Malvenda, Thomas

Malvenda, Thomas, a learned Spanish exegete, was born at Xativa in 1566, and entered the Dominican convent of Lombay in 1582. A good Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholar, he now applied his philological talents to the study of the divers texts of the Bible, at the same time devoting much attention also to dogmatics and to ecclesiastical history. In 1585 he wrote a treatise to prove that St. Anna was only once married, and that St. Joseph always held fast to the rule of abstinence. From 1585 to 1600 he taught first philosophy, and afterwards theology. In 1600 he addressed to cardinal Baronius a memoir on some parts of the Annales ecclesiastici, and of the Martyrologiunm Romanum, which he deemed incorrect. Baronius, struck by the knowledge exhibited in this memoir, called Malvenda to Rome, where the general of his order entrusted him with the correcting of the breviary, the missal, and the martyrology of the Dominicans. This work was completed in 1603. The congregation of the Index then submitted to him for revision the Bibliotheca Patrum of La Vigne (Par. 1575, 1589, 9 vols. fol.). His critical annotations on this work appeared at Rome in 1607, and were afterwards published together with the Biblioth. Patr. (Parns, 1609, 1624). About the same time he commenced Annales ordinis fratrum predicatorum, which he never completed; the existing fragment, extending over a period of thirty years, was subsequently published by Gravina (Naples, 1627, 2 vols. fol.). In 1610 Malvenda was recalled to Spain, where the grand inquisitor appointed him a member of the Spanish congregation of the Index librorum praohibitorunm. He died at Valencia in 1628. His principal work, to which the later years of his life were devoted, was a literal translation of the Bible, with commentaries; he was unable to finish it, and left it at the 16th chapter of Ezekiel (published in this incomplete state by the general of the Dominicans, under title Commentaria in sacram Scripturam una cum nova de verbo ad verbum ex Hebraeco translatione, variisque lectionibus [Lyon, 1650, 5 vols. fol.]). The translation is so literal as to be very inelegant and sometimes unintelligible. The notes are mostly grammatical, and though perhaps valuable at the time, are now considered unimportant. Among his other works, which are very numerous, we notice Libri novena de Antichristo (Rome, 1604, often reprinted):Commentarius de Paradiso voluptatis

(Rome, 1605, 4to): — Vida de san Pedro Martir (Saragossa, 1613, 8vo). A complete list of his works is given in Quetif and Echard, Scriptores ordinis praedicatorum, 2:454 sq. See Antonio, Bibl. Hispana nova, vol. 2. — H erzog, Real-Encyklop. 8:771; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 33:122; Pierer, Universal-Lexikon, 10:806. (J. N. P.)