Concept

Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca

Overview

Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca (1512–1569) was a Spanish jurist.

Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca was probably born in 1512 in Valladolid. His family members included judges and administrators. He studied law at the universities of Vallodolid and Salamanca, graduating from the latter about 1548. Menchaca held various positions as a judge and bureaucrat, including at the court of Philip II of Spain. Menchaca was a member of the Council of the Indies and the Order of Santiago. He died in 1569 in Seville. He was a hidalgo.

In his treatise Controversiarum illustrium aliarumque usu frequentium libri tres (Three books of famous and other controversies frequently occurring in practice), likely first published in Venice in 1564, Menchaca argued that political authority derives from the consent of the governed. Because people form societies by "natural inclination", according to Menchaca, political authority is an aspect of natural law. Menchaca held that persons have natural rights including liberty and equality and endorsed a version of the social contract theory. In this respect, Menchaca thought that domestic society and international society were on a par: both were based on "pacts and treaties". Further, since people create society "for their own utility", Menchaca argued that the people had an inalienable power to control their rulers.

Mencha is considered a member of the School of Salamanca. He published six treatises between 1559 and 1564. His thought influenced Hugo Grotius and Samuel von Pufendorf. Scholar Salvador Rus Rufino identifies Menchaca as part of the tradition of Catholic humanism.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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An ancient French writer calls them a new and wicked device, to procure liberty to slaves, and encourage them in shaking off the dominion of their masters [x]. The famous charter, as it is called, of the Conqueror to the city of London, though granted at a time when he assumed the appearance of gentleness and lenity, is nothing but a letter of protection, and a declaration that the citizens should not be treated as…
David Hume, The History of England, Volume I
States what Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca is.
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And since Aristotle began to reason while walking hither and thither, they were called, he, I say, and his companions, Peripatetics, which means the same as walkers about. And since the perfection of this Morality by Aristotle was attained, the name of Academician became extinct, and all those who attached themselves to this sect are called Peripatetics, and these people hold the doctrine of the government of the…
Dante Alighieri, The Banquet
States what Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca is.
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For generally, not he that hath skill in geometry, or any other science speculative, but only he that understandeth what conduceth to the good and government of the people, is called a wise man. Now that no author of sedition can be wise in this acceptation of the word, is sufficiently proved, in that it hath been already demonstrated, that no pretence of sedition can be right or just.
Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 04
States what Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca is.
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Related ideas

Place in the tradition

Part of School of Salamanca.

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