BO'NAVENTIPRA (1221-74 ). A saint and doctor of the Roman Catholic Church. llis real name was Giovanni Fidanza. He was born in 1221 at Bagnorea, in Tuscany. In 12:3S he be came a Franciscan monk; was a theological teacher in Paris. where he had studied, 1248-55; and in 1257 became general of his order, which he governed strictly, but affectionately. The in fluence of his character now began to penetrate the Church; and it was mainly through his elo quent persuasion that the differences which had sprung up among the cardinals on the death of Clement 1V.. in 1268. were reconciled, and all induced to unite (1271) in electing to the Papal dignity Tedaldus Visconti (Gregory N.). The new Pope created Bonaventura Bishop of Albano and cardinal in 1273, when he accompanied Greg ory to the council at Lyons. where he died, .July 15, 1274, from sheer ascetic exhaustion. He was honored with a splendid funeral, which was at tended by the Pope, the King, and all the car dinals.
On account of his unspotted character from earliest youth, as well as the miracles ascribed to him, he enjoyed, even during his lifetime, especial veneration. Dante, who wrote shortly after, places him among the saints of his Para diso: in 1482 he was formally canonized by Sixths IV. and in 1587 was ranked by Sixtus V. as the sixth of the great doctors of the Church. The religious fervor of his style pro cured for him the title of doctor seraphieus, and his own order, the Franciscans. are as proud of him as the Dominicans are of Thomas Aqui nas. A great part of his writings is devoted to the praise of his order. and to the defense of hyperdulia, celibacy, transubstantiation, com munion in one kind, and other doctrines and practices much discussed in his day. which he treats in a philosophical nm nner. His most important works, the Breriloquium (Ttibingen, 1845; Venice, 1874, 2 vans.), and Soliloquium,
are properly text-books on dogmatics. Unfor tunately, his efforts to philosophize the Church creed, and that deep mysticism in which his spirit reveled, make him often obscure and un intelligible even in his most popular treatises. With 'Bonaventura theology is the goal of all art and science: and in his Miler-urinal Mentis in Deum, as also in his Rednctio Artium in Theologian, he represents union with God, to which the soul attains through six stages, as the highest good. lle did more than am- other of the early theologians to give a scientific form to the mystical theology. The Biblia Pauperum, or `poor man's Bible,' attributed to him, is a mystico-allegoric explanation of the plain con tents of the sacred books for the benefit of the laity. In warmth of religious feeling, how ever, and in the practical tendency of his ethics, he far excels most of his contemporaries. In his commentary on the Se-Wen/k• of Peter the Lombard, he acutely argued against the eternity of the world. and also advanced some original proofs of the immortality of the soul. The most complete edition of his works appeared at Paris (1864-71, 15 vole.). In modern English have appeared his Life of Saint Francis of Assisi (London, 1S6S. 2d ed. 1876) The Month of Jesus Christ (1882) : and Instructions for the .Season of Lent (1884). The Life of Christ (1881); The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin (1852); The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Dublin, 18-19), are works attributed to him. Ilis Itinerarium is translated in the Journal of Speculatire Philosophy, xxi. Consult: Lexicon Bona vent uria nu m ph ilosoph ico-theologieu m (Ven ice, 1880) ; and for his life, A. M. Vicenza (from the Italian, Paderborn, 1874) ; Sixieme eenten noire 15. Juillet, 1874 (Lyons, 1874).