BARTHOLOMEW OF BRAGA, VEN.

Dominican theologian and archbishop of Braga; b. Lisbon, May 3, 1514; d. Viana, July 16, 1590. Though his surname was Fernandez, he was called Bartholomeus de Martyribus after the church of his baptism, S. Maria de Martyribus. He became a Dominican friar on Nov. 11, 1528; after the completion of his studies, he taught philosophy and then theology for 20 years. In 1558, against his inclination and at the wish of his provincial, Luis of Granada, he accepted the appointment to the archiepiscopal see of Braga. He was greatly influential in the reform activity of the Council of Trent in the sessions from 1562 to 1563. He promulgated the conciliar decrees and interpreted them strictly in his provincial council of 1566. He started a seminary in his palace, instituted chairs of moral theology in Braga and Viana do Castelo, composed a catechism, preached assiduously, and dedicated much time to the visitation of his nearly 1,300 parishes. Worn out from this pastoral activity, he resigned his bishopric in 1582 and retired to the Dominican priory of Viana do Castelo. Among his more than 30 works are the Catecismo ou doutrina cristã (1564), Stimulus pastorum (1565), and Compendium spiritualis doctrinae (1582).

Bibliography: p. damino, Il contributo teologico di Bartolomeo dé Martiri al Concilio di Trento (Rome 1962). l. sousa, Vida de D. Fr. Bartolomeu dos Mártires, 3 v. (Lisbon 1946). a. walz, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 2:12–13. f. de almeida, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart (Paris 1912–) 6:983–984.

[r. de almeida rolo]