The Vita Christi of Ludolpho of Saxony († 1377) and Ignatius of Loyola († 1556): About a great Book

Abstract

According to Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Autobiography [6-8], one of the main texts, which Íñigo had read during his convalescence in the «tower-house» (1521), was the Vita Christi written by the Carthusian Ludolpho of Saxony and translated into Castilian by the Franciscan friar, Ambrosio de Montesino (Alcalá de Henares 1502-1503). Diverse opinions exist both in quantity and quality on how had this enormous work influenced the spiritual formation of the pilgrim (Ignatius) and his writing, namely, the Spiritual Exercises. To mark the recent publication of the Carthusian’s work in Spanish (Madrid-Roma 2010), after having provided a brief introduction about the author and his book, the key points in the relationship between the two masters of Western spiritual life and literature, i.e., Ludolpho of Saxony and Saint Ignatius of Loyola, will be presented in these pages.