Francesco Spiera (1502 – December 27, 1548) was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Italian jurist. The manner of his death has been the subject of numerous religious tracts.

Life

He was born at

Cittadella Cittadella () is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around . There are fo ...

, north of

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, then part of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

s of the early modern period used his case as an example of the dreadful consequences of the sin against the Holy Ghost: he discerned evangelical truth, but denied and abjured it for external reasons. Spiera had a respected position in his native town and a fine house, in which ten children grew up. Besides the Scriptures, there fell into his hands various evangelical writings, such as ''The Benefit of Christ's Death'', ''Doctrine Old and New'', and ''Summary of Sacred Scripture'', which instilled in him doubts about

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

teachings, such as those on

purgatory In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...

and veneration of the saints. With others he was arraigned before the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

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 ...

; his trial was held between May 24 and June 20, 1548. On the latter day, in

St. Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cathed ...

, Spiera made solemn

abjuration Abjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. The term comes from the Latin ''abjurare'', "to forswear". Abjuration of the realm Abju ...

of his "errors", and subscribed the abjuration, which he then repeated on the following Sunday in

, after mass in the cathedral. On returning home, so he related it himself, "the Spirit", or the voice of his conscience, began to reproach him for having denied the truth. Over time, he felt more and more hopeless, which feeling so affected him physically that he was taken to

to be treated by physicians. The treatment was in vain, and the conflict, which

Pier Paolo Vergerio Pier Paolo Vergerio ( 1498 – 4 October 1565), the Younger, was an Italian papal nuncio and later Protestant reformer. Life He was born at Capodistria (Koper), Istria, then part of the Venetian Republic and studied jurisprudence in Padua, ...

and others witnessed, ended in his death, shortly after his return to his home. That Spiera intentionally injured himself is later invention.

Life

References

Further reading