Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Question

Since I am interested in Spanish Golden Age literature, I was looking up Calderón on some Spanish websites. The site says "...estudió Cánones y Derecho hasta 1620."

What exactly was "Cánones" as a field of study at the time? Did it include theory of human proportions? Would "anthropometrica" (anthropometry) be part of such a curriculum?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Gracias!

Hello, welcome to the forum! - rac1, Dec 6, 2012

Sorry, I can't answer your question in the comment below my answer. My guess is that at some point there were both civil and church laws. - Jubilado, Dec 7, 2012

Answer 1

Cánones means norms, rules or canons. It was basically a branch of the law. The Catholic Church has a gazillion cánones too.

canones in arabic means rules - petergreat1, Dec 6, 2012

Answer 2

Francobollo is correct about "canons". A little more illumination: Spain has been an exclusively Catholic country from Ferdinando & Isabela until Franco (hundreds of years), and is cosidered as such today although civil law has become more detached from ecclesiatical (church) law over the years to allow for a more diverse culture.

The word "canon" means "law" much the way Torah means law in Jewish culture. And as the Jewish Nation, Israel, had only one Law, Torah, so Spain had only one Law, Canon Law which was the Law of the Catholic Church (Currently there are 1752 canons in Catholic Canon Law). In Calderón's time I'm fairly certain that anyone practicing or studying law needed to know the "canons" of the time.

Excellent answer, Jubilado. - annierats, Dec 6, 2012

So was canonical law divorced from secular law (Derecho)? - Emma_Gabriel, Dec 7, 2012

Great insight, my friend. I learned a lot from yiur answer. - francobollo, Dec 7, 2012

Answer 3

Interesting, and thanks.