"Life of the distinguished doctor from Navarre, son of the Royal House of Roncesvalles. Manuscript text by Martín Burges y Elizondo" is the degree scroll of the work that gathers the first, and until now unpublished, biography of the Navarrese canonist Martín de Azpilcueta (1492-1586). The editors of the text are Eloy Tejero, professor of the School of Canon Law of the University of Navarra; and Carlos Ayerra, parish priest of the church of Santa María de Sangüesa (Navarra) and doctor in Canon Law by the University of Navarra.

The biography, written in 1675 and which has remained ignored since then by other biographers in the Collegiate Church of Roncesvalles (where Burges and Azpilcueta were canons), highlights "the sanctity of life of the Navarrese doctor". In any case, the biographer points out on several occasions that "he does not want to hinder the fame of sanctity that he has, that he wants to be faithful to the norms of the Church in these processes. He does not want this writing to be given any other value than the historical testimony it deserves," explained Professor Tejero.

However, Burges "proposes the presentation of a vivid idea of the virtuous fulfillment of the religion of Roncesvalles, to serve as an example. Thus, he relates what an ordinary day in the life of Martin de Azpilcueta in Rome was like, where he sample how he lived in the presence of God, how he had the name of Jesus always on his lips, how he lived poverty...", said Eloy Tejero. Other biographers of later centuries "present him as a hero, as a famous juriconsult and even as a skilled politician," but they dilute the references to his holiness.

Roncesvalles, spiritual center of Azpilcueta

This unpublished biography was initially written as a part of the fifth book of Burges' work entitled "Historia general de la Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Roncesvalles y su grande Hospital de peregrinos" (General History of the Church of Our Lady of Roncesvalles and its great Pilgrims' Hospital). This place was, according to Eloy Tejero, "the true spiritual center of Azpilcueta's life".

The work provides some chronological corrections, such as the date of the beginning of his programs of study in Alcalá. "The documents of file of the later biographies are more numerous than those handled by Burges". Carlos Ayerra outlined the figure of Martín Burges, author of the biography of the Navarrese Doctor that is now published. "We know that Burges belonged to a lineage of the Baztan Valley, and that he was born in Ezcaroz." From 1636 he was a canon of Roncesvalles. He died in 1672. Professor Tejero pointed out that "Martin Burges had a complete knowledge of short biographical accounts of Martin de Azpilcueta made in coincidence with the extraordinary demand for his writings - to the astonishing extent of almost three hundred editions - all over Europe. Moreover, these brief biographies are the ones that best convey the enthusiasm that teachers and disciples professed for the Navarrese doctor in European universities".