Magni, Valeriano
MAGNI, VALERIANO
Capuchin priest, diplomat, and missioner; b. Prague, Bohemia, October 15, 1586; d. Salzburg, Austria, July 29, 1661. Valeriano, although of the noble family of Magni of Milan, entered the Capuchin Order in 1602. He spent his first years as lector. In 1627, as diplomat, he was commissioned by Emperor Ferdinand to implement the Edict of Restitution. Pope Urban VIII appointed him missionary apostolic to Bohemia in 1629. As the pope's delegate he attended the Diet of Ratisbon (1630). As missionary, Valeriano reestablished the Church in Saxony and Hesse (1652). Between 1635 and 1661, he was often a controversial figure. However, history testifies to his orthodox Catholic spirit. He wrote penetrating and progressive philosophical writings, together with apologetical-theological works, but Valeriano the philosopher and theologian was overshadowed by Valeriano the diplomat and missionary.
Bibliography: Lexicon Capuccinum (Rome 1951) 1776–77. c. pulvermacher, "Missionary, Scholar, Diplomat: Valerian the Great," Round Table of Franciscan Research 23 (1958) 56–65. father cuthbert, The Capuchins, 2 v. (London 1928). i. da milano, Enciclopedia cattolica 7:1844–45.
[l. miller]