Gaudentius of Brescia

(GAUDENTIUS BRIXIENSIS or BONTEMPS.)

A theologian of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins ; b. at Brescia in 1612; d. at Oriano, 25 March, 1672; descended from the noble Brescian family of Bontempi; having entered the Capuchin Order, was assigned to the duties of lector of theology. In this capacity he visited the several convents of his own province of Brescia, as well as other houses of study of the different Capuchin provinces of Italy. He was taken suddenly ill at Oriano, and died there while engaged in preaching a course of Lenten sermons. His remains were later removed to the Capuchin church at Verola, where they now rest. His fame as a theologian rests mainly on his "Palladium Theologicum seu tuta theologia scholastica ad intimam mentem d. Bonaventurae Seraph. Doc. cujus eximiae doctrinae raptae restituuntur, sententiae impugnatae propugnantur", a work in which elegance of style, depth of thought, and soundness of doctrine are admirably combined, and which ranks the author among the foremost exponents of the Franciscan school. Gaudentius's pupil and countryman, Gianfrancesco Durantio, undertook the publication of the work after the death of the author; and under the patronage of Louis XIV of France, who subjected the manuscript to the examination of a special commission of doctors of the Sorbonne, it was published at Lyons, in seven folio volumes, in 1676.

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