Luzero de la vida christiana

Pedro Ximénez de Prexano, Bishop of Coria (c. 1420–1495).
Luzero de la vida christiana.
Salamanca: [Printer of Nebrissensis, ‘Gramàtica’], 24 March 1499. (06721)

King Ferdinand V (1452–1516) invited the Bishop of Coria to write the Luzero de la vida cristiana (“Morning Star of the Christian Life”) in order to “expel the darkness of ignorance” from Spain, particularly among Jews and Muslims who had endured forced conversion to Christianity. Published in six Spanish editions beginning in 1493, the Luzero derived its theological lessons from meditations on the life and ministry of Christ. However, because it paraphrased the New Testament in the vernacular and embroidered Christ’s life with non-Biblical episodes, the Luzero was placed on the Spanish Index librorum prohibitorum published at Valladolid in 1559. Bridwell Library’s Luzero is the only recorded copy of the 1499 edition.