Girolamo and Pietro Ballerini
Girolamo and Pietro Ballerini were Italian Catholic theologians and
They were the sons of a surgeon of Verona.
Girolamo Ballerini
Girolamo was born at Verona 29 January 1701, and died 23 April 1781. After finishing his course in the Jesuit college of his native city he entered the seminary and was ordained a secular priest.
In the pursuit of historical studies he soon came to appreciate
Pietro Ballerini
Born 7 September 1698; died 28 March 1769, after completing his studies both at college and the seminary was chosen principal of a classical school in Verona. Here he began his literary career in 1724, when he prepared for his pupils a treatise on the method of study taught and followed by
Shortly afterwards he turned his attention to the question of
In the same year he published La Dottrina della Chiesa Cattolica circa l'usura, in which he condemned all forms of usury.
The scholarship of the two editors is best seen in the fourth volume of the works of Noris, especially in their dissertations against
The Ballerini brothers became famous throughout Italy, and in 1748 Peter was chosen by the senate of Venice to serve as its canonist in Rome in a dispute over the Patriarchate of Aquileia. He attracted the attention of Pope Benedict XIV, who commissioned him to prepare an edition of St. Leo's works in refutation of the one published by Quesnel, who was condemned on account of his Jansenism.
After almost nine years of labour in which he enjoyed free access to all the libraries of Rome, Pietro brought out his work in three volumes (Rome, 1753–57) reproducing the entire edition of Quesnel together with elaborate refutations and additions (
Quesnel had published a collection of canons from a codex which he believed to have been in use under
Works
- De iure divino et naturali circa usuram (in Latin). Vol. 1. Bologna: Tommaso Colli. 1747.
- De iure divino et naturali circa usuram (in Latin). Vol. 2. Bologna: Tommaso Colli. 1747.
References
- Giammaria Mazzucchelli, Gli scrittori d'Italia (Brescia, 1753–63), II, part I, 178
- Fabroni, Vitae Italorum doctrina excellentium (Pisa, 1778–1805), XVIII, 109.
External links
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Girolamo and Pietro Ballerini". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.