Agostino Valier (7 April 1531 – 24 May 1606), also Augustinus Valerius or Valerio, was an Italian cardinal and bishop of Verona. He was a reforming bishop, putting into effect the decisions of the

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

by means of administrative and disciplinary measures. He was one of the Christian humanist followers of Filippo Neri.

Life

He was born in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

on 7 April 1531. He became a doctor of

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 ...

. Valier took part in the intellectual life of his time. In Venice around the year 1560 he was associated with the Academy of Fame of Federico Badoer; he later also took part in the Noctes Vaticanae. As a dedicatee of one of the works of

Jacopo Zabarella Giacomo (or Jacopo) Zabarella (5 September 1533 – 15 October 1589) was an Italian Aristotelian philosopher and logician. Life Zabarella was born into a noble Paduan family. He received a humanist education and entered the University of Padua ...

he may have been a patron. Valier as bishop from 1565 was influenced by his reforming predecessor at Verona, Gian Matteo Giberti, as well as the

, and his association with

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

. He followed Borromeo's

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

model but not slavishly, working within local tradition, while also handling the Venetian dominance in a diplomatic fashion. In 1576 he requested that the Jesuits be called to Verona to found a school. Valier died 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 ...

on 24 May 1606.''Illustrations of Biblical Literature'', vol. II, Rev.

James Townley Rev. James Townley (6 May 1714 – 15 July 1778) was an English dramatist, the second son of Charles Townley, a merchant. Early life, education and marriage Townley was born in 1714 probably at Tower Hill, London, the second son of Charles Town ...

, 1856
archive.org

Works

Valier wrote a biography of

shortly after his death in 1584, and a history of

to 1580. He later became prefect of the

Congregation of the Index The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidde ...

. The atmosphere of close scrutiny of works is thought to have affected his wish for publication in his own lifetime. One work left unpublished was ''Philippus sive de laetitia Christiana'', referencing Filippo Neri in its title, and dwelling on Carlo Borromeo and his nephew

Federigo Borromeo Federico Borromeo (18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation Italy. Early life Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borro ...

, whom Valier had mentored, in a neostoic vein. *''Rhetorica Ecclesiastica'' (1570) in Latin, a work based on mission work in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

. This work by Valier employing classical rhetoric as a resource for preaching, with subsequent works by Luis de Granada and Diego de Estella, is considered a significant development in the Catholic tradition. A French translation by , ''La rhétorique du prédicateur'', was published in 1750. *''Instruttione delle donne maritate'' (1575), a book for wives, in the form of a letter to his married sister. * ''De cautione adhibenda in edendis libris'' (1719). Valier was one of the editors of the

Clementine Vulgate The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate or Clementine Vulgate () is the edition promulgated in 1592 by Pope Clement VIII of the Vulgate—a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible that was written largely by Jerome. It was the second edition of the ...

. He took a sceptical line on much of the content of the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

''.Ethel Ross Barker, ''Rome of the Pilgrims and Martyrs: a study in the martyrologies, itineraries, syllogæ, and other contemporary documents'' (1913), p. 13
archive.org

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius, Augustinus 1531 births 1606 deaths 17th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Verona Participants in the Council of Trent 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice Canon law jurists 16th-century Italian jurists 16th-century Italian cardinals 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice