Pietro Martire Vermigli
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
of the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
period.
Life
He was born at FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, the son of Stefano di Antonio Vermigli and Maria Fumantina, a moderately well-to-do family. The young couple originally christened their child Piero Mariano, though he took the name Peter Martyr when he entered the novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
of the Augustinian Order after the 13th-century Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
St. Peter Martyr
Peter Martyr
Peter Martyr is the name of:*Peter of Verona, 13th-century martyr*Peter Martyr Vermigli, 16th-century Italian theologian*Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, 16th-century Italian-born historian of Spain and its New World discoveries...
. Educated in the Augustinian cloister at Fiesole
Fiesole
Fiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km NE of that city...
, he was transferred in 1519 to the convent of St John of Verdara near Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, where he graduated D.D.
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
about 1527 and made the acquaintance of the future Cardinal Pole. From that year onwards he was employed as a public preacher at Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
; and in his intervals of leisure he mastered Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
. In 1530 he was elected prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of the Augustinian monastery at Spoleto
Spoleto
Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...
, and in 1533 prior of the convent of St Peter ad Aram at Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
About this time, primarily through the influence of Juan de Valdes
Juan de Valdés
Juan de Valdés was a Spanish religious writer.He was the younger of twin sons of Fernando de Valdés, hereditary regidor of Cuenca in Castile, where Valdés was born. He has been confused with his twin brother Alfonso...
, he read Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer was a Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled...
's commentaries on the Gospels and the Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
and also Zwingli's De vera et falsa religione; and his Biblical studies began to affect his views. He was accused of erroneous doctrine, and the Spanish viceroy of Naples prohibited his preaching. The prohibition was removed on appeal to Rome, but in 1541 Vermigli was transferred to Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, where he again fell under suspicion. Summoned to appear before a chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
of his Order at Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, he fled in 1542 to Pisa and thence to another Italian reformer, Bernardino Ochino
Bernardino Ochino
Bernardino Ochino was an Italian Reformer.-Biography:Bernardino Ochino was born in Siena son of the barber Domenico Ochino, and at the age of 7 or 8 around 1504 was entrusted to the Minorite order of Franciscan Friars, then from 1510 he studied medicine at Perugia.-1534, transfer to the...
, at Florence. Ochino escaped to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, and Vermigli to Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, thence to Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, and finally to Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, where, with Bucer's support, he was appointed professor of theology and married his first wife, Catherine Dammartin of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
.
Vermigli and Ochino were both invited to England by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
in 1547, and given a pension of forty marks by the government. In 1548 Vermigli was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity
Regius Professor of Divinity
The Regius Professorship of Divinity is one of the oldest and most prestigious of the professorships at the University of Oxford and at the University of Cambridge.Both chairs were founded by Henry VIII...
at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, in succession to Dr. Richard Smyth, and was incorporated D.D. In 1549 he took part in a great disputation on the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. He had abandoned Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
's doctrine of sacramental union
Sacramental Union
Sacramental union is the Lutheran theological doctrine of the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Christian Eucharist....
and adopted the doctrine of a Real Presence conditioned by the faith of the recipient standard amongst Reformed theologians. Indeed, Vermigli appears to have profoundly affected the views of Cranmer and Ridley
Nicholas Ridley (martyr)
Nicholas Ridley was an English Bishop of London. Ridley was burned at the stake, as one of the Oxford Martyrs, during the Marian Persecutions, for his teachings and his support of Lady Jane Grey...
, and historians have proven definitively that Vermigli had a great deal of influence in the modifications of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
in 1552.
On the accession of the Catholic Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, Vermigli was permitted to return to Strasbourg, where, after some opposition raised on the ground that he had abandoned Lutheran doctrine, he was reappointed professor of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. He befriended a number of English exiles, but had himself in 1556 to accept an offer of the chair of Hebrew at Zürich owing to his increased alienation from Lutheranism. He was invited to Geneva in 1557, and to England again in 1561, but declined both invitations, maintaining, however, a constant correspondence with Bishop John Jewel
John Jewel
John Jewel was an English bishop of Salisbury.-Life:He was the son of John Jewel of Buden, Devon, was educated under his uncle John Bellamy, rector of Hampton, and other private tutors until his matriculation at Merton College, Oxford, in July 1535.There he was taught by John Parkhurst,...
and other English prelates and reformers until his death at Zürich on 12 November 1562.
Wives
His first wife, Catherine, a former nun who died at Oxford on 17 February 1553, was disinterred in 1557 and tried for heresyHeresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
; legal evidence was not forthcoming because witnesses had not understood her tongue; and instead of the corpse being burnt, it was merely cast on a dunghill in the stable of the dean of Christ Church. The remains were identified after Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's accession, mingled with the supposed relics of St Frideswide
Frideswide
Saint Frithuswith was an English princess and abbess who is credited with establishing Christ Church in Oxford.-Life:...
to prevent future desecration, and reburied in the cathedral. Vermigli's second wife, Caterina Merenda, whom he married at Zürich, survived him, marrying a merchant of Locarno
Locarno
Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...
.
Works
Vermigli published over a score of theological works, chiefly Biblical commentaries and treatises on the Eucharist. His learning was striking and profound, and he served as an important theological resource for both the Swiss and English Reformations. John CalvinJohn Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
himself regarded Peter Martyr as one of the greatest expounders of the doctrine of the Eucharist in Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
.
Biographical sources
- Josias Simler's Oratio, published in 1563 and translated into English in 1583, is the basis of subsequent accounts of Vermigli, though it has been amended somewhat by recent studies, especially by Philip McNair's work, Peter Martyr in Italy.
Further reading
- Anderson, Marvin W. (1996) "Peter Martyr Vermigli." Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. (Oxford, 1996). vol. 4. pp. 229–31.
- Anderson, Marvin W. (1975) Peter Martyr Vermigli: a Reformer in Exile, 1542-1562; a chronology of Biblical writings in England and Europe. Nieuwkoup: B. de Graaf.
- Campi, Emidio, ed. (2002) Peter Martyr Vermigli: humanism, republicanism, reformation = Petrus Martyr Vermigli: Humanismus, Republikanismus, Reformation. Genève: Droz.
- Donnelly, John Patrick (1990) A Bibliography of the Works of Peter Martyr Vermigli; compiled by John Patrick Donnelly in collaboration with Robert M. Kingdon; with a register of Vermigli's correspondence by Marvin W. Anderson. Kirksville, Mo: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers ISBN 094047414x
- Donnelly, John Patrick (1976) Calvinism and Scholasticism in Vermigli's Doctrine of Man and Grace. Leiden: Brill.
- James, Frank A. (1998) Peter Martyr Vermigli and Predestination: the Augustinian inheritance of an Italian reformer. Oxford University Press.
- James, Frank A. ed. (2004) Peter Martyr Vermigli аnd the European Reformations: Semper Reformanda, Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9004139141
- Kirby, W. J. Torrance; Campi, Emidio & James, Frank A. (2009) A Companion to Peter Martyr Vermigli. Leiden: Brill.
- McLelland, Joseph C. (1957) The Visible Words of God: An Exposition of the Sacramental Theology of Peter Martyr Vermigli A.D. 1500-1562. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
- McNair, Philip. (1967) Peter Martyr in Italy: an anatomy of apostasy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Zuidema, Jason. (2008) Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499–1562) and the Outward Instruments of Divine Grace. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.