Pietro Colonna Galatino (1460 – 1540), also known as Petrus Galatinus, was an Italian Friar Minor, philosopher, theologian and Orientalist. Galatino was born at Galatina, in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. He received the habit as early as 1480, studied Oriental languages in Rome and was appointed lector at the convent of Ara Coeli; he also held the office of provincial in the province of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, and that of penitentiary under Leo X. Galatino wrote his chief work ''De Arcanis Catholicae Veritatis'', at the request of the pope, the emperor, and other dignitaries, in 1516, at which time, owing mainly to

John Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; sometimes called Johannes; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522) was a German Catholic Renaissance humanism, humanist and a scholar of Ancient Greek, Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, and ...

's ''Augenspiegel'', the famous controversy on the authority of the Jewish writings was assuming a very high-profile. Galatino took up Reuchlin's defence. Resolved to combat the Jews on their own ground, he turned the

Cabbala Christian Kabbalah arose during the Renaissance due to Christian scholars' interest in the mysticism of Kabbalah, Jewish Kabbalah, which they interpreted according to Christian theology. It is often transliterated as Cabala (also ''Cabbala'') t ...

against them, and sought to convince them that their own books yielded proof of the truth of the Christian religion, hence their opposition to it should be branded as obstinacy. Galatino is sometimes referred to as the "inventor" of the Latinized term and pronunciation

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...

, by blending the Tetragrammaton "YHWH" with the vowels of "Adonai,". He gave his work the form of a dialogue. The two conflicting Christian parties were represented by Capnio (Reuchlin) and the Inquisitor Jacob van Hoogstraaten, O.P. In conciliatory terms, Galatino responded to the queries and suggestions of the former, and refuted the objections of the latter. He had borrowed largely from the ''

Pugio Fidei Raymond Martini, also called Ramon Martí in Catalan, was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic work ''Pugio Fidei'' (c. 1270). In 1250 he was one of eight friars appointed to make a study of oriental lan ...

'' of the Dominican Raymond Martini, remodelling, however, the material and supplementing it with copious quotations from the ''

Zohar The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...

'' and the '' Iggeret ha-sodot'' of the Jewish convert

Pablo de Heredia Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer * Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer *Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist * Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer *Pablo Bren ...

. In a long letter to Paul III (MS. Vat. Libr., cod. Ottob. Lat. 2366, fol. 300-308) he vehemently defended himself and his party against the charge of having forged the last-named book, which he firmly held to be the work of

Rabbenu ha-Kadosh Judah ha-Nasi ( he, יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא‎, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince) or Judah I, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of the ''Mis ...

. Galatino was aware, no less than his critics, that his ''De Arcanis'' had many shortcomings, both in matter and form, and he begged his readers to consider that he was compelled to finish it within the space of a year and a half. The work became very popular and ran through several editions. For the rest, Galatino's extensive knowledge and his thorough acquaintance with Greek, Hebrew, and Jewish Aramaic is fully borne out by his numerous other unpublished writings. In bold language he inveighs (or strongly protests) against the corruption among the clergy and discusses the question of reform. While engaged on his remarkable work ''De Vera Theologia'' his strength threatened to fail him by reason of his great age and infirmity, but, having taken a vow to defend in the course of this work the doctrine of the

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth wh ...

, he instantly, so he tells us, recovered his strength and health (MSS. 52, 54, 60, St. Isidore's Coll.). In 1539, Paul III, in a special Bull, bequeathed Galatino's works, about thirty in number, to the convent of Ara Coeli and enjoined that special care be taken of them. The manuscripts are now preserved in various Roman archives. Galatino died in Rome. His grandnephew was

Lorenzo Mongiò Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

(1550–1630), bishop in Minervino, Auxiliary bishop in Salzburg and Valencia, archbishop in Lanciano and Pozzuoli.

References

* Arduinus Kleinhans, ''De vita et operibus P. Galatini OFM'', Antonianum, 1 (1926), 145-179, 327-356 *

Saverio Campanini Saverio is a given name of Italian origin. It is a cognate of Xavier and Javier, both of which originate from ''Xabier'', the Basque name for the Spanish town Javier. ''Xabier'' is itself the romanization of ''etxe berri'' meaning "new house" or "n ...

, ''Le prefazioni, le dediche e i colophon di Gershom Soncino'', in Giuliano Tamani (ed.), ''L’attività editoriale di Gershom Soncino. 1502-1527'', Soncino 1997, pp. 31–58. *

, ''Quasi post vindemias racemos colligens. Pietro Galatino und seine Verteidigung der christlichen Kabbala'', in Wilhelm Kühlmann (Hrsg.), ''Reuchlins Freunde und Gegner. Kommunikative Konstellationen eines frühneuzeitlichen Medienereignisses'', «Pforzheimer Reuchlinschriften» 12, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2010, pp. 69–88. * Christoph Brandhuber, Oliver Ruggenthaler, ''Zwischen Sonnenstaat und Geistergrotte. Der Franziskaner Lorenzo Mongiò - ein Ikonograph für Salzburg?'', in Roswitha Juffinger (ed.), ''Zentrum der Macht. Die Kunstsammlungen der Salzburger Fürsterzbischöfe: Gemälde / Graphik / Kunstgewerbe'', Salzburg 2011, pp. 496–509. *Sharon Leftley, ''Beyond Joachim of Fiore: Pietro Galatino's Commentaria in Apocalypsim'', Franciscan Studies 55 (1998), 137-167
Petrus Galatinus (Pietro Colonna Galatino/Monggius/Mongio/Colombo, c. 1460/1465, Galatina (Apulia) - 1540, Rome)
- FRANCISCAN AUTHORS, 13TH - 18TH CENTURY: A CATALOGUE IN PROGRESS * *

External links

*''De arcanis catholicae veritatis'', a digitized copy of the first edition (Ortona a Mare 1518
online here
*''Oratio de circumcisione dominica'', a digitized copy of the edition Rome 151
online here
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Galatino, Pietro 1460 births 1540 deaths People from the Province of Lecce 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Christian Hebraists Christian Kabbalists 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians