the following century. It is now considered a masterpiece of Spanish literature.

In exile

For several years de Isla lived in Villagarcia de Campos (Valladolid), until the Company was expelled from Spain in 1767. He left Pontevedra very ill and passed through Corsica and various Italian cities until he settled in Bologna, where he was hosted by the Tedeschi counts in their Palazzo. There, he had regular dealings with Spanish students housed in the Royal College of Spain, founded by Cardinal Gil Álvarez de Albornoz. During his exile he continued his correspondence in a straightforward, homely and affectionate style with his sister Doña Maria Francisca de Isla, correspondence that formed the volume Cartas familiares (Family letters). In Bologna he entertained himself by performing various translations, such as Cartas de Jose Antonio Constantini (Letters from Jose Antonio Constantini), in eight volumes, which he completed in the Papal States, Arte de encomendarse a Dios by Father Antonio Francesco Bellati, and the famous picaresque novel by Alain René Lesage, Gil Blas de Santillana, in whose prologue he accused the French author of having stolen and translated several Spanish novels of the genre to compose his own. This translation was printed in 1787 and 1788. The translation was so successful that no less than fifty-six reprints were made before the twentieth century.

Death

De Isla died in Bologna in extreme poverty in 1781. His last book, Cartas de Juan de la Encina (Letters from Juan de la Encina), published posthumously (1784), constituted a sharp condemnation of the practices of the Spanish physicians of his time. In 1803 the priest, José Ignacio de Salas printed his biography in Madrid and in the Ibarra workshop, under the title Compendio histórico de la vida, carácter moral y literario del célebre padre Isla con la noticia analítica de todos sus escritos (Compendium history of the life, moral and literary character of the famous father Isla with analytical notes on all his writings), paid for by his devoted sister, who was also the editor of many other works by her brother.

Works

• Papeles crítico-apologéticos (1726) - Critical and apologetic Papers.
• El tapabocas (1727) - The Mask.
• Juventud triunfante (1727) - Triumphant Youth.
• Cartas de Juan de la Encina. Obra de Josef Francisco de Isla contra un libro que escribió don Josef Carmona, cirujano intitulado: "Método Racional de curar Sabañones" (1732) - Letters of Juan de la Encina. Work of Josef Francisco de Isla against a book written by Don Josef Carmona, surgeon Entitled "Rational Method to cure chilblains".
• Triunfo del amor y de la lealtad. Día grande de Navarra (1746) - Triumph of love and loyalty. The great of Navarre day.
• Historia del famoso predicador Gerundio de Campazas, alias Zotes (1758 and 1768) - History of the famous preacher Friar Gerund de Campazas, otherwise Gerund Zotes (1772 translation).
• Mercurio general de Europa, lista de sucesos varios (1758) - Mercury General of Europe, list of various events
• Los aldeanos críticos o cartas críticas sobre lo que se verá, Madrid (1759) - Critical Villagers or critical letters about what will be seen.
• Cartas familiares (1786). Barcelona, 1883, León (1903) - Family letters.
• Cartas a mi tia la de Albacete (1787) - Letters to my aunt from Albacete.
• Reflexiones cristianas sobre las grandes verdades de la fe, Madrid (1785) - Christian Reflections on the great truths of faith.
• Cartas atrasadas del Parnaso and Sueño escrito por el padre Josef Francisco de Isla en la exaltacion del Señor D. Carlos III (que Dios guarde) al trono de España, Madrid: Oficina de Pantaleon Aznar (1785) - Overdue letters from Parnassus and A Dream written by Father José Francisco de Isla in exaltation of Lord D. Carlos III (God bless) to the throne of Spain.
• Sermones (1792 and 1793) - Sermons (six volumes).
• Colección de papeles crítico-apologéticos, Madrid (1787 and 1788) - Collection of critical and apologetic papers (two volumes).
• Translation of Alain Rene Lesage's Gil Blas de Santillana (1787 and 1788).
• Translation of The Compendium of the History of Spain by Father Duchesne.
• Translation of The Christian Year by Father Jean Croiset.
• Translation of the Critical scholarly letters on various issues: scientific, psychic and moral, fashion and taste of this century by Venetian lawyer Giuseppe Antonio Constantini in eight volumes.
• Translation of The art of giving oneself over to God, i.e. the virtues of prayer by Father Antonio Francesco Bellati.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

José Francisco de Isla — Spanish preacher and satirist, b. at Villavidantes (Kingdom of Leon), 24 March, 1703; d. at Bologna, 2 November, 1782. Isla's life was far more eventful that that usually led by members of a religious order. Having broken off a premature betrothal, he entered the Society of Jesus at the age of sixteen, and, on the termination of his two years' novitiate, was sent to the renown University of Salamanca. Here he studied philosophy for two years and theology for four, and was then appointed forthwith to the chair of exegesis and later to that of philosophy. He continued his professional activities at various colleges until 1747, winning at the same time the reputation of a popular preacher. At the same time he did not neglect his talent for poetry and his taste for literature, and gave proof of a waggish, satirical vein. But this talent was to cause him not a few troubles. The first of these resulted in an assignment to pastoral duties at San Sebastian, where fortunately he was kept for but a short time. In 1750 the formidable satirist was sent to the residence of the professed fathers at Valladolid to preach. While this appointment was a new recognition of his ability as a preacher, the attempt of Queen Maria Barbara to secure him as her confessor indicates his piety. By well-put objections Isla escaped the office, but another suggestion from the court, where Isla's eminent literary gifts had already attracted notice, that the talented writer should devote himself entirely to literary work, was received with favour by his spiritual superiors. In consequence Isla, in 1752, was assigned exclusively to literary work, varied only by occasional summons to the pulpit, which he regarded as interruptions to his literary activity.

The years 1758 and 1759 deprived him of his three greatest patrons — Pope Benedict XIV, Queen Maria Barbara, and King Ferdinand VI — and ushered in for him a period of bitter trials. As early as 1758 the persecution of his order in Portugal began, and the earliest symptoms of a similar storm soon made their appearance in Spain. Sent to Galicia in 1760, Isla devoted himself with great spiritual fruits to giving public missions and the exercises of St. Ignatius. The royal decree, which two years later forbade any Jesuit to publish a new book, paralyzed his literary activity, and, after various preparatory decrees of a like nature, the Jesuits were finally banished from every part of Spain in 1767. Isla, moreover, was visited by a personal affliction, an apoplectic stroke causing a temporary paralysis of the mouth and tongue. The painful journey into exile — first to Corsica for a residence of fourteen dreary months, and then to the Papal States — his grief at the suppression of his order, the eight succeeding years of stress pending his delivery by death, are described by Isla himself with his usual imperturbable good-humor in his letters to his sister. The concluding years of his life were made somewhat more pleasant, thanks to the noble hospitality extended to him by Count Tedeschi at Bologna. He died in the seventy-ninth year of his age.

Isla's fame rests much less on his activities as a preacher and his pastoral labours than on his humorous and satirical writings. His earliest literary experiment was the "Juventud triunfante" (the "Triumph of Youth") a description of a festival in which Isla gives a skillfully exaggerated account of the already excessively elaborate preparations made by the University of Salamanca to celebrate the canonization of Stanislaus Kostka and Aloysius Gonzaga (1727). His second publication may be described as a pure satire on the singular methods of the surgery of his day. For his next subject he was again to choose a national festival, celebrating for little Navarre the accession of Ferdinand VI. This work he entitled: "Triunfo del Amor ye de la Lealtad: Dia grande de Navarre." ("The triumph of Love and Loyalty" or "The Great Day of Navarre"); it was not intended to be a formal satire on the exaggerated national consciousness of the Navarese, but the bombastic extravagance of the language renders it rather a masterly travesty than a serious eulogy. The work, however, which keeps Isla's name still living in the pages of literature, is his romance on pulpit oratory, the "Historia del Famoso predicador Frey gerundio de Compazas" (History of the celebrated preacher, Frey Gerundio de Compazas, alias Zotes), whom he himself called "a preaching Don Quixote". It is a clever satire, in which he exposes the complete decay of pulpit oratory in Spain. In the form of a broadly-sketched biography, this clever romance, in spite of the condemnation of the Inquisition, circulated throughout Europe in numerous editions and translations. The latest critical edition appeared at Leipzig in 1885 (prepared by Professor Eduard Lidforss). The work was first translated into English by Baretti (London, 1772); there are three translations in German, and many in French. One modern critic (Zarnckes, "Lit. Centralblat für Deut., 1886) sets Isla's romance above Don Quixote.

Another work of Isla's written in the last years of his life, long engaged the attention of critics, namely his adaptation of "Gil Blas", which appeared posthumously under the title "Adventures de Gil Blas de Santillane, robadas á España, adoptadas en Francia por Mons. Le Sage, restituidas á su patria y a su lengua nativa, por un Español zeloso, que no sufre que se burlen de su nación" (Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillana, stolen from Spain and appropriated in France by M. Le Sage, restored to their country and their native tongue by a jealous Spaniard, who will not suffer his country to be made sport of). Isla's sermons were published in six volumes at Madrid in 1792 and 1793, but no new edition has been issued, nor have they been translated into other languages. They are, however, highly esteemed in Spain, and occupy an important place in the history of the development of pulpit oratory in that country. Of his many translations from other tongues, that of P. Croiset's "Année chrétienne", unfortunately not completed, is the most important. His three apologetic works for his order could not be printed at that period; one of them has been lost, a second has been recently published. Among his literary remains was discovered a translation of the Italian burlesque epic "Il Cicerone," by Abbot Gian Carlo Passaroni, a picture of contemporary Italian life in society and literary circles. Isla's intimate correspondence with his sister was published in four volumes in 1785-86, a new edition being issued fifteen years later with two additional volumes. Monlau has inserted this correspondence with forty-four further letters in the "Select Works of Isla" (1850; new ed., 1870). The second centenary of Isla's birth was celebrated with great festivity in many towns in Spain on 24 March, 1903, clearly indicating that his name still lives in the memory of his countrymen.

There are five more or less complete Biographies of Isla: by de Salan (Madrid, 1803); Von Murr, Journal (Nuremburg, 1783), II; Monlau in Selected Works of Isla (Madrid, 1850); Godeau, Les Précheurs burlesques in Espagne au XVIIIe siècle. Etude sur le P. Isla (Paris, 1891); Baumgartner in Stimmen aus Maria-Laach (1905), 82-92, 182-205, 299-315.

Bibliography

• B. Gaudeau, Les Prêcheurs burlesques en Espagne au XVIII^e siècle, 1891.