AGUSTÍN, ANTONIO. - Distinguished Spanish jurist and theologian, b. in Saragossa on 26 February 1517, d. in Tarragona on 31 May 1586. He studied in Salamanca, Padua and Bologna, where he had Aleciati as his teacher; appointed auditor of the Rota in 1544 on the proposal of Charles V, ten years later he was apostolic nuncio in England, then, in 1557, bishop of Alife (Benevento); he took part in the Council of Trent (1561), was bishop of Lerida (1561) and, finally, archbishop of Tarragona (from 1576).
Endowed with vast culture, a keen critical spirit, and a mind open to the new currents of scientific thought, A. was versed in all branches of law, but he excelled particularly in the study of canon law, applying to it the historical method, already in vogue among the interpreters of Roman law. It was also for this that he was called by Schulte: the Cujas of canon law.
His principal works: Antiquae collectiones Decretalium (1576); De nominibus propriis Pandectarum (1579); Canones poenitentiales (1581); De legibus et senatusconsultis Romanorum (1583); Repertorium decisionum rotalium (1584); De emendatione Gratiani (1587); Epitome iuris pontificii in tres partes divisa (1587). All of A.'s works were reprinted in Lucca in 1772.