Agostino Valier (7 April 1531 – 24 May 1606), also Augustinus Valerius or Valerio, was an Italian cardinal and

bishop of Verona 235px, The facade of ''Palazzo del Vescovado'' The Diocese of Verona ( la, Dioecesis Veronensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy. The diocese belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Venice. The bishop of Verona ...

. He was a reforming bishop, putting into effect the decisions of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

by means of administrative and disciplinary measures. He was one of the

Christian humanist Christian humanism regards humanist principles like universal human dignity, individual freedom, and the importance of happiness as essential and principal or even exclusive components of the teachings of Jesus. Proponents of the term trace the ...

followers of

Filippo Neri Philip Romolo Neri ( ; it, italics=no, Filippo Romolo Neri, ; 22 July 151526 May 1595), known as the "Second Apostle of Rome", after Saint Peter, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of t ...

Life

He was born in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

on 7 April 1531. He became a doctor of

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. Valier took part in the intellectual life of his time. In Venice around the year 1560 he was associated with the Academy of Fame of

Federico Badoer Federico Badoer (1519–1593) was a diplomat of the Republic of Venice whose career was derailed in the 1560s by debts and unauthorized diplomacy. Badoer was born on 2 January 1519 in Venice. His father was Alvise Badoer. He was a promising youth, ...

; he later also took part in the Noctes Vaticanae. As a dedicatee of one of the works of Jacopo Zabarella he may have been a patron. Valier as bishop from 1565 was influenced by his reforming predecessor at Verona,

Gian Matteo Giberti Gian Matteo Giberti (20 September 1495 – 30 December 1543) was an Italian diplomat, Bishop of Verona. Biography Born at Palermo, he was the natural son of Francesco Giberti, a Genoese naval captain. In 1513 he was admitted to the household of C ...

, as well as the

, and his association with Carlo Borromeo. He followed Borromeo's

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

model but not slavishly, working within local tradition, while also handling the Venetian dominance in a diplomatic fashion. In 1576 he requested that the Jesuits be called to Verona to found a school. Valier died in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 24 May 1606.''Illustrations of Biblical Literature'', vol. II, Rev. James Townley, 1856
archive.org

Works

Valier wrote a biography of Carlo Borromeo shortly after his death in 1584, and a history of

to 1580. He later became prefect of the

Congregation of the Index The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidde ...

. The atmosphere of close scrutiny of works is thought to have affected his wish for publication in his own lifetime. One work left unpublished was ''Philippus sive de laetitia Christiana'', referencing Filippo Neri in its title, and dwelling on Carlo Borromeo and his nephew

Federigo Borromeo Federico Borromeo (18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation Italy. Early life Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borro ...

, whom Valier had mentored, in a

neostoic Neostoicism was a philosophical movement that arose in the late 16th century from the works of Justus Lipsius, and sought to combine the beliefs of Stoicism and Christianity. Lipsius was Flemish and a Renaissance humanist. The movement took on t ...

vein. *''Rhetorica Ecclesiastica'' (1570) in Latin, a work based on mission work in the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

. This work by Valier employing classical rhetoric as a resource for preaching, with subsequent works by

Luis de Granada Louis of Granada, OP (1504 – 31 December 1588), was a Dominican friar who was noted as theologian, writer and preacher. The cause for his canonization has been long open with the Holy See, with his current status being Venerable. Biograph ...

and

Diego de Estella Diego de Estella ( la, Didacus Stella) was a 16th-century Spanish Franciscan mystic and theologian, born 1524 in Estella, Navarra, died 1578 in Salamanca. His secular name was Diego Ballesteros y Cruzas. Works *''Libro de la vanidad del mundo'' ( ...

, is considered a significant development in the Catholic tradition. A French translation by , ''La rhétorique du prédicateur'', was published in 1750. *''Instruttione delle donne maritate'' (1575), a book for wives, in the form of a letter to his married sister. * ''De cautione adhibenda in edendis libris'' (1719). Valier was one of the editors of the Clementine Vulgate. He took a sceptical line on much of the content of the '' Acta Sanctorum''.Ethel Ross Barker, ''Rome of the Pilgrims and Martyrs: a study in the martyrologies, itineraries, syllogæ, and other contemporary documents'' (1913), p. 13
archive.org

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius, Augustinus 1531 births 1606 deaths 17th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Verona Participants in the Council of Trent 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice Canon law jurists 16th-century Italian jurists 16th-century Italian cardinals 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice