Girolamo Seripando ( Troja,

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, 6 May 1493 –

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

, 17 March 1563) was an

Augustinian friar Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

, Italian theologian and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Life

He was of noble birth, and intended by his parents for the legal profession. After their death, however, at the age of fourteen, he entered the

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

, at

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...

, where he studied of Greek and Hebrew as well as philosophy and theology. After a short stay in Rome, where he had been called by his superior general, he was appointed lecturer at

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

(1515), professor of theology 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 ...

(1517), and vicar-general (1532), a role he filled with great credit for two years. He won such a reputation for eloquence by his discourses in the principal cities of Italy, that the

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

often made it a point to be present at his sermons. Elected

superior general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

in 1539, he governed for twelve years, with singular prudence, zeal, and piety. In 1546, he attended the sessions of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

, where he distinguished himself by his zeal for the purity of the text of Holy Writ, and also by his views concerning

original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...

and justification that council fathers felt were more in line with Lutheran view.

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

sent him as his

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

to the emperor and to the King of France, after which he was offered the Bishopric of Aquila. Seripando not only declined this dignity, but even resigned his position as superior general (1551), and withdrew into a small convent. He was called from this retirement (1553) on a mission from the city of Naples to Charles V. Upon completion of this he was appointed

Archbishop of Salerno The Archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno ( la, Archidioecesis Salernitana-Campaniensis-Acernensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Campania, southern Italy, created in 1986. The historic Archdiocese of Salerno was in existence f ...

. He proved a zealous and efficient pastor. A few years later (1561),

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

made him cardinal and second legate of the Holy See at the Council of Trent. Upon the death of

Cardinal Gonzaga Ercole Gonzaga (23 November 1505 – 2 March 1563) was an Italian Cardinal. Biography Born in Mantua, he was the son of the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este, and nephew of Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga. He studied philosophy at Bolo ...

, he became first president of the same Council.

Works

Seripando was an elegant and prolific writer, and a vigorous controversialist, rather than an orator. The following are his principal published works: "Novae constitutiones ordinis S. Augustini" (Venice, 1549); "Oratio in funere Caroli V imperatoris" (Naples, 1559); "Prediche sopra il simbolo degli Apostoli, etc." (Venice, 1567); "Commentarius in D. Pauli epistolas ad Galatas" (Venice, 1569); "Commentaria in D. Pauli epistolas ad Romanos et ad Galatas" (Naples, 1601); "De arte orandi" (Lyons, 1670); and several of his letters, included by Lagomarsini in "Poggiani epist. et orationes" (Rome, 1762).

References

Sources

* Ellies Dupin, ''Hist. de l'eglise'' (Paris, 1703) * Raynald-

Mansi Mansi may refer to: People * Mansi people, an indigenous people living in Tyumen Oblast, Russia ** Mansi language * Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1692–1769), Italian theologian, scholar, historian and archbishop * Kate Mansi, American actress born in ...

, ''Annal. eccl.'' (Lucca, 1735-6) * Ossinger, ''Bibl. August''. (Ingolstadt, 1768) * * *Abbondanza, Rocchina (1982). ''Girolamo Seripando tra Evangelismo e Riforma Cattolica''. . Naples: Editrice Ferraro 1982. *Cesareo, Francesco C. (1999). ''A Shepherd in Their Midst: The Episcopacy of Girolamo Seripando (1554-1563)''. Augustinian Press, 1999. *Jedin, Hubert (1947). ''Papal Legate at the Council of Trent: Cardinal Seripando''. trans. Frederic C. Eckhoff (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1947). *Olivier, D. (1968). "Les deux sermons sur la double et la triple justice," . ''Öcumenica'' 3 (1968), pp. 39–69. *Schmitz, Edwin F. (1955). ''Girolamo Seripando and Justification at the Council of Trent''. St. Mary's Seminary (Baltimore, Md.), 1955. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seripando, Girolamo 1493 births 1563 deaths Augustinian friars 16th-century Italian cardinals Participants in the Council of Trent 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops