Francesco Antonio Zaccaria

Francesco Antonio Zaccaria

Theologian, historian, and prolific writer, born at Venice, 27 March, 1714; died in Rome, 10 October, 1795. He joined the Austrian province of the Society of Jesus, 18 October, 1731, taught grammar and rhetoric at Gorz, and wa ordained priest at Rome in 1740. He spent some time in poastoral work and Ancona, Fermo, and Pistoia, gaining renown as a preacher and controversial lecturer. In 1751 he succeeded Muratori as ducal archivist and librarian of Modena, but was removed in 1768, owing to his "Antifebronio", in which he strenuously defended the rights of the Holy See. He was now appointed librarian at the Jesuit professed house in Rome. Clement XIII allowed him an annual pension, continued under Clement XIV, and increased by Pius VI, who appointed him professor of church history at the Sapienza and director of the Accademia de'Nobili Ecclesiastici. He was a member of at least nineteen Italian academies. Of the 161 printed works ascribed to him by Sommervogel the following are the most important. On Church History: "Series episcoporum Cremonensium" (Milan, 1749); "Laudensium" (ibid., 1763); "Auximatium" (Osimo, 1764); "Vico AEquensium" (Rome, 1778); "Caesenatium" (Cesena, 1779); "Forocorneliensium" (Imola, 1820); "De' santi martiri Fedele, Capoforo, Gratiniano, e Felino" (Milan, 1750) "Acta SS. Bollandiana apologeticis libris in unum volumen nunc primum contractis vindicata" (Antwerp, 1755); "De rebus ad historiam atque antigitates ecclesiae pertinentibus" (Foligno, 1781); "Raccolta di dissertazioni di storia ecclesiastica" (22 vols., Rome, 1792-7). Theology and Canon Law: "Thesaurus theologicus", a compilation of theological treatises by various authors, arranged so as to form an orderly ecposition of the different topics of theology (13 vols., Venice, 1762); "De causuisticae theologicae originibus, locis atque praestantia", written at the instance of St. Alphonsus and prefixed to th third edition of the latter's "Moral Theology"; "Apparatus omnigenae eruditionis ad theologiam et jus canonicum" (Rome, 1773); etc. Polemics: "Antifebronio" (Pesaro, 1767), Latin edition (Cesena, 1771-2; and in Migne, "Theol. Cursus Completus", XXVII, 463-1300); "Storia polemica del celibato sacro" (Rome, 1774), German translation by Pius John (1783); "Storia polemica delle proibizione de' libri" (Rome, 1777); "Difesa di tre Sommi Pontefici Benedetto XIII, Benedetto XIV, e Clemente XIII, e del Concilio Romano tenuto nel 1775" (Ravenna, 1784). Liturgy: "Dell' anno santo" (Rome, 1774); "Bibliotheca ritualis" (2 vols., Rome, 1776-8); "nuovo effermerologio universale" (Rome, 1780); "Onomasticon rituale selectum" (Fäenza, 1787). Archaeology: "istituzione antiquario-lapidaria" (Rome, 1770); "Istituzione antiguario-numismatica" (Rome, 1772). Literary History: "Storia Letteraria d'Italia", a literary review edited by Zaccaria with the assistance of Leonard Ximenes, Dominicus Froili, and Joachim Gabardi (14 vols., Modena, 1750-57); "Excursus litterarii per Italiam" (Venice, 1754); "Iter Litterarium per Italiam" (Venice, 1762); "Saggio critico della corrente letteratura straniera" (3 vols., Modena, 1576), written by Zaccaria, conjointly with Gabardi and Froili; "Annali letterarii d'Italia" (3 vols., Modena, 1762-3); "Biblioteca antica e moderna di storia letteraria" (3 vols., Pesaro, 1766-8). He furthermore issued annotated editions of: Menochius, "Commentarius totius s. Scripturae" (Venice, 1743); Dante, "La Divina Comedia" (Verona, 1749); Tamburini, "Theologia Moralis" (Venice, 1755); Busenbaum-LaCroix, "Theologia Moralis" (1755); Viva, "Opuscula omnis theologico-moralia" (Ferrara, 1757); Abelly, "Medulla theologica" (Venice, 1757); Petavius, "Opus de ulla theologica" (Venice, 1757); Pichler, "Jus Cononicum" (Pesaro, 1758); Tirinus, "In universam Scripturam Commentarius" (Venice, 1759); Gavanto, "Opera theologico-canonica" (Ferrara, 1760); Tournely, "Praelectiones" (Venice, 1765); Natalis Alexander, "Historia Ecclesiastica" (Venmice, 1776-7); Ferraris, "Bibliotheca canonicojuridica" (Rome, 1748-90); Pallavacino, "Istoria del Concilio di trento" (Fäenza, 1797-7).

SOMMERVOGEL, Bibliotheque de la Compagnie de Jesus, VIII (Brussels, 1898), 1381-1435; CUCCAGNI, Elogio storico dell' abate Francesantonio Zaccaria (Rome, 1769); HURTER, Nomenclator, V (Innsbruck, 1911), i, 484-498.

MICHAEL OTT