medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 17:36:20 -0700 Phyllis wrote:
>Today (25. July) is the feast day of:
>A modern saint: Rudolph Aquaviva (blessed) (d. 1583) Rudolph
>Aquaviva was a younger son of the duke of Atri. He became a Jesuit
>and in 1578 was sent to India. There RA spent three years
>missionizing around the Mogul court. But he and his fellows seem to
>have been widely resented away from court. A group of 10 Europeans
>and 10 native converts were traveling one day and the locals grabbed
>their chance, hacking all twenty to death; RA's corpse got thrown
>down a well, whence it was rescued un-decomposed, two days later. He
>was beatified in 1893.
>
Not "Aquaviva" but "Acquaviva". A member of one of the great noble families of the late medieval and early modern Regno, R. belonged to the main branch whose surname had since 1479 been Acquaviva d'Aragona. A son of Don Giangirolamo, 8th duke of Atri and (to name the chief family seat in the south) 29th count of Conversano, he was directly descended from Don Giulio Antonio, 5th duke of Atri and the most prominent fatality of the Otranto campaign of 1481, through the latter's son, Don Andrea Matteo III, 6th duke of Atri, 24th count of Conversano, friend and patron of Sannazaro and of other Neapolitan humanists, and through Andrea Matteo's first wife, Isabella Piccolomini Todeschini, daughter of the first Piccolomini duke of Amalfi and thus closely related to popes Pius II and Pius III.
One of R.'s uncles (not much older than himself) was Don Claudio (d. 1613), who became General of the Jesuit Order a few years after R. had been sent to India. An older brother, Don Giulio (d. 1574), achieved the cardinalate in 1570 (but is perhaps better known today for having employed Cervantes as a member of his household in Italy).
All told, someone of fitting rank and background to be sent to the Mogul court.
Best,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|