ALBERTO CASTELLANI

Historian and editor; b. c. 1459; d. 1552. He entered the Dominican priory of Saints John and Paul in Venice, and although the details of his life are obscure, his name appears often in connection with writings that cover a wide field of interest, most of them concerned with the history of his order. These include the Catalogus sanctorum a Petro de Natalibus Veneto e regione Castellana episcopo Equilino concinnatus (Venice 1501), Catalogus illustrium Ordinis virorum (Venice 1501), and Chronica brevis ab initio Ordinis usque ad praesens tempus (Venice 1504). Besides these historical accounts of the prominent Dominicans from the foundation of the order to his own time, he edited the constitutions of the Order of Preachers; the formularies for the election of priors, visitation of convents, and conduct of chapters; and the valuable Tabula super privilegia papalia Ordini Praedicatorum concessa (1507). In 1519 he edited a Biblical concordance of the Old and New Testament, and he is famous for his revision of the Pontificale Romanum. Among the many ascetical, patristic, and apologetical works he published were some of the sermons of Caesarius of Arles and Zeno, Bishop of Verona (Venice 1508), and an interesting example of devotional iconography, the Rosario de la gloriosa Vergine Maria (Venice 1521), in which the mysteries of the rosary were incised in wood for popular use.

Bibliography: j. quÉtif and Échard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum 2:48–49. u. mannucci, Enciclopedia Italiana di scienzi, littere ed arti 2:192–93.

[e. d. mcshane]