Francesco Pitigiani of Arezzo, OFM Obs. (†1616)

Francesco Pitigiani of Arezzo (whence his Latin appellative Aretinus) was born in 1552 or 1553 and entered the Tuscan province of the Franciscan Observants. Juan de San Antonio calls him the greatest theologian and philosopher of his time, as well as a very eloquent preacher. He served his Order as Minister Provincial of Tuscany and definitor general. He was also confessor to Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (†1609), and theologian to Ferdinando Card. Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (†1626). He died in Mantua in 1616 at the age of sixty-three.1

His commentary on pseudo-Scotus’s (Marsilius of Inghen’s, †1396) commentary on Aristotle’s Physics found a place in the Wadding edition.2 His other works include a commentary on Opus Oxoniense III and IV. He explains in his preface (Ad lectorem) that there were only one or two commentaries on these books, but many on the first two books. His commentary on book III was published in 1618 and his commentary on book IV in 1619.

At least in his commentary on book III, distinction 4, he reuses the text of other authors, especially Francisco Suárez, without attribution. So it seems that his fame as a theologian depended more on his ability to do research than his originality.3

  1. Cf. Juan de San Antonio, Bibliotheca universa franciscana, sive Alumnorum trium ordinum S. P. N. Francisci qui, ab ordine seraphico condito usque ad praesentem diem, latina sive alia quavis lingua scripto aliquid consignarunt encyclopaedia (Matriti: ex typogr. Causae V. Matris de Agreda, 1732–1733), 1:424–425.↩︎

  2. Cf. Antonie Vos, The Philosophy of John Duns Scotus (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), 114.↩︎

  3. John Lawrence M. Polis, The Virgin Shall Give Birth: The Validity of the Traditional Doctrine and Scotist Explanations of Mary’s Cooperation with the Miracle (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 2022), 267—277.↩︎