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Ignatius of Loyola
 Life
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Ignatius of Loyola
Life
Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola - baptismal name -
in 1491 was born in Azpeitia in the Castle of Loyola in the Basque area
in the north of Spain. From a noble family he was the youngest child
with 11 siblings; his mother died when he was 8 years old and his father
died when he was 14 years old. The "Castle of the Loyolas" built with
sumptuousness and largesse was near the city of Azpeitia, reflected the
nobility of his family. In the ambit of the court of Castile Ignatius
worked as page for JuanVelázquez de Cuéllar, the banker
of King of Spain. Living there nourished his dream of becoming a nobleman.
In 1517 he became a member of the calvary and fought
in the service of the Duke of Nájera and viceroy of Navare, Antônio
Henrique, who entrusted him with some military and diplomatic tasks.
Wounded in Pamplona
 On
May 20, 1521 he defended the citadel of Pamplona in a battle against
the French. To resist was impossible but Ignatius would not surrender
and he was wounded by a cannon ball, suffering a serious fracture in
his right leg with serious damage also to his left leg. He endured great
pain and for a complete month his condition was a matter of life or death.
This injury marked the end of the first period of his life, during which
he was, as he admitted in his autobiography, to be "he was a man given
to the vanities of the world; and what he enjoyed most was warlike sport,
with a great and foolish desire to win fame." Although his morals in
that phase was far away from being blameless, Ignatius is rather a proud
man that is connected to his sensual life. Tall and elegant in his youth
he maintained a great deal of abundant painted red hair in the fashion
of the time. He appreciated greatly lot of music, especially the sacred
music. Until the age of thirty Ignatius lived like so many other young
people of his time dominated by the passions of pleasure, women, and
fighting.
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