OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bonifazio Vitalini

From volume 15 of the work.
(DE VITALINIS).
Jurist, b. at Mantua, Italy, about 1320; d. at Avignon after 1388. After completing his law studies at Padua he returned to his native city and took up the practice of criminal law. While thus engaged he wrote: "Super maleficis" (Milan, 1505; Venice, 1559, 1584; Lyons, 1558; Frankfort, 1600 and 1604). He suddenly gave up the law, entered the priesthood, and left Padua with the intention of never returning. In 1350, however, he came back as rector of the Church of San Martinio de' Tribesii and vicar of the bishop. Two years later he went to Avignon, where he received a professorship. He was given the privilege of granting the doctorate, was made prothonotary Apostolic, advocate of the Consistory, fiscal of the Roman Curia, and finally auditor of the sacred palace. He is known to have been in various Italian cities, and at Avignon in 1388. He wrote a commentary on the "Clementines" entitled "Comentarii in COnstitutiones Clementis Papae V in alma Avenionensi universitate editi" (Lyons, 1522), and two treatises, "Solemnis ac perutilis tractatus de modo procedendi contra apostatas" (Venice, 1556), and "Tractatus, qui casus respirat speciale mandatum" (Zürich, 1584).
VON SCHULTE, Gesch. der Quellen u. Literatur des canonisch. Rechts, II (Stuttgart, 1877), 255 sq.; TIRABOSCHI, Storia della letteratura italiana, V (Florence, 1897); 2, 388.
PATRICIUS SCHLAGER
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bonino Mombritius

From volume 10 of the work.
A philologist, humanist, and editor of ancient writings, born 1424; died between 1482 and 1502. He was descended from a noble but not very wealthy family of Milan, and studied the Latin and Greek classics at Ferrara, with zeal and success. Later he became a teacher of Latin at Milan, and was highly esteemed, not only for his extensive knowledge and his literary works, but also for his earnest religious life, as may be gleaned from the letters of his contemporaries. He suffered many misfortunes, which, however, did not affect his industry. His literary importance lies especially in his editions of ancient writings. The following may be mentioned: "Chronica Eusebii, Hieronymi, Prosperi et Matthæi Palmerii" (Milan, 1475); "Scriptores rei Augustæ" (1475); "Papiæ Glossarium" (1476): "Mirabilia mundi" of Solinus (s. l. a.). A very notable contribution to hagiography is his collection of records of the martyrdom and lives of saints, which appeared under the title: "Sanctuarium" (2 folio vols., s. l. a.), probably printed in 1480, and recently edited (Paris, 1910) by the Benedictines of Solesmes (Boninus Mombritius, Sanctuarium seu vitæ Sanctorum. Novam editionem cur. monachi Solesmenses. 2 tomi). He also composed poems, some of which were published in his editions of the ancient writings, and some printed separately. Of the latter may be particularly mentioned "De passione Domini" (reprinted, Leipzig, 1499).
De vita et operibus Bonini Mombritii testimonia selecta in the above-mentioned new edition of the Sanctuarium, I (Paris, 1910). xiii-xxix; FABRICIUS, Bibl. lat., V (Hamburg, 1736), 257; Bibl.-script. Mediolan., I (Milan, 1754), cxlvi-cliii; HURTER, Nomenclator, II (3rd ed., Innsbruck, 1906), 1055.
J. P. KIRSCH.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bonaventura Baron

* related authors: Bonaventure Baron.
* sister projects: Wikipedia article, Wikidata item.
From volume 2 of the work.
A distinguished Irish Franciscan theologian, philosopher, and writer of Latin prose and verse, b. at Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, 1610; d. at Rome, 18 March, 1696. His mother was a sister of the well-known Franciscan, Luke Wadding, and his brother Geoffrey was a trusted ambassador of the Irish Confederates in their negotiations with the continental rulers. He himself joined the Franciscan community of Clonmel, pursued his studies in philosophy at Louvain, and afterwards proceeded to Rome, where he took up his residence in the Irish College of St. Isidore founded by his uncle, Father Wadding. Here, on the completion of his theological course, he was appointed professor, and devoted himself specially to a defence of the Scotist system then generally assailed. During his stay in Rome he published numerous works on theology, philosophy, and history, a full list of which is appended below. About the year 1651 he left Rome, owing, it is said, to some difficulty with the master of the sacred palace, and went first to a house of his order at Schwaz in the Tyrol, and then to Salzburg, where he was kindly received by Archbishop Guidobald. He was sent as provincial commissary into Hungary (about 1656), was again in Schwaz (1661), went to Paris, taught for some time at Wurzburg, where he published a volume of his "Opuscula" (1668), taught theology at Lyons, and finally returned to Italy. It is said that representations were made to secure his appointment to the Archbishopric of Cashel, but that he declined the office. He was appointed historiographer (1676) by Cosmo de' Medici, Grand-duke of Tuscany, and was elected a member of the Academy of Florence. While under the patronage of the grand-duke he published the "Trias Tuscia", in honour of three remarkable religious of the country, and, in the same year, the "Orbes Medicei". His last work was a history of the Order for Redemption of Captives, from 1198 till 1297. He died 18 March, 1696, and was buried at St. Isidore's in Rome, where his tomb with the inscription, written by John De Burgo, a rector of the college, still exists. Two contemporary oil paintings of him have come down to us, one preserved in St. Isidore's, the other in the Franciscan house, Dublin. His principal works are "Panegyrici Sacroprophani" (Rome, 1643; Lyons, 1656); "Obsidio et expugnatio Arcis Duncannon sub Thoma Preston"; "Praelusiones Philosophicae" (Rome, 1651; Lyons, 1661); "Boetius Absolutus" (Rome, 1653); "Scotus defensus et amplificatus" (3 vols., Cologne, 1664); "Cursus Theologicus" (6 vols., 1670); "Opuscula" (4 vols., 1666-71); "Annales Ordinis Sanctae Trinitatis pro redemptione captivorum ab anno 1198 usque ad annum 1297" (Rome, 1864).
Annales Minorum (Fonseca, 1731); Ware, Irish Writers, ed. Harris, 253; Gilbert ed., History of Irish Confederation and War in Ireland, 1641-48 (Dublin, 1882); Franciscan MSS. (Dublin); Meehan, Rise and Fall of the Irish Franciscan Monasteries (Dublin, 1872), 89-93, 217.
James MacCaffrey.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bonaventura Cavalieri

* related authors: Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri.
* sister projects: Wikipedia article, Wikidata item.
From volume 3 of the work.
Italian mathematician, b. at Milan in 1598; d. at Bologna, 3 December, 1647. At the age of fifteen he entered the Congregation of Hieronymites, or Jesuates. He taught theology for a time, but, as he showed a decided preference and talent for mathematics, his superiors sent him to the university at Pisa. Here he studied under Castelli, and became one of the most illustrious of the disciples of Galileo. In 1629 he became professor of mathematics at Bologna, where he continued to teach until his death. He suffered many years from gout, and, like Pascal, sought relief from pain in mathematical researches. Cavalieri was one of the leading mathematicians of his time, and is celebrated for his "Method of Indivisibles", to which he was led by his investigations on the determination of areas and volumes. The principle was known to Kepler. Cavalieri published an account of his method in 1635 in his "Goemetria indivisibilibus continuorum novâ quâdam ratione promota". It is an improvement over the method of exhaustions employed by the Greek mathematicians and was a forerunner of the integral calculus, which has since superseded it. In his "Geometria" he assumes that lines are made up of an infinite number of points, surfaces of an infinite number of lines, and solids of an infinite number of surfaces. This statement was attacked, especially by Guldinus, as being unscientific, and in 1647 in his "Exercitationes Geometricæ sex", Cavalieri endeavours to put it into better form, and answer the objections of his critics. In this work he also gives the first rigid demonstration of the theorem of Pappus, which Guldinus had rediscovered, though he was unable to give a satisfactory proof of it. A later edition of the "Geometria" appeared in 1653. Cavalieri did much to render common the use of logarithms in Italy. Besides the works already mentioned, he was the author of "Lo Specchio ustorio, ovvero trattato delle settioni coniche", 1632; "Directorium generale uranometricum in quo trigonometriæ fundamenta ac regulæ demonstrantur", 1632; "Rota planetaria", 1640; "Trigonometria plana et sphærica linearis et logarithmica", 1635.
BALL, Hist. of Math. (London, 1893); CAJORI, Hist. of Math. (New York, 1894); Biog. Univ., VII; FRISI, Elogio di B. Cavalieri (Milan, 1829), I.
H. M. BROCK
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bonaventure Giffard

From volume 6 of the work.
Born at Wolverhampton, England, 1642; died at Hammersmith, Middlesex, 12 March, 1734; second son of Andrew Giffard, of Chillington, Staffordshire. His father, who married Catherine, daughter of Sir Walter Leveson, was slain in a skirmish near his own home, during the Civil War. Owing to the religious persecutions, Bonaventure was sent, with his younger brother Andrew, to Douai to be educated. From Douai, in October, 1667, he went to Paris to pursue his theological studies, and was ordained for the secular mission. Some years later, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity at the Sorbonne. Having attracted the attention of King James II by his piety and learning, he was appointed preacher to the court. Religion had been in sore straits in England for the previous fifty years. Dr. Smith had been appointed vicar Apostolic of the whole country in 1625, but such was the persecution that he was forced to withdraw to France in 1631, where he remained till his death (1655). For nearly thirty years more his place in England remained unfilled; finally, in 1685, Dr. Leyburn was appointed to succeed him. Pope Innocent XI now entered into negotiations with James II; and, as a result, four vicariates were formed, Dr. Giffard being put in charge of the Midlands. He was consecrated bishop, at Whitehall, by the nuncio, on 22 April, 1688. In religious matters James II displayed too little prudence, and by his high-handed actions gave great offence to the Protestants. Not only did he compel the authorities of Magdalen College, Oxford, to accept Bishop Parker as their president; but, on Parker's death (1688), he had twelve Catholic fellows appointed, and made Dr. Giffard president, despite the fact that the college electors had selected a Protestant, John Hough. The king's nominee took up his residence there on 15 June, 1688. A storm of opposition arose, and he wad ejected about five months later. The Revolution followed, and the bishop was seized and imprisoned at Newgate, where he remained nearly two years. He was released on bail, in 1690, and for more than twenty-four years led a perilous life, being frequently compelled to hide from the pursuivants. When Dr. Leyburn died, in 1703, Bishop Giffard was charged to look after his district, and from 1708 to 1713 he had to govern the Western vicariate as well. In this he was aided by his brother Andrew, his vicar-general, till the latter died, 14 Sept., 1714. Henry Howard was nominated as coadjutor to Dr. Giffard in 1720; but, as he died before his consecration, Benjamin Petre was appointed. The old bishop passed away fourteen years later, in 1734, at the age of ninety-two. He was buried beside his brother Andrew, in the churchyard of St. Pancras. A few of his sermons have been preserved, and many of his interesting letters were printed in the "Catholic Miscellany", in 1826 and 1827.
A. A. MacErlean.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Ascoli, Satriano, and Cirignola

From volume 1 of the work.
Ascoli, Satriano, and Cirignola, an Italian diocese, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Beneventum, comprising six towns and two villages, in the Province of Foggia. In 969, Ausculum Appulum appears as an episcopal city amongst the suffragan sees of Beneventum, but the first bishop of whom we have any knowledge is Maurus, present at the consecration of the Church of St. Angelo at Volturno (1059). Cirignola on account of its relative importance, must have been formerly a diocese, but history is silent in the matter. When Pius VII reorganized the ecclesiastical provinces of the Neapolitan Kingdom, on the occasion of the Concordat (16 February, 1818) with Ferdinand I, King of the two Sicilies, he restored Cirignola to its ancient episcopal dignity and united it æque principaliter to the Diocese of Ascoli. At the end of the year 1905 this diocese contained 11 parishes; 62 churches, chapels and oratories; 98 secular priests; 60 seminarians; 8 regular clergy; 4 lay brothers; 46 religious (women); 18 confraternaties; 3 girls' schools with an attendance of 140. Population, 70,115.
URGHELLI, Italia Sacra (Venice, 1722), VIII, 224; CAPPELETTI, Le chiese d'Italia (Venice, 1866), XIX, 140; GAMS, Series episcoporum Ecclesiæ catholicæ (Ratisbon, 1873), 855; KIRIATTO, Memorie istoriche di Cerignola (Naples, 1785).
ERNESTO BUONAIUTI
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Asti

From volume 2 of the work.
One of the divisions of the province of Alexandria, and suffragan of Turin. Asti is a very old town. It became Christian at an early period of the Christian Era. The first know bishop was Pastor in 451. After him, were Majoranus in 465, Benenatus in 680, and St. Evasius in 730. From 800 begins the regular list of bishops, though the seat was vacant from 1857 to 1867. There has been some controversy as to the beginning of the Diocese of Asti and the episcopate of St. Evasius, once placed by some at much earlier dates. Asti has 182,600 Catholics, 107 parishes, 300 secular priests, 12 regulars, 92 seminarists, 525 churches or chapels.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Astorga

From volume 2 of the work.
(ASTURIGA AUGUSTA.)
Suffragan of Valladolid in Spain, dates it is said, from the third century. It was the principal church of the Asturias in 344, after a long eclipse was again an Episcopal see in 747, and exhibits since 841 a regular succession of bishops. It was at different times a suffragan of Braga and of Santiago. It includes the whole province of Leon and counts 300,115 Catholics, 990 parishes, and as many parish churches, 431 chapels and 1,183 priests.
Thomas J. Shahan
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Avellino

From volume 2 of the work.
An Italian diocese in the Province of Naples, suffragan to Benevento. Avellino was founded by St. Sabinus, martyr, in the beginning of the second century. The list of bishops dates from 1124. The Diocese of Frigento, whose list is from 1080 to 1455, was united with that of Avellino from 9 May, 1466, until 27 June, 1818, when it was suppressed. Avellino was vacant from 1782 to 1792. It has 118,649 Catholics; 41 parishes, 243 secular priests, 11 regulars, 80 seminarians, 90 churches and chapels.
Annuario Eccl. (Rome, 1907); Cappelletti, Chiese d'Italia (1884), xix; G. Zigarelli, Storia della cattedra di Avelino e de' suoi pastori, etc. (Naples, 1856).
E. BUONAIUTI
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Aversa

From volume 2 of the work.
Comprising twenty-one towns in the Province of Caserta and twelve in the Province of Naples, it is under the immediate jurisdiction of the Holy See. This city is of relatively recent origin. It arose in the eleventh century on the ruins of Atella, a city of the Oscians, famous for their piquant raillery, which furnished the basis for the licentious interludes called Atellanoe. The ruins of ancient Atella, destroyed during the invasions of the barbarians, are still to be seen in the neighbourhood of Arpino. On these ruins the Norman Duke, Robert Guiscard, built a fortification which in time became a city called Aversa. The same Duke Robert, becoming a vassal of the pope and supporting him in his struggle with the emperor, obtained permission from Leo IX to have the Bishopric of Atella transferred to Aversa. The city has many fine monuments in the Norman style. It contains 54 parishes; 177 churches, chapels, and oratories; 674 secular clergy, and a population of 130,100.
ERNESTO BUONAIUTI
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Ascoli-Piceno

From volume 1 of the work.
Diocese comprising sixteen towns in the Province of Ascoli-Piceno, two in that of Aquila, and two in that of Teramo, Italy. It is under the immediate jurisdiction of the Holy See. "Ascoli-Piceno is on of the cities of Italy", says Harnack (Die Mission, etc., Leipzig, 502), "which, because of its importance, we may believe has had a Christian community and a bishopric from the middle of the third century, when at the Synod held by Pope Cornelius in Rome sixty bishops were present" (Eus., VI, xliii). The traces of this bishopric, however, do not appear until the fourth century: St. Emidius, martyred under Diocletian; Claudius, present at the Synod of Rimini (Arian Controversy, 359), and, in the fifth century, Lusentius, present at the Synod of Milan which sent the famous letter to Pope Leo I (440-461), were Bishops of Ascoli. Worthy of note in Ascoli, from an artistic standpoint, is the baptistery dating from the twelfth century. One of its bishops, Giulio de'Medici, afterwards became Pope Clement CII (1523-34). The political importance of his pontificate, during the struggle between Charles V and Francis I is well known. Ascoli-Piceno contain 167 parishes; 305 churches, chapels, and oratories; 206 secular priests; 150 seminarians; 15 regular priests, 6 lay brothers; 126 religious (women); 118 confraternities, and a population of 120,210.
Ughelli, Italia Sacra (Venice, 1722), I, 436; Cappelletti, Le chiese d'Italia (Venice, 1866), VI, 663; Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae (Ratisbon, 1873), 667; Colucci, Antichita ascoliane illustrate con varie dissertazioni (Fermo, 1792); Appiani, Vita de S. Emidio, prima vescova e protettore di Ascoli e martire con un ragguaglio della stessa citta occasionato da s. Valentino martire, suo diacono, primo scrittore delle gesta del santo (ascoli, 1832); Lazzari, Ascoli in prospettiva colle sue piu singolari pitture sculture ed architetture (Ascoli, 1724).
ERNESTO BUONAIUTI
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Carlo Porta

From volume 12 of the work.
Poet, b. at Milan in 1775; d. there 5 January, 1821; educated by the Jesuits at Monza and in the seminary at Milan. Finding uncongenial the mercantile pursuits for which his family had destined him, he obtained posts in the treasury department first at Venice and later at Milan. He served under the government of the Cisalpine Republic and, without ceasing to be an Italian patriot, welcomed the return of the Austrian rule, since it seemed to promise peace and prosperity. At Milan he enjoyed the companionship of noted men of letters, among them Foscolo and Monti. His fame is based upon his felicitous use of the Milanese dialect for poetical purposes. He was a Romanticist and argued in favour of the doctrines of his friends Manzoni and Grossi in the cantica "El Romanticism", the "Dodges Sonitt al'abaa Giavan" (i.e. Giordani), the "Meneghin Classegh", and others. Some of his views are opposed to the French, who had brought so much misery into Italy. He is most successful in humorous compositions, in which he truly delineates Milanese types, especially in "Le desgrazi de Giovannin Bongee" and "Le olter desgrazi de Giovannin Bongee". In his use of dialect Porta evinces the greatest skill; his language is the language of the people adapted in a most masterly way to the purposes of literary expression.
Barriera, Poesie edite, inedite e rare, scelte e illustrate (Florence, 1887); Poesie rivedute sugli originali (Milan, 1887, with a bibliography by Robecchi); Lettembrini, Il Meli, il Cardone il Porta in Morandi, Antologia; D'Ovidio and Sailer, Porta e il Manzoni in Discussioni Manzoniane (Citta di Castello, 1886).
J.D.M. FORD
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Carlo Giuseppe Imbonati

From volume 7 of the work.
Cistercian of the Reform of St. Bernard, orientalist, biographer, theologian; born at Milan; flourished in the latter half of the seventeenth century. The date of his death is disputed, yet it certainly did not occur before the year 1696. He occupied the chairs of theology and Hebrew in Rome and was raised to the dignity of abbot. A former pupil of Giulio Bartolocci, who was a member of the same order and projector of the "Bibliotheca magna rabbinica", Imbonati eventually became his master's collaborator. Upon the demise of the latter he completed and edited the fourth volume (Rome 1693) of this monumental work, which, notwithstanding its shortcomings, bears witness to the untiring industry and vast erudition of its authors, and laid the foundation for Wolf's "Bibliotheca hebraica" and other works of the kind. Imbonati brought out a supplementary fifth volume under the title "Bibliotheca latino-hebraica, sive de Scriptoribus latinis, qui ex diversis nationibus contra Judaeos vel de re hebraica utcumque scripsere" (Rome, 1694). This volume also contains a "Chronology of Sacred Scripture" and two dissertations of an apologetico-polemical character (viz., on the Messias, and on the Divinity and Humanity of Christ) based upon miscellaneous Hebrew, Greek, and Latin writings. Imbonati's "Chronicon Tragicum, sive de eventibus tragicis Principum" (Rome, 1696) has a didactic as well as a scientific aim, and was written chiefly for the guidance of "Principes veritatis amatores". The dedicatory letter, prefixed to this work and addressed to Card. Coelestinus Sfondratus, O.S.B., is dated from the Monastery of St. Bernard in the Baths of Diocletian, 1 April, 1696. This is the latest date ascertainable concerning Imbonati's career. (See BARTOLOCCI, GIULIO.)
Thomas Plassmann.