Conradin of Bornada (or Conradin of Brescia) (died 1 November 1429) was an Italian Dominican preacher. His early biographers generally refer to him as Blessed.

Biography

His parents, noble and wealthy

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

ns, were devoted adherents of the Catholic Church during the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon bo ...

. They gave their son a careful education and sent him, at the age of sixteen, to study 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 ...

at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

. He entered the Dominican Order at

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

in 1419, and was speedily found to be a model of religious observance. After his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

his zeal found fruitful expression in his eloquent preaching. He was made

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of Brescia and shortly afterwards, by appointment of the master general, prior of the convent of St. Dominic at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, where he was to restore strict observance. Amid political upheavals, when Bologna under the influence of the Bentivoglio family had revolted against papal authority, Conradin took a firm stand against them. For publishing the papal

interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...

, which they had incurred but which they had disregarded, he was twice seized and imprisoned. Pope Martin V, in recognition of his services, sought to create him a cardinal, but he declined. Conradin died at Bologna in 1429 during a plague.

Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia article
{{authority control 14th-century births 1429 deaths Religious leaders from the Province of Brescia 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Italian Dominicans