ALVA Y ASTORGA, PEDRO DE

Lecturer on theology, procurator general of the Franciscans in Rome, one of the most outstanding figures of the 17th century in the debates on Immaculate Conception; b. 1602; d. 1667. He was of Spanish origin, and belonged to the Franciscan Province of the Twelve Apostles of Peru. With the aid of his own press in the Low Countries he was able to publish his copious theological writings. All these centered about the tradition of the Immaculate Conception; he was critic, debater, and editor of collected writings on this subject. Some of these compilations are still of basic interest [compare X. Le Bachelet, "Immaculée Conception," Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al., 15 v. (Paris 1903–50) 7:1094]. With his contribution the controversy entered upon a decisive period. Another phase of his work, less studied, is his contribution to the history of his order, with his great Bullarium in ten volumes and 16,000 documents. The Indiculus and a draft of it are well known, but the major work remained unedited, and its present whereabouts are unknown.

Bibliography: a. eguiluz, "Fr. Pedro de Alva y Astorga, O.F.M., en las controversias inmaculistas," Verdad y Vida, 12 (1954) 247–272. "El P. Alva y Astorga y sus escritos inmaculistas," Archivo Ibero Americano, 15 (1955) 497–594. l. ceyssens, "Pedro de Alva y Astorga, O.F.M., y su imprenta de la Inmaculada Concepción de Lovaina (1663–66)," ibid., 11 (1951) 5–35.

[a. eguiluz]