Thomas Donatus

Thomas Donatus or Tommaso Donà (* 1434 in Venice ; † 11. November 1504 ) was an Italian Dominican - theologian and from 1492 until his death Patriarch of Venice .

biography

Origin and monastic period

Thomas was the son of Ermolao di Nicolò and Marina di Pietro Loredan and belonged to the patrician family Donà "dalle Trezze" based in Santa Maria Formosa . At a young age he lost his father, who was murdered on returning from a session in the Senate (Jacopo Foscari, son of Doge Francesco , was falsely accused of the crime).

In 1461 he entered the Dominican community in the monastery of San Domenico , and was elected prior in 1467. In his monastic years, he distinguished himself as a theologian and preacher by publishing commentaries on the Psalms , the Gospel of Matthew , the Epistles of Paul and the writings of Thomas Aquinas . He is also assigned the Office for the Feasts of the Visitation and the Sanctification of Mary , which appeared in the Dominican Breviary of Emericus von Speyer (1492). The sermons de tempore, de sanctis and de sacramentis remained as manuscripts in the chapter library and were lost during the Napoleonic period when the monastery was abolished and demolished.

Patriarchy

On October 1, 1492 he was elected Patriarch of Venice by the Senate to replace the late Maffeo Gherardi . In a short time the election received the approval of the Pope, and on November 30th Donatus could be consecrated and take possession of his seat.

One of the first measures was a decree of January 18, 1493, which stated that no priest could apply for parish money unless he had been examined by the patriarch. Under threat of excommunication, it was extended to lay people who suggested unsuitable priests. The dispute with the parishioners of San Bartolomeo , who claimed to be able to choose their own pastor despite the responsibility of the Patriarch, was related to this. The dispute lasted for a long time: on January 18, 1496, Donatus turned to the Senate, but his appeal fell on deaf ears as the matter was postponed indefinitely. Eight years later, on March 29, 1503, he returned to the Pregadi, claiming that the priest elected by the parishioners had been excommunicated, but even in this case he achieved nothing.

On January 13, 1495, he accepted the request from the Soranzo family, church patrons of the parish of Jesolo , to build a new church with an attached rectory, as the old church of Santa Maria Assunta, formerly the cathedral of the Diocese of Equilio , had become inaccessible . However, he insisted that the building materials be reclaimed from other destroyed buildings rather than the former cathedral, which was instead being preserved.

On January 25, 1497, he received permission from the Pope against the priest Francesco, chief penitentiary of the cathedral, who is accused of high treason against the republic to proceed. The following February 21, he forbade Luca Giunta to print Ovid's Metamorphoses and asked him to correct some of the illustrations that were considered scandalous.

On June 18, 1500, he did not take part in the Corpus Christi procession . Perhaps even then he was suffering from gout , a disease that had afflicted him in recent years and ultimately led to death. On the following December 13th, he was unable to attend the meeting between Doge Agostino Barbarigo and Cardinal Ippolito d'Este , who was visiting Venice on his way to Hungary .

In March 1501 he promulgated a decree to end the lack of piety observed in St. Mark's Basilica , but on the 13th of the same month the decree was rejected by the Doge, who recalled that the administration of the basilica was his responsibility.

On March 27, 1502, he asked the government to accept his resignation from the Patriarchate because of the gout that continued to plague him, but his resignation was refused.

Another important aspect of his episcopate was the renovation of San Pietro di Castello , although the work cannot be precisely dated. On his initiative, the church was completely renovated and enriched with works of art. In addition, the now defunct Baptistery of San Giovanni, which served as a private oratory, was added. He also took care of the restoration of the patriarchal palace as well as the purchase of a villa for summer stays in Mirano (which remained in the possession of the patriarchs until the mid-19th century).

He died on November 11, 1504 " the fever on his cheeks and could not see out of his eyes," as Marin Sanudo noted. Although he was seriously ill, he did not want to do without a final Mass celebrated at his bedside, and it seems that he passed away at the very moment he received the Eucharist . The funeral took place in the cathedral two days later, and he was buried in the baptistery of Saint John the Baptist that he had built.

literature

• Alessandro Orsoni: Cronologia storica dei vescovi olivolensi, detti dappoi castellani e successivi patriarchi di Venezia . Felice, Venice 1828, p. 318 (Italian, Digitale-sammlungen.de ).
• Antonio Niero: I patriarchi di Venezia. Since Lorenzo Giustiniani ai nostri giorni . Studium cattolico veneziano, 1961, p. 46-49 (Italian).

Web links

• Patriarch Tommaso Donato, OP † ( en ) Catholic Hierarchy.

Remarks

1. ^ Sanctificatio Beatae Mariae Virginis was called by the Dominicans the feast of the Immaculata Conceptio (December 8th). Behind this was the theological difference with the Franciscans over the question of how and at what point in time Mary was taken out of the original sin context, which was not decided by the magisterium until 1854.

predecessor	Office	successor
Maffeo Gherardi	Patriarch of Venice September 16, 1492 - November 11, 1504	Antonio Surian