Diego de Covarrubias

Portrait of Diego de Covarrubias by El Greco.

Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva (or y Leiva) (Toledo, July 25, 1512 - Segovia, September 27, 1577) was a Spanish lawyer, politician and clergyman. He was one of the most distinguished members of the School of Salamanca during its golden age.

Biography

Background and Early years, 1512–1556

Diego de Covarrubias was born in Toledo on July 25, 1512. His father was Alonso de Covarrubias (1488-1570), an architect who designed the New Kings chapel of the Cathedral of Toledo. Diego's younger brother, Antonio de Covarrubias (1514/24-1602), would be a professor of law at the University of Salamanca and served as consejero of Castile.

Diego de Covarrubias was educated at the University of Salamanca, where he studied canon law under Martín de Azpilcueta and theology under Francisco de Vitoria and Domingo de Soto.

Episcopate, 1556-1577

On April 24, 1556, without his being consulted in advance, Covarrubias was appointed Archbishop of Santo Domingo. On January 26, 1560, he was named Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, at the same time retaining archiepiscopal rank in his personal capacity; he was consecrated by Fernando de Valdés y Salas on April 28, 1560. Archbishop Covarrubias was appointed Bishop of Segovia on October 25, 1564, holding that post until September 6, 1577, when he was transferred to the Diocese of Cuenca. He died only three weeks after this transfer, on September 27, 1577, in Segovia. He was buried in a marble sarcophogus in Segovia Cathedral, near the old entrance to the cathedral built by the Catholic Monarchs, which today leads to the cloister.

Thought

As a member of the School of Salamanca, Covarrubias took part in the academic debates about whether or not the Spanish should enslave the natives of the New World. Covarrubias opposed enslaving the native peoples.

Covarrubias also played an important part in the developing field of economics. With Luis de Molina, he developed a subjective theory of value, arguing that the price of goods was determined by the agreement of buyer and seller in light of a product's relative abundance or scarcity.

References

• This article was based on this article on Spanish Wikipedia.

Persondata
Name	Covarrubias, Diego de
Alternative names
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Date of birth	July 25, 1512
Place of birth
Date of death	September 27, 1577
Place of death