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Francisco Quaresmio orQuaresmi (4 April 1583 – 25 October 1650), better known by hisLatin nameFranciscus Quaresmius, was an Italian writer andOrientalist.
Quaresmius was born atLodi. His father was the noblemanAlberto Quaresmio and his mother Laura Papa. At an early age he was enrolled among theFranciscanObservantines atMantua. For many years he held the chairs ofphilosophy,theology, andcanon law, and became successively guardian,custos, and minister of his province. Later (1645-8) he occupied the two highest posts in the order, that of definitor and procurator general. The memoirs of the order extol his consummate virtue, particularly his piety, prudence, and extraordinary meekness. His long apostolate in the East and the works he left secured his fame, especially among earlier historians, Biblical scholars, and Orientalists.
On March 3, 1616, he went toJerusalem, where he became Guardian and Vice-Commissary Apostolic ofAleppo inSyria (1616-8), and Superior and Commissary Apostolic of the East (1618–19). During this period he was twice imprisoned by theTurks. In 1620 he returned to Europe, but in 1625 was back in Jerusalem, whence the following year he addressed from theHoly Sepulchre an appeal toPhilip IV of Spain, inviting him to reconquer theHoly Land, and at the same time dedicating to him his work,Hierosolymæ afflictæ.[1] Between 1616 and 1626 he wrote his workElucidatio terræ Sanctæ, a contribution to history, geography, archæology, Biblical and moral science.
During 1627-29 he was atAleppo as papal commissary and asvicar-patriarch for theChaldeans andMaronites of Syria andMesopotamia. In 1629 he went to Italy to render an account to the Holy See of the state of the Eastern Churches; he then returned to the East, but how long he remained is not known. Meanwhile, he journeyed throughEgypt andSinai, the Holy Land, Syria, Mesopotamia,Cyprus,Rhodes,Constantinople, and a large part ofAsia Minor; he also visitedGermany,France, and theLow Countries. In 1637 he was guardian of S. Angelo (Milan), where in 1643 he completed his other work on the Passion of Christ.
He died in Milan in 1650.
His published works include:
Still in manuscript are:
These and other manuscript works are said[by whom?] to be preserved, some in the municipal library of Pavia and Lodi and some at Jerusalem.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Franciscus Quaresmius".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
