Jacopo Sadoleto (July 12, 1477 – October 18, 1547) was an Italian
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
cardinal and
counterreformer noted for his correspondence with and opposition to
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
.
Life
He was born at
Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
A town, and seat o ...
in 1477, the son of a noted jurist, he acquired reputation as a
neo-Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
poet, his best-known piece being one on the group of
Laocoön
Laocoön (; grc, , Laokóōn, , gen.: ), is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. Laocoon was a Trojan priest. He and his two young sons were attacked by giant serpents, sent by the gods. The story of Laocoön has been the su ...
. 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 ...
, he obtained the patronage of
Cardinal Carafa and adopted the ecclesiastical career.
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
chose him as his secretary along with
Pietro Bembo, and in 1517 made him
bishop of Carpentras.
A faithful servant of the
papacy
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
in many negotiations under successive popes, especially as a peacemaker, his major aim was to win back the
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
s by peaceful persuasion and by putting
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
doctrine in a conciliatory form. Sadoleto was a diligent bishop, made
cardinal in 1536, given the
titular church
In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary des ...
of
San Callisto
San Callisto ( en, Saint Callixtus, la, S. Calixti) is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, Italy, built over the site of Pope Callixtus I's martyrdom (c. AD 222). The original building dates from the time of Pope Gregory III (r. 731–741), ...
.
In 1539 Cardinal Sadoleto wrote to the people of
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, urging them to return to the Catholic faith.
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
had been asked to leave Geneva the previous year, and was living in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, but the Genevans still asked Calvin to write a response to Sadoleto, which he did.
[Both letters can be found i]
''Calvin's Tracts Relating to the Reformation''
translated by H. Beveridge, 1844. Digitized by Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
.
Sadoleto died in Rome in 1547, aged 70.
Works
Sadoleto's collected works appeared at
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
in 1607, and include, besides his theological-ironical pieces, a collection of ''Epistles'', a treatise on education (first published in 1533), and the ''Phaedrus'', a defence of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, written in 1538. The best collection is that published at Verona (1737–1738); it includes the life by
Fiordibello.
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* His chief work, a ''Commentary on Romans'', meant as an antidote against the new Protestant doctrines, gave great offence at Rome and Paris:
References
Bibliography
*
*Pericaud, Antoine. ''Fragments biographiques sur Jacob Sadolet'' (Lyon, 1849)
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadoleto
1477 births
1547 deaths
Italian Renaissance humanists
16th-century Italian cardinals
New Latin-language poets
Bishops of Carpentras
16th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops