Ferdinando Ughelli (21 March 1595 – 19 May 1670) was an Italian

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

monk and church historian.

Biography

He was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. He entered the

Order and was sent to the

Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he studied under the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Francesco Piccolomini and John de Lugo. He filled many important posts in his order, being Abbot of

Badia a Settimo The Badia a Settimo or Abbazia dei Santi Salvatore e Lorenzo a Settimo is a Cluniac Benedictine abbey in the comune of Scandicci, near Florence in Tuscany, Italy. It was founded in 1004. On 18 March 1236, by order of Pope Gregory IX, ...

near Florence, and, from 1638, Abbot of Tre Fontane in Rome. He was skilled in ecclesiastical history. To encourage him in this work and to defray the expense of the journeys it entailed, Pope

Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice-papal legate, and ...

granted him an annual pension of 500

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin '' ...

. He was a

consultor A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e., a counselor. In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions: *in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by ...

of the

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidd ...

and theologian to Cardinal Carlo de' Medici; he was frequently offered the episcopal dignity, which he refused. He died in Rome in 1670 and was buried in his

abbatial An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

church.

Literary works

His chief work is ''Italia sacra sive de episcopis Italiae''"Sacred Italy, or Concerning the Bishops of Italy". (9 vols, 1643–1662), re-edited with corrections and additions by Nicola Coleti (1717–1722), with a tenth volume. In compiling this work, he frequently had to deal with matters not previously treated by historians; as a result, the ''Italia sacra'', owing to the imperfections of historical science in Ughelli's day, especially from the point of view of criticism and diplomatics, contains serious errors, particularly as the author was more intent on collecting than on weighing documents. Nevertheless, his work with all its imperfections was necessary to facilitate the labours of critical historians of a later day, and is consulted even now. In the last volume of the ''Italia sacra'' he published various historical sources until then unedited. Among his other writings are: * ''Cardinalium elogia ex sacro ordine cisterciensi'' (1624): writings in praise of cardinals of his order and the papal privileges granted to it; * ''Columnensis familiae cardinalium imagines'' (1650): biographies of cardinals of the

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope ( Martin V) and many other church and politi ...

family. * genealogical works on the Counts of Marsciano (1667) and the Capizucchi (1653); * ''Aggiunte'' ("additions") to the ''Vitae et res gestae pontificum'' by Ciaconius ( Alphonsus Ciacconius).

Notes

References

* *

Biography

Literary works

Notes

References

Further reading