Angelo Carletti di Chivasso was a noted moral theologian of the
Order of Friars Minor
The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...
; born at
Chivasso
Chivasso (; pms, Civass) is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. Chivasso has a population of about 27,000. It is situated on the left bank of the Po river, near the inf ...
in
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, in 1411; and died at
Coni
The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...
, in
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, in 1495.
His name in Latin is usually given as Angelus de Clavasio (Clavasium being the Latin name of his birthplace). This form is preserved in bibliographic usage.
Life
Antonio Carletti was born in 1411 to a noble family of Chivasso, Italy, near Turin.
[Bolognini, Daniele. "Blessed Angelo (Carletti) from Chivasso", ''Santi Beati'', August 10, 2004]
/ref> He attended the University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
, where he received the degree of Doctor of Civil and 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 ...
, and served as a magistrate in the Court of Chiavasso. He was appointed to the Senate by the Marquis of Monferrato Gian Giacomo. It was probably at the age of thirty that he entered the Order of Friars Minor
The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...
at Santa Maria del Monte in Genoa, taking the name Angelo. There he met Francesco della Rovere, who was later to become Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...
.
In 1467 he accompanied Fra Pietro da Napoli, who had been charged by the Vicar General to reorder the Franciscan province of Austria.["Carletti, Angelo", ''Encyclopedia Italiana'']
/ref>
In 1472 he was chosen to fill the office of Vicar-General of that branch of the Order then known as the Cismontane Observance, founded by Bernadine of Siena.[Donovan, Stephen. "Bl. Angelo Carletti di Chivasso." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 Dec. 2014]
/ref> He held that office again in 1478, in 1485 and in 1490. He founded the monasteries of Saluzzo
Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy.
The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...
, Mondovì
Mondovì (; pms, Ël Mondvì , la, Mons Regalis) is a town and ''comune'' (township) in Piedmont, northern Italy, about from Turin. The area around it is known as the Monregalese.
The town, located on the Monte Regale hill, is divided into ...
and Pinerolo
Pinerolo (; pms, Pinareul ; french: Pignerol; oc, Pineròl) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary be ...
; and preached in Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
, Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, Cuneo
Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area.
It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...
, Susa
Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...
, Monferrato
Montferrat (, ; it, Monferrato ; pms, Monfrà , locally ; la, Mons Ferratus) is part of the region of Piedmont in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, ...
and Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
at the court of Charles I, Duke of Savoy
Charles I (28 March 1468 Carignano, Piedmont, Carignano, Piedmont – 13 March 1490 Pinerolo), called the Warrior, was the Duke of Savoy from 1482 to 1490 and titular Kingdom of Cyprus, king of Cyprus, Kings of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and Monarc ...
. He also served as a spiritual counselor for Catherine of Genoa
Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447 – 15 September 1510) was an Italian Roman Catholic saint and mystic, admired for her work among the sick and the poor and remembered because of various writings describing both these acti ...
and Paola Gambara
Paola is a female given name, the Italian form of the name Paula. Notable people with the name include:
People In arts and entertainment
*Paola Del Medico (born 1950), Swiss singer
*Paola e Chiara, pop music duo consisting of two sisters born i ...
.
Apostolic Nuncio
In 1480 the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
under Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
took possession of Otranto
Otranto (, , ; scn, label= Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label=Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertil ...
, and threatened to overrun and lay waste the area. Angelo was appointed Apostolic Nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
by Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...
, and commissioned to preach a crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
against the invaders. While the residents of Otranto held out under siege, Mehmed II died and the Turkish forces retired from the Italian peninsula.[
Again, in 1491, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Commissary by ]Innocent VIII
Pope Innocent VIII ( la, Innocentius VIII; it, Innocenzo VIII; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death in July 1492. Son of th ...
, conjointly with the Bishop of Mauriana, and reached a peaceful agreement between Catholics and Waldensians
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
.[
Angelo Carletti di Chivasso died on April 11, 1495 at the convent of St. Anthony at Cuneo.][
]
Writings
In theology he is considered a major adherent of Scotism
Scotism is the philosophical school and theological system named after John Duns Scotus, a 13th-century Scottish philosopher-theologian. The word comes from the name of its originator, whose ''Opus Oxoniense'' was one of the most important ...
. His works are given by Wadding in the latter's ''"Scriptores Ordinis Minorum"''. The most noted of these is the ''"Summa de Casibus Conscientiae"'', called after him the ''"Summa Angelica"''. The basis of this work was a "Summa Confessorum" by John Rumsik, O. P., Lector of Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
(d. 1314), which was then arranged alphabetically by Bartholomew of San Concordio who also added material on 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 ...
. The first edition of di Chivasso's "Summa Angelica" appeared in the year 1486, and from that year to the year 1520 it went through 31 editions, 25 of which are preserved in the Royal Library at Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
.
The "Summa" is divided into 659 articles arranged in alphabetical order and forming what would now be called a dictionary of moral theology. The most important of these articles is the one entitled ''"Interrogationes in Confessione"''. It serves, in a way, as a dictionary of moral theology and was found very useful for confessors.[ Judging the character of the work of Bl. Angelo as a theologian from this, his most important contribution to moral theology, one is impressed with the gravity and fairness that characterized his opinions throughout. The "Summa" is a valuable guide in matters of conscience and approaches closely, in the treatment of the various articles, to casuistic theology as this science is now understood, hence the title of the work, ''"Summa de Casibus Conscientiae"''.
]Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
considered it a symbol of Catholic orthodoxy and had it publicly burned in the public square outside Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
's Elster Gate on December 10, 1520 together with the Bull of Excommunication Exsurge Domine
() is a papal bull promulgated on 15 June 1520 by Pope Leo X. It was written in response to the teachings of Martin Luther which opposed the views of the Church. It censured forty-one propositions extracted from Luther's ''Ninety-five Theses'' ...
, the Corpus of Canon Law, and Johann Eck
Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the counter-reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important inter ...
's ''"Chrysopassus"''.[
]
Editions
* ''Summa angelica de casibus conscientiae''. Chivasso: Jacobinus Suigus, de Suico. 1486.
*
Veneration
On April 14, 1753, Pope Benedict XIII
Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...
beatified Angelo Carletti,"Blessed Angelo Carletti (1411 - 1495)", Diocese of cuneo
/ref> giving official approval to the cult that had for long been paid to Angelo, especially by the people of Chivasso
Chivasso (; pms, Civass) is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. Chivasso has a population of about 27,000. It is situated on the left bank of the Po river, near the inf ...
and Coni
The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...
. The latter chose him as their special patron. His feast is kept on 12 April. He is celebrated in his native Chivasso, with an old country fair each year at the end of August.
References
External links
digital ''Summa de angelica''. - Nürnberg : Anton Koberger, 10.02.1492.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chivasso, Angelo Carletti Di
1411 births
1495 deaths
People from Chivasso
Italian beatified people
Italian Friars Minor
15th-century venerated Christians
Scotism
15th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians
15th-century Italian writers
Beatifications by Pope Benedict XIV