Valdés, Juan de
Valdés, Juan de
(hwän thā väldās`), c.1500–1540, Spanish reformer, b. Cuenca. Suspected by the Inquisition, he went soon after 1530 to Naples, where he became the center of a circle of men interested in religious reform. Valdés had already published an attack on many ecclesiastical abuses. He never openly abjured Catholicism, but he was a principal influence on many reformers, e.g., Bernardino OchinoOchino, Bernardino, 1487–1564, Italian religious reformer. Ochino was a Capuchin friar, a popular preacher, and vicar general of the Capuchins in 1538 and 1541. Influenced by Juan de Valdés and his circle in Naples, Ochino turned to belief in justification by faith
..... Click the link for more information. and Pietro Martire VermigliVermigli, Pietro Martire
, 1500–1562, Italian Protestant reformer, also known as Peter Martyr. He joined the Augustinian canons and in that order received high honors as a scholar and preacher.
..... Click the link for more information. . He seems to have held the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Many consider him a Socinian or Unitarian.