Agostino Valier (7 April 1531 – 24 May 1606), also Augustinus Valerius or Valerio, was an Italian cardinal and

bishop of Verona 235px, The facade of ''Palazzo del Vescovado'' The Diocese of Verona () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy. The diocese belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Venice. The bishop of Verona has his seat in Verona, Vene ...

. He was a reforming bishop, putting into effect the decisions of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

by means of administrative and disciplinary measures. He was one of the

Christian humanist Christian humanism refers to two intellectual movements: the anti-paganizing wing of sixteenth century Renaissance humanism (the scholarly movement and worldview that recovered the classical humanities and ideals of citizenship and human dignity; ...

followers of

Filippo Neri Saint Philip Neri , born Filippo Romolo Neri, (22 July 151526 May 1595) was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy dedicated to pastoral care and charitable work. He is sometimes re ...

Life

He was born in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

on 7 April 1531. He became a doctor of

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

. Valier took part in the intellectual life of his time. In Venice around the year 1560 he was associated with the Academy of Fame of

Federico Badoer Federico Badoer (1519–1593) was a diplomat of the Republic of Venice whose career was derailed in the 1560s by debts and unauthorized diplomacy. Badoer was born on 2 January 1519 in Venice. His father was Alvise Badoer. He was a promising youth, ...

; he later also took part in the Noctes Vaticanae. As a dedicatee of one of the works of Jacopo Zabarella he may have been a patron. Agostino was the nephew of Cardinal Bernardo Navagero (1507 – 1565), and assumed his position as bishop when his uncle died. Valier as bishop from 1565 was influenced by his reforming predecessor at Verona,

Gian Matteo Giberti Gian Matteo Giberti (20 September 1495 – 30 December 1543) was an Italian diplomat, Bishop of Verona. Biography Born at Palermo, he was the natural son of Francesco Giberti, a Genoese naval captain. In 1513 he was admitted to the household of ...

, as well as the

, and his association with

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a cardinal in 1560. Borromeo founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and was ...

. He followed Borromeo's

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

model but not slavishly, working within local tradition, while also handling the Venetian dominance in a diplomatic fashion. In 1576 he requested that the Jesuits be called to Verona to found a school. Valier died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 24 May 1606.''Illustrations of Biblical Literature'', vol. II, Rev.

James Townley Rev. James Townley (6 May 1714 – 15 July 1778) was an English dramatist, the second son of Charles Townley, a merchant. Early life, education and marriage Townley was born in 1714 probably at Tower Hill, London, the second son of Charles To ...

, 1856
archive.org

Works

Valier wrote a biography of

shortly after his death in 1584, and a history of

to 1580. He later became prefect of the

Congregation of the Index The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or r ...

. The atmosphere of close scrutiny of works is thought to have affected his wish for publication in his own lifetime. One work left unpublished was ''Philippus sive de laetitia Christiana'', referencing Filippo Neri in its title, and dwelling on Carlo Borromeo and his nephew Federigo Borromeo, whom Valier had mentored, in a neostoic vein. *''Rhetorica Ecclesiastica'' (1570) in Latin, a work based on mission work in the

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

. This work by Valier employing classical rhetoric as a resource for preaching, with subsequent works by

Luis de Granada Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

and Diego de Estella, is considered a significant development in the Catholic tradition. A French translation by , ''La rhétorique du prédicateur'', was published in 1750. *''Instruttione delle donne maritate'' (1575), a book for wives, in the form of a letter to his married sister. * ''De cautione adhibenda in edendis libris'' (1719). Valier was one of the editors of the

Clementine Vulgate The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate or Clementine Vulgate () is an edition of the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. It was the second edition of the Vulgate to be formally authorized by the Catholic Church, the first be ...

. He took a sceptical line on much of the content of the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, organised by the saints' feast days. The project was conceived and ...

''.Ethel Ross Barker, ''Rome of the Pilgrims and Martyrs: a study in the martyrologies, itineraries, syllogæ, and other contemporary documents'' (1913), p. 13
archive.org

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius, Augustinus 1531 births 1606 deaths 17th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Verona Participants in the Council of Trent 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice Canon law jurists 16th-century Italian jurists 16th-century Italian cardinals 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice