Bonaventura, St., one of the most eminent of the scholastic divines of the thirteenth century, called also " the Seraphic Doctor," was born at Bagnarea, Tuscan}', in 1221. His family name was Giovanni Fidanza. In 1243 he entered the Franciscan order, and studied at Paris under Alexander de Hales : afterward he taught divinity in the same university, and took his doctor's degree, together with Thomas Aquinas, in 1255. In the following year, upon the death of John of Parma, he was elected general of his order, where- upon lie labored to reform its decayed discipline, and defended it warmly against the attacks of Ciraldus of Abbeville and William de St. Amour. At a general chapter of the order, held at Tisa, he directed the Mi- norites every where to exhort the people, in their ser- mons, to pray to the Virgin and worship her when they heard the sound of the bell after compline. He also first introduced the establishment of religious con- fraternities, or sodalities of laymen, which he set on foot at Rome in 1270. In 1272 he had the singular privilege conferred upon him of nominating to the popedom, the cardinals being unable to come to any
conclusion among themselves, and unanimously agree- ing to leave the matter in the hands of Bonaventura, who named Theodore, archdeacon of Liege, known as Pope Gregory X. This pope, in gratitude, made him cardinal-bishop of Albano in 1274. He attended the first sessions of the Council of Lyons, but died before its conclusion, July 15th, 1274. He was canonized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1482. In philosophy, as well as theology, he was pre-eminent in his time. His special aim was to reconcile Aristotle with the Alexandrians. "In his commentary on Lombardus he contracts the sphere of speculation, and studies to employ the prin- ciples of Aristotle and the Arabians, not so much for the satisfaction of a minute and idle curiosity, as for the resolution of important questions, and to reconcile opposite opinions, especially in the important inquiries respecting individuation and free-will. Occasionally he rests his arguments rather on the practical destina- tion of man than on theoretical notions — for instance, respecting the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The Supreme Good he affirms to be union with the De- ity, by which alone mankind can attain a perception of truth, and the enjoyment of happiness. This leads him to ascribe all knowledge to illumination from on high (Redhetio actionum ad Tin ologiam), which he distin- guishes into four species — exterior, inferior, interior, and superior. He defines also six degrees whereby man may approximate the Deity, and refers to these six as many distinct faculties of the soul — an ingenious idea, and copiously detailed, but in a great degree ar- bitrary and forced (Itinerarium mentis ad Deum). Find- ing speculation insufficient for the attainment of the Supreme Good, he abandoned himself with all his heart to Mysticism." " In the scholastic theology, Bona- ventura ranks after Thomas Aquinas in point of fertil- ity and of speculative acuteness ; while, as a mystic, he lacks the independence of the school of St. Victor. His characteristic merits are his ample comprehen- siveness, both of thought and feel in : ., and his imagin- ative power, which, however, was always united with strict logical faculty. According to his scholastic principle, he set out with the purpose to bring the whole of human knowledge within the sphere of theol- ogy (De reductione artium in theologiam)" (Ilerzog, Real-Encyldopiid'e, ii, 291). The worst feature of Bo- naventura's influence was the impulse he gave to Mari- olatry (Elliott, Delhi, of Romanism, bk. iv, ch. iv, p. 763, Lond. ed. 8vo). The beautiful hymn, Recordare sanctas crucis, was written by him ; it is given, with a trans- lation, by the Rev. II. Harbaugh, in the Mercersburg Review, 1858, p. 480. Among his other works on sys- tematic theology, the Brevilcquium and Centiloquium are the most important. The former is called by Baumgarten-Crusius the best manual of systematic theology produced in the Middle Ages. The best edi- tion of it is by Hefele (Tub. 1845). He also wrote many mystico-practical treatises, e. g. De septi m if inn. ceternitatis : — Stimulus Amor is .- — Incendium Amoris, etc. Neander declares that " his great mind grasped the whole compass of human knowledge as it existed in his time." His writings are collected under the title Opera, Sirti V, Pont. Max.,jussu emendata, etc. (Rome, 1588-96, 8 vols. fol. ; also Venice, 1751, 13 vols. 4to). Contents, vol. i : Principium S. Scriptures ,- Expo- sitio seu Sermcnes 33 in JI< xa> m run ; ExposiHo in Psal- terium, in Ecclesiasten, in Sapientiam et in Threnos Hi- eremioe. Vol. ii ■ Expositio in caput vi S. Matthcd, et in Evang. S. Lucce; Postilla in Evang. S. Johannis et Collationes in eundem. Vol. Ill r Sermones de Tempore et de Sanctis. Vols, iv, v: Commen'aria in iv libros St nti ntiarum Pt tri Lombardi. Vol. vi contains parts 1 and 2 of the Opuscula, viz. : (1.) De reductione artium ad theologiam ; (2.) Breviloquium ; (3.) Centiloquium ; (4.) Pharetra ; (p.)Declaratioterminorum theofogiee; (6.) Principium compendiosum in libros Sententiarum ; (J.~)iv libri Sententiarum carmine digesti; (8.) De iv virtutibus cardinalibus ; (9.) Di vii donis S. S.; (.1°-) be Hi ter-
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