Discovery of original edition of the Bible of Vatable (1584-1585): Results of the partnership between BSF and the Diocese of Plasencia

The Banco Sabadell Foundation and the Diocese of Plasencia have embarked on a cooperative project to catalogue the library of the bishop’s palace in Plasencia. The project has already yielded results, including the discovery of an original scripture commonly known as the Bible of Vatable, one of the finest works of theologians of the University of Salamanca and of Christianity.

This text was one of the grounds cited by the Inquisition for its imprisonment and trial of Fray Luis de León, who formed part of the group that was revising the Vulgate (Latin version of the Bible). Some sources claim that only around twenty copies of the text exist in the world today, and the document that has been found is the original version from 1584-1585, bound in two separate volumes. The Bible of Vatable was one of the many forbidden books of the period and both volumes show signs of the various types of censorship that were enforced at the time.