St. Ignacio de Loyola

St. Ignacio de Loyola

Ignacio de Loyola was born on the 23th of October 1491. The boy was baptized in the Church of St. Sebastian and called Inigo Lopez de Recalde Loyola. The godfather of Inigo adopted him. Loyal spent his childhood in the ancient medieval castle called Arevalo, which for famous for the education in the spirit of chivalry. Ignacio de Loyola learned a lot of skills, necessary for that time – fencing, dancing, horseback riding and playing instruments, but he didn’t receive any systematic education. He could only read and write Spanish. In adolescence Inigo became pageboy in the court of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille. Ferdinand the Catholic was one of the greatest historical figures. After the death of his wife Isabella, the King o Aragon, Sicilia, Castille, Naples and the winner o Arabs in Grenada, became the first King of the united Spain.

The knight’s glory was the dream of the whole royal court. The new knights wanted to have beautiful weapons and horses, fight duels and look for the love adventures. Don Inigo read a lot of novels about the brave knights and dreamed of the same glory. He complimented the ladies and wrote the love poems, and at night he serenaded his sweethearts secretly from their brothers, grooms and husbands. He was considered honest and brave “caballero”, loyal friend, but also hotheaded and eccentric knight, fortunate in love. According to the description of his contemporaries, Loyola was very handsome. He had a broad and open forehead, flaming eyes, beautiful Roman nose, fresh complexion, strong and proportional constitution and was average height. His favorite chivalresque novel “Amadis de Gaula” that he read many times, inspired Inigo for deeds and conquests. St. Ignacio de Loyola was fierce catholic, and even devoted romances to Apostle Peter. At the age of 24, Loyola joined the army on the recommendation of Duke de Nohara.  He quickly achieved a rank of senior officer and thoroughly studied military. Loyola demonstrated his courage in the numerous battles and campaigns.