Francesco Silvestri
Francesco Silvestri, O.P. (ca. 1474 – 19 September 1528) was an Italian Dominican theologian.[note 1] He wrote a notable commentary on Thomas of Aquinas's Summa contra gentiles, and served as Master General of his order from 1525 until his death.
Life
[edit]Francesco Silvestri was born at Ferrara in about 1474.[1] At the age of fourteen he joined the Dominican Order. In 1516 he was made a master in theology.[1] He was prior first in his native city and then at Bologna, and in the provincial chapter held at Milan in 1519 he was chosen vicar-general of the Lombard congregation of his order.[1]
Having discharged this office for the allotted term of two years, he became regent of the college at Bologna where he remained for a considerable time.[1] He was also inquisitor of Bologna from 1519 until 1525.[2] Later he was appointed by Pope Clement VII vicar-general of his entire order, and on 3 June 1525, in the General Chapter held at Rome, he was elected Master General.[1]
As general of his order he visited nearly all the convents of Italy, France, and Belgium, making efforts there to restore discipline.[1] He was planning to begin a visitation of the Spanish convents when he died of an illness on 19 September 1528 at Rennes in Brittany.[1][3] Leandro Alberti, his traveling companion, remarked that Silvestri was a man of "remarkable mental endowments," and that "nature seemed to have enriched him with all her gifts."[1]
Works
[edit]Silvestri wrote many works on philosophy, most notably on Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle.[4]
- Commentaria in libros quatuor Contra gentiles sancti Thomae de Aquino (ca. 1516): a monumental commentary on Thomas's Summa contra gentiles, and the one for which Silvestri is principally remembered.[5]
- Annotationes in libros Posteriorum Aristotelis et sancti Thomae: a commentary on Aristotle's Posterior Analytics.[5]
- Quaestiones in libros Physicorum: an explication of the eight books of Aristotle's Physics.[5]
- Quaestiones luculentissimae in octo libros physicorum Aristotelis[5]
- Quaestionum libri De anima quam subtilissime simul et preclarissime decisiones: an explication of the three books of Aristotle's De anima.[5]
- Apologia de convenientia institutorum Romanae Ecclesiae cum evangelica libertate (Rome, 1525): defended the primacy and the organization of the Catholic Church against Martin Luther; some have erroneously attributed this work to Silvester Prierias.[1]
- Beatae Osannae Mantuanae de tertio habitu ordinis fratrum praedicatorum vita: an account of the life of the Dominican teriary mystic Osanna of Mantua.[5][6]
References
[edit]- Notes
- References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Callan, Charles (1912). "Francis Silvester". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. XIII. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Michael Tavuzzi: Renaissance Inquisitors. Dominican Inquisitors and Inquisitorial Districts in Northern Italy, 1474–1527. Leiden – Boston: BRILL, 2007, p. 226–227. ISBN 978-90-04-16094-1.
- ^ Michael Tavuzzi: Renaissance Inquisitors. Dominican Inquisitors and Inquisitorial Districts in Northern Italy, 1474–1527. Leiden – Boston: BRILL, 2007, p. 227. ISBN 978-90-04-16094-1.
- ^ "History of Medieval Philosophy 453". .nd.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-14. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ a b c d e f "Powszechna Encyklopedia Filozofii". Peenef2.republika.pl. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ Charamsa, Krzysztof; Charamsa, Krzysztof Olaf (2002). L'immutabilitŕ di Dio: l'insegnamento di San Tommaso d'Aquino nei suoi ... - Krzysztof Olaf Charamsa - Google Boeken. ISBN 9788876529436. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
External links
[edit]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Francis Silvester". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.- Caravale, Giorgio (2018). "SILVESTRI, Francesco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 92: Semino–Sisto IV (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
- Franciscus Sylvester von Ferrara at Biographisch–Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (in German)
