general of the Augustinian order. Luis de León is not only the greatest of Spanish mystics; he is among the greatest of Spanish lyrical poets. His translations of Euripides, Pindar, Virgil and Horace are singularly happy; his original pieces, whether devout like the ode De la vida del cielo, or secular like the ode A Salinas, are instinct with a serene sublimity unsurpassed in any literature, and their form is impeccable. Absorbed by less worldly interests, Fray Luis de León refrained from printing his poems, which were not issued till 1631, when Quevedo published them as a counterblast to culteranismo.
The best edition of Luis de León’s works is that of Merino (6 vols., Madrid, 1816); the reprint (Madrid, 1885) by C. Muñoz Saenz is incorrect. The text of La Perfecta Casada has been well edited by Miss Elizabeth Wallace (Chicago, 1903). See Coleccion de documentos inéditos para la historia de España, vols. x.-xi.; F. H. Reusch, Luis de León und die spanische Inquisition (Bonn, 1873); M. Gutiérrez, Fray Luis de León y la filosofía española (Madrid, 1885); M. Menendez y Pelayo, Estudios de crítica literaria (Madrid, 1893), Primera série, pp. 1-72.
LEON, MOSES [Ben Shem-ṭob] DE (d. 1305), Jewish scholar,
was born in Leon (Spain) in the middle of the 13th century and
died at Arevalo. His fame is due to his authorship of the most
influential Kabbalist work, the Zohar (see Kabbala), which was
attributed to Simon b. Yoḥai, a Rabbi of the 2nd century. In
modern times the discovery of the modernity of the Zohar has
led to injustice to the author. Moses de Leon undoubtedly
used old materials and out of them constructed a work of genius.
The discredit into which he fell was due partly to the unedifying
incidents of his personal career. He led a wandering life, and
was more or less of an adventurer. But as to the greatness
of his work, the profundity of his philosophy and the brilliance
of his religious idealism, there can be no question.
See Graetz, History of the Jews, vol. iv. ch. i.; Geiger, Leon de Modena. (I. A.)
LEON OF MODENA (1571–1648), Jewish scholar, was born in
Venice, of a notable French family which had migrated to
Italy after the expulsion of the Jews from France. He was
a precocious child, but, as Graetz points out, his lack of stable
character prevented his gifts from maturing. “He pursued
all sorts of occupations to support himself, viz. those of preacher,
teacher of Jews and Christians, reader of prayers, interpreter,
writer, proof-reader, bookseller, broker, merchant, rabbi,
musician, matchmaker and manufacturer of amulets.” Though
he failed to rise to real distinction he earned a place by his
criticism of the Talmud among those who prepared the way for
the new learning in Judaism. One of Leon’s most effective
works was his attack on the Kabbala (’Ari Nohem, first published
in 1840), for in it he demonstrated that the “Bible of the
Kabbalists” (the Zohar) was a modern composition. He became
best known, however, as the interpreter of Judaism to the
Christian world. At the instance of an English nobleman he
prepared an account of the religious customs of the Synagogue,
Riti Ebraici (1637). This book was widely read by Christians;
it was rendered into various languages, and in 1650 was translated
into English by Edward Chilmead. At the time the Jewish
question was coming to the fore in London, and Leon of Modena’s
book did much to stimulate popular interest. He died at
Venice.
See Graetz, History of the Jews (Eng. trans.), vol. v. ch. iii.; Jewish Encyclopedia, viii. 6; Geiger, Leon de Modena. (I. A.)
LEÓN, or León de las Aldamas, a city of the state of Guanajuato,
Mexico, 209 m. N.W. of the federal capital and 30 m. W.
by N. of the city of Guanajuato. Pop. (1895) 90,978; (1900)
62,623, León ranking fourth in the latter year among the cities
of Mexico. The Mexican Central gives it railway connexion with
the national capital and other prominent cities of the Republic.
León stands in a fertile plain on the banks of the Turbio, a
tributary of the Rio Grande de Lerma, at an elevation of 5862 ft.
above sea-level and in the midst of very attractive surroundings.
The country about León is considered to be one of the richest
cereal-producing districts of Mexico. The city itself is subject
to disastrous floods, sometimes leading to loss of life as well as
damage to property, as in the great flood of 1889. León is
essentially a manufacturing and commercial city; it has a
cathedral and a theatre, the latter one of the largest and finest
in the republic. The city is regularly built, with wide streets
and numerous shady parks and gardens. It manufactures
saddlery and other leather work, gold and silver embroideries,
cotton and woollen goods, especially rebozos (long shawls), soap
and cutlery. There are also tanneries and flour mills. The
city has a considerable trade in wheat and flour. The first
settlement of León occurred in 1552, but its formal foundation
was in 1576, and it did not reach the dignity of a city until 1836.
LEON, the capital of the department of Leon, Nicaragua, an
episcopal see, and the largest city in the republic, situated midway
between Lake Managua and the Pacific Ocean, 50 m. N.W. of
Managua, on the railway from that city to the Pacific port of
Corinto. Pop. (1905) about 45,000, including the Indian town
of Subtiaba. Leon covers a very wide area, owing to its gardens
and plantations. Its houses are usually one-storeyed, built of
adobe and roofed with red tiles; its public buildings are among
the finest in Central America. The massive and elaborately
ornamented cathedral was built in the Renaissance style between
1746 and 1774; a Dominican church in Subtiaba is little less
striking. The old (1678) and new (1873) episcopal palaces, the
hospital, the university and the barracks (formerly a Franciscan
monastery) are noteworthy examples of Spanish colonial architecture.
Leon has a large general trade, and manufactures
cotton and woollen fabrics, ice, cigars, boots, shoes and saddlery;
its tanneries supply large quantities of cheap leather for export.
But its population (about 60,000 in 1850) tends to decrease.
At the time of the Spanish conquest Subtiaba was the residence of the great cacique of Nagrando, and contained an important Indian temple. The city of Leon, founded by Francisco Hernandez de Cordova in 1523, was originally situated at the head of the western bay of Lake Managua, and was not removed to its present position till 1610. Thomas Gage, who visited it in 1665, describes it as a splendid city; and in 1685 it yielded rich booty to William Dampier (q.v.). Until 1855 Leon was the capital of Nicaragua, although its great commercial rival Granada contested its claim to that position, and the jealousy between the two cities often resulted in bloodshed. Leon was identified with the interests of the democracy of Nicaragua, Granada with the clerical and aristocratic parties.
See Nicaragua; E. G. Squier, Central America, vol. i. (1856); and T. Gage, Through Mexico, &c. (1665).
LEON, the name of a modern province and of an ancient
kingdom, captaincy-general and province in north-western Spain.
The modern province, founded in 1833, is bounded on the N. by
Oviedo, N.E. by Santander, E. by Palencia, S. by Valladolid
and Zamora and W. by Orense and Lugo. Pop. (1900) 386,083.
Area, 5986 sq. m. The boundaries of the province on the north
and west, formed respectively by the central ridge and southerly
offshoots of the Cantabrian Mountains (q.v.), are strongly
marked; towards the south-east the surface merges imperceptibly
into the Castilian plateau, the line of demarcation being
for the most part merely conventional. Leon belongs partly
to the river system of the Miño (see Spain), partly to that of the
Duero or Douro (q.v.), these being separated by the Montañas de
Leon, which extend in a continuous wall (with passes at Manzanal
and Poncebadon) from north to south-west. To the north-west
of the Montañas de Leon is the richly wooded pastoral and
highland district known as the Vierzo, which in its lower valleys
produces grain, fruit, and wine in abundance. The Tierra del
Campo in the west of the province is fairly productive, but in
need of irrigation. The whole province is sparsely peopled.
Apart from agriculture, stock-raising and mining, its commerce
and industries are unimportant. Cattle, mules, butter, leather,
coal and iron are exported. The hills of Leon were worked for
gold in the time of the Romans; iron is still obtained, and coal-mining
developed considerably towards the close of the 19th
century. The only towns with more than 5000 inhabitants in
1900 were Leon (15,580) and Astorga (5573) (q.v.). The main
railway from Madrid to Corunna passes through the province,
and there are branches from the city of Leon to Vierzo, Oviedo,
and the Biscayan port of Gijón.
