Paulus Venatus

Paulus Venatus

Theologian of the Hermits of the Order of Saint Augustine, born according to the chroniclers of his order, at Udine, about 1368; died at Venice, 15 June, 1428. He made his religious profession in the Convent of Saint Stephen, Venice, whence the name, Venetus. In 1390 he is said to have been sent to Oxford for his studies in theology, but returned to Italy, and finished his course at Padua. He lectured in the University at Padua during the first quarter of the fifteenth century. His writings, aside from any question of their present worth, show a wide knowledge and interest in the scientific problems of his time. Besides the usual lectures on the four books of "Sentences", sermons, and instructions, he wrote "De Conceptione B. Mariae Virginis", "De quadratura circuli", "De circulis componentibus mundum", "Logica parva et logica magna". This last, also known as "Logica Duplex", was largely used as a textbook during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and was several times reprinted. Paulus was one of the theologians called to Rome in 1427, by Martin V, to take cognizance of the charges brought against St. Bernardine of Siena, occasioned by the preaching of the "new devotion" to the Holy Name.

FRANCIS E. TOURSCHER