Antonio Possevino
Encyclopedia
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
and the first Jesuit to visit Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, vicar general
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and northern islands, Muscovy, Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
, Rus
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
between 1578 and 1586.
Mantova gonzaghesca; Roma giulia ; Ferrara estense: Renaissance humanist and tutor
Recent scholarship has identified Antonio Possevino's family as New Christians admitted to the learned circles of the court of RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
and its Gonzaga
House of Gonzaga
The Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.-History:In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through marriage...
dukes. His father was Piedmontese from Asti and moved to Mantua where he joined the guild of goldsmiths. The family name was changed from Cagliano {Caliano} and his marriage produced three sons, Giovanni Battista, Antonio and Giorgio. His mother nursed her son Antonio in 1533 together with Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua 1540-1550. His learned older brother, Giovanni Battista Possevino (1522-1552) arrived in the mid-1540s in Rome of Paul III Farnese, first in the service of the Mantuan cardinal reformer Gregorio Cortese , then of the papal "cardinal nipote" Alessandro Farnese (cardinal) and finally of cardinal Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito d'Este was an Italian cardinal and statesman. He was a member of the House of Este, and nephew of the other Ippolito d'Este, also a cardinal.-Biography:...
. Some of his poems are in Elogia virorum illustrium (Florence, 1551) of Paolo Giovio
Paolo Giovio
thumb|Paolo Giovio.thumb|Monument to Paolo Giovo by [[Francesco da Sangallo]], in [[San Lorenzo di Firenze|San Lorenzo]] Basilica, [[Florence]].Paolo Giovio was an Italian physician, historian and biographer, and prelate.He is chiefly known as the author of a celebrated work of...
whom he frequented humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
court circles. In 1549 at seventeen Antonio came to study with his brother in Rome and met the leading men of letters at the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
court of pope Julius III (1550-1555), the patron of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition...
and the builder of Villa Giulia
Villa Giulia
The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1550–1555 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, an impressive collection of Etruscan art and artifacts....
. These included Fulvio Orsini
Fulvio Orsini
Fulvio Orsini was an Italian humanist, historian, and archaeologist. He was a scion of the Orsini family, one of the oldest, most illustrious, and for centuries most powerful of the Roman princely families, whose origins, when stripped of legend, can be traced back to a certain Ursus de Paro,...
and Paulus Manutius
Paulus Manutius
Paulus Manutius was a Venetian printer with a humanist education, the third son of the famous printer Aldus Manutius and his wife Maria Torresano. Aldus died when the boy was two, and his grandfather and two uncles, the Asolani, carried on the Aldine Press...
. In 1553 he published posthumously the Dialogo dell'Honore of Giovanni Battista who died not yet thirty. In Rome he dedicated the Centones ex Vergilio published under the name of Lelio Capilupi to the French poet Joachim Du Bellay
Joachim du Bellay
Joachim du Bellay was a French poet, critic, and a member of the Pléiade.-Biography:He was born at the Château of La Turmelière, not far from Liré, near Angers, being the son of Jean du Bellay, Lord of Gonnor, first cousin of the cardinal Jean du Bellay and of Guillaume du Bellay.Both his parents...
and in 1556 in Due Discorsi he defended his brother against accusations of plagiary and defended the writings of Giovanni Battista Giraldi
Giovanni Battista Giraldi
Giovanni Battista Giraldi was an Italian novelist and poet. He appended the nickname Cinthio to his name and is commonly referred to by that name .Born at Ferrara, he was educated at the university there, and in 1525 became its professor of natural philosophy...
. His brilliance and literary skills made the young humanist much in demand. When he left Rome he was engaged in service to Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga
Ercole Gonzaga
Ercole Gonzaga was an Italian Cardinal.-Biography:Born in Mantua, he was the son of the Marquess Francesco Gonzaga, and nephew of Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga...
as tutor to the sons of his brother Ferrante Gonzaga
Ferrante Gonzaga
Ferrante I Gonzaga was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla.-Biography:...
, Francesco Gonzaga
Francesco Gonzaga
Francesco Gonzaga was an Italian nobleman, who was Duke of Ariano.-Biography:He was brother of the Cardinal Gianvincenzo Gonzaga, nephew of Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga and of Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua....
and Gian Vincenzo Gonzaga, both future cardinals. He moved with them to the literary capital of Italy, the Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
of the Este
Este
The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph...
. Possevino was connected with the Aristotelian
Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
revival associated with Francis Robortello
Francis Robortello
Francesco Robortello was a Renaissance humanist, nicknamed Canis grammaticus for his confrontational and demanding manner.-As scholar:...
and Vincenzo Maggi (1498-1564) that generated many treatises on literary and courtly matters including his brother's Dialogo dell'honore and his early works. When the University closed in Ferrara due to the war of pope Paul IV Antonio moved to Padua. At this time Don Ferrante, his wards' father, died in the aftermath of the Battle of St. Quentin (1557). Possevino had become an expert in the historical training of princes and was writing commentaries on this battle exalting the victory of Emanuele Filiberto, duke of Savoy. This produced a Piedmontese commendature that he had to renounce to become a Jesuit, a severe hardship for his family, as his brother Giorgio was in jail and he was supporting his nephews, Giovanni Battista Bernardino Possevino and Antonio Possevino, both future translators and authors in maturity.
France and Savoy; Lyons: Counter Reformation Jesuit
But in Padua and in Naples he came in contact with the Society of JesusSociety of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
and joined the order in 1559. In 1560 Possevino was accompanied Jesuit General Diego Lainez to the Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
of Emanuele Filiberto where he bolstered the Catholic Church against heretics and he founded the Jesuit schools at Chambery
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
, Mondovi
Mondovi
Mondovi may refer to:*Mondovì, town in Italy, in the Piemonte**Battle of Mondovì, battle of the Napoleonic Wars*Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondovì, in the Ecclesiastical Region of Piedmont*Mondovi, Wisconsin, city in Buffalo County...
and Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. In his efforts to bring the entrenched Waldensians
Waldensians
Waldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions, primarily in North-Western Italy. There is considerable uncertainty about the earlier history of the Waldenses because of a lack of extant source...
around, he debated Scipione Lentolo (1525-1599), Calvin
Calvin
Calvin may refer to:People with the surname Calvin:* John Calvin, theologian, founder of Calvinism* Idelette Calvin, wife of John Calvin, founder of Calvinism* Melvin Calvin, American chemist* Samuel Calvin, U.S. geologist...
's emissary to the Italian Reformed community. In combatting the influence of Calvin's Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
increasingly he gravitated to France. This was at the onset of the Wars of Religion
Religious war
A religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...
where he sought to rally the Catholics of Lyons
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
together with Jesuit preacher Edmond Auger
Edmond Auger
-Life:Born near Troyes, he entered the Society of Jesus while St. Ignatius was still living, and was regarded as one of the most eloquent men of his time. Mathew calls him the "Chrysostom of France"...
. He published a treatise on the Mass, Il sacrificio dell'altare (1563) and debated such Geneva reformers as Pierre Viret
Pierre Viret
Pierre Viret was a Swiss Reformed theologian.- Early life :Pierre Viret was born to a devout middle class Roman Catholic family in Orbe, a small town now in Switzerland. He was a close friend of John Calvin....
and the Italian Calvinist, Niccolo Balbani. For the Italian merchant community of Lyons he provided Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
books, for example the Catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
of Peter Canisius and several other works in Italian. During this time he was put in jail and rescued from his Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
captors by influential adherents. In 1565 he successfully defended his order at the Colloquy at Bayonne before the boy king Charles IX
Charles IX
Charles IX may refer to:* Charles IX of France * Charles IX of Sweden...
and the future king Henri IV who remained a lifelong friend. In 1569 he wrote Il Soldato cristiano for pope Pius V who had it printed in Rome and distributed to the papal troops at the battle of Lepanto
Lepanto
- Places :*The Bay of Lepanto or Gulf of Lepanto in Greece, now known as the Gulf of Corinth*The Greek town of Lepanto, now known as Naupactus*Lepanto, Arkansas in the United States*Lepanto - Ships :*The Italian battleship Lepanto...
. He served as the rector of the Jesuit college of Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
and then of Lyons
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
where he received the Jesuit General Francis Borgia
Francis Borgia
Saint Francis Borgia, 4th duke of Gandía, 3rd Father General of the Jesuit Order, Grandee of Spain, was a Spanish Jesuit and third Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was canonized on 20 June 1670.-Early life:He was born Francesco Borgia de Candia d'Aragon within the Duchy of Gandía,...
in 1571 on a journey from Spain to Rome. He was there during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
. During these militant years he first conceived of the plan of his Counter Reformation bibliographical works, as he states in the introduction to the Bibliotheca selecta
Bibliotheca selecta
Bibliotheca selecta is a bibliographical encyclopedia by the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, printed in two folio volumes at the Typographia Apostolica Vaticana by Domenico Basa in 1593...
.
Rome: Jesuit Secretary; Sweden, Poland, Russia: Apostolic Nuncio
When Borgia died, Possevino returned to Rome for the third Jesuit General CongregationGeneral Congregation
The highest authority in the Society of Jesus is the General Congregation, an assembly of the Jesuit representatives from all parts of the world. A general congregation is always summoned on the death or resignation of the administrative head of the order—called the Superior General—to...
and stayed on as the Latin secretary to Everard Mercurian
Everard Mercurian
Everard Mercurian was the fourth Superior General of the Society of Jesus.- Brief Biography :Born Lardinois into a humble family in Marcourt, near La Roche-en-Ardenne in what is now the province of Luxembourg in 1514, in the south-east corner of what is now Belgium. This is the origin of his...
, Jesuit general
Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is the official title of the leader of the Society of Jesus—the Roman Catholic religious order, also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position carries the nickname of Black Pope, after his simple black priest's...
from 1572 until 1578. Pope Gregory XIII sent him to the court of King John III of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
in order to influence the course of the Livonian War
Livonian War
The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,...
. During this decade travelling around the Baltic and Eastern Europe Possevino wrote several tracts against his Protestant adversaries, including the Lutheran David Chytraeus
David Chytraeus
David Chytraeus or Chyträus was a German Lutheran theologian and historian.His real surname was Kochhafe, which in Classical Greek is χυτρα, from where he derived the Latinized pseudonym "Chyträus".Chytraeus was professor of the University of Rostock and one of the co-authors of the Formula of...
, the Calvinist Andreas Volanus
Andreas Volanus
Andreas Volanus was a secretary to the Grand Duke of Lithuania and an eminent Calvinist theologian. Volanus was involved with controversy about both Jesuits and the Ecclesia Minor or Polish Brethren. Fausto Sozzini's De Jesu Christi natura is a reply to Volanus.-Works:* Caecitas et poena...
and the Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
Francis David After Sweden and Poland Possevino proceeded to the Russian capital of Ivan the terrible and helped to mediate between him and Stefan Bathory in the Treaty of Jam Zapolski in 1582. He left a valuable account of his nunciature in his description of the Tsardom of Muscovy. He also wrote accounts of his travels in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
. During these years he helped found, with Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
the Jesuit Vilnius University
Vilnius University
Vilnius University is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania....
and Jesuit academies and seminaries in Braniewo
Braniewo
Braniewo is a town in northeastern Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 18,068 . It is the capital of Braniewo County...
, Olomouc and Cluj
Cluj
Cluj may refer to*Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974*Cluj County, Romania*Cluj-Napoca International Airport*U Cluj, a Romanian sports club*U Cluj, a Romanian football club*CFR Cluj, a Romanian football club...
historically connected to present day institutions. Possevino's efforts to bolster the Catholics in Poland under the patronage of Bathory engendered hostility to the Jesuit diplomat at the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
court of Rudolf II reflected at the papal court of Rome.
Padua and Rome: Jesuit encyclopedist & bibliographer
After his protector Bathory's death at the end of 1586 Possevino was retired from diplomacy by Jesuit general Claudio AcquavivaClaudio Acquaviva
Claudio Acquaviva was an Italian Jesuit priest elected in 1581 the 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus...
. He was banned from Rome as too political and exiled to Venetian territory. In Padua Possevino continued to conduct the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises
Spiritual Exercises
Spiritual exercises may refer to:* Any spiritual practice dedicated towards increasing one's personal spirituality* Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, a book of spiritual practices of the Roman Catholic Jesuit order...
thus influencing the vocation of the Bishop and Saint Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva and is a Roman Catholic saint. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, and was an accomplished preacher...
there as a student of law. Finally, in Padua began the scholarly project of assembling and organizing the library of orthodox
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
learning assembled in the Bibliotheca selecta
Bibliotheca selecta
Bibliotheca selecta is a bibliographical encyclopedia by the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, printed in two folio volumes at the Typographia Apostolica Vaticana by Domenico Basa in 1593...
(1593) dedicated to pope Clement VIII and Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
. His sections were carefully reviewed by the leading professors of the Roman College including Christopher Clavius
Christopher Clavius
Christopher Clavius was a German Jesuit mathematician and astronomer who was the main architect of the modern Gregorian calendar...
and Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
. A decade later the theological compendium Apparatus Sacer (1603-06) appeared in Venice. During the 1590s while he was busy as a bibliographer he was also active in pastoral work in his native Mantua and at the court of duke Vincenzo Gonzaga. Two missions on the status of the Jesuits in France brought him into renewed contact with king Henri IV.
Venice and Ferrara: Jesuit polemicist
In Venice Possevino served as a leader of the vecchi against the anti-papal giovani who supported Paolo SarpiPaolo Sarpi
Fra Paolo Sarpi was a Venetian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer. His most important roles were as a canon lawyer and historian active on behalf of the Venetian Republic.- Early years :...
and had contacts with French and English ambassadors. Following the Interdict of 1606 of pope Paul V against Venice Possevino was banished with the Society of Jesus from the Republic of Venice. He was sent to relative obscurity in nearby Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
where he wrote several polemical tracts under various pseudomyns concerning the pro-Catholic False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I was the Tsar of Russia from 21 July 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dimitriy Ioannovich . He is sometimes referred to under the usurped title of Dmitriy II...
, the Venetian Interdict
Venetian Interdict
The Venetian Interdict of 1606 and 1607 was the expression in terms of canon law, by means of a papal interdict, of a diplomatic quarrel and confrontation between the Papal Curia and the Republic of Venice, taking place in the period from 1605 to 1607...
and other controversial issues. Having outlived his role during the Counter Reformation as the political Jesuit intellectual, par excellence , he died in 1611.
Selected Works and Online Links
- Del sacrificio dell'altare (Lyons, 1563) [English trans. Louvain, 1570]
- Risposta a Pietro Vireto, Nicolo Balbiani. e a due altri heretici (Avignon, 1566)
- Il soldato cristiano (Rome, 1569)
- Notæ verbi Dei et Apostolicæ Ecclesiæ (Posen, 1586)
- Muscovia (Vilna, 1586)(http://books.google.com/books?id=z805AAAAcAAJ&dq=inauthor%3Apossevino&hl=fr&pg=PA20-IA3#v=onepage&q&f=false)
- Iudicium de Nuae, Iohannis Bodini, Philippe-Mornaei et Machiavelli scriptis (Rome, 1592); (Lyons, 1593) (http://books.google.com/books?id=QNI7AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=antonio+possevino+iudicium+de+nuae&hl=en&ei=YR2mTYK_G6Hw0gHj0b2uDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false)
- Bibliotheca selectaBibliotheca selectaBibliotheca selecta is a bibliographical encyclopedia by the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, printed in two folio volumes at the Typographia Apostolica Vaticana by Domenico Basa in 1593...
(Rome, 1593) - Apparatus ad omnium gentium historiam (Venice, 1597)(http://books.google.com/books?id=YsM5AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=antonio+possevino+apparatus+ad+omnium+gentium+historiam&hl=en&ei=FCCmTf7aF8fb0QHJwuj1CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false)
- Apparatus sacer ad scriptores Veteris et Novi TestamentiApparatus sacer ad scriptores Veteris et Novi TestamentiApparatus sacer ad scriptores Veteris et Novi Testamenti, also simply called Apparatus sacer, is one of the most celebrated works of Antonio Possevino . It is an overview of the different interpretations of the Old and New Testament by ecclesiastical authors from the Church fathers up to his...
(Venice, 1603-06) - Nuova risposta di Giovanni Filoteo d'Asti (Bologna, 1607)
- Risposto del Sig. Paolo Anafesto (Bologna, 1607)