Nicolò de' Tudeschi (Panormitanus)"Abbas modernus" or "recentior", "abbas Panormitanus" or "Siculus". (b. at

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, in 1386; d. at

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, 24 February 1445) was an Italian

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

canonist 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 ...

Life

In 1400 he entered the Order of St. Benedict; he was sent (1405-6) to 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 ...

to study under Zabarella; in 1411 he became a doctor of canon law, and taught successively at Parma (1412–18), Siena (1419–30), and Bologna (1431–32). Meanwhile, in 1425, he was made abbot of the monastery of

Maniace Maniace (Italian: ''Maniace''; Sicilian dialect: ''Maniaci'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about northwest of Catania. The municipality bears ...

, near

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, whence his name "Abbas", to which has been added "modernus" or "recentior" (in order to distinguish him from " Abbas antiquus", a thirteenth-century canonist who died about 1288); he is also known as "Abbas Siculus" on account of his Sicilian origin. In 1433 he went to Rome where he exercised the functions of auditor of the Rota and Apostolic

referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe. Pre-modern history The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byzan ...

. The following year he relinquished these offices and placed himself at the service of

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...

, King of Sicily, obtaining the See of

, whence his Latin name "Panormitanus" (Palermo in Latin is ''Panormus''). He was confirmed by

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

on 9 March 1435 and consecrated bishop on 4 July.Catholic-hierarchy.org: "Archbishop Niccolò Tedeschi"
retrieved February 11, 2020 During the troubles that marred the pontificate of Eugene IV, Nicolò at first followed the party of this pontiff, whom he represented briefly at the

Council of Basel The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

; but subsequently he allied himself with the

antipope Felix V Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was a claimant to the papac ...

who, in 1440, named him cardinal.

Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

, in an early work, depicts Panormitanus as lamenting that instructions from Alfonso made him oppose quick action to depose Eugene. Panormitanus represented the Council of Basel at imperial diets that discussed the fight between Eugene and the council.

Works

Tedeschi, Niccolò – Disceptationes et allegationes, 1487 – BEIC 11748106

In his "Tractatus de concilio Basileensi" he upheld the doctrine of the superiority of a general council to the pope. This was written for the 1442 Diet of Frankfurt, at which he was opposed by

Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Renai ...

. It was his canonical works, especially his "Lectura in Decretales" "In Sextum", and "In Clementinas", that won him the title of "lucerna juris" (lamp of the law) and insured him great authority; he also wrote "Consilia", "Quaestiones", "Repetitiones", "Disputationes, disceptationes et allegationes", and "Flores utriusque juris". A fine edition of his works appeared at Venice in 1477; among later, frequent editions, that published in 1617-18 (Venice) in 10 folio volumes is especially notable. There also is a Lyon 1521-1522 edition of the Decretals commentary.

References

* Knut Wolfgang Norr, ''Kirche und Konzil bei Nicolaus de Tudeschis (Panormitanus)'' (Cologne, 1964). *Schulte, ''Die Gesch. der Quellen u. Lit. des canonischen Rechtes'', II (Stuttgart, 1877), 312-313 *Sabbadini, ''Storia documentata della Reale Universita di Catania'' (Catania, 1898), 10 sq. *Brandileone, ''Notizie su Graziano e su Niccolo de Tudeschis tratte da una cronaca inedita. Studi e memorie per la storia dell' Universita di Bologna'', I (Bologna, 1909), i, 18-21. *

Notes

{{Authority control 1386 births 1445 deaths Italian Benedictines 15th-century Italian jurists Canon law jurists 15th-century Italian writers 15th-century Latin writers