ABBAS ANTIQUUS. - This name is commonly used to designate, in order to distinguish him from Niccolò de' Tudeschis, called the Abbas siculus or panormitanus or modernus, a Provençal canonist of the second half of the 13th century, of whom until a few years ago it was known with certainty only that he was a disciple of Peter of Sampson, and the author of a Lectura on the Decretals of Gregory IX, of another on those of Innocent IV, and of certain Distinctiones. The first of these three works was written no earlier than the end of 1259 nor later than the beginning of 1266, and two editions of it are known (Strasbourg 1510, and Venice 1588); the other two, on the other hand, still unpublished, seem to have been written in 1260 or 1261.
Recently the A. A. has been identified with Bernard of Montmirat (near St-Mamert, to the northwest of Nîmes). The latter (not to be confused with Bernard Compostellanus junior, to whom the name Bernardus de Monte Mirato was also erroneously given) studied at Bologna, no later than about 1240; he then taught in the university of that same city, at least from 1260 to 1266. He entered the order of the Benedictines, perhaps before becoming a professor at Bologna (it is not known whether also before being a student there).
In Sept. 1266 we find mention of him as chamberlain of the abbey of Ariane (near Montpellier) and as inquisitor at the trial against Raymond, bishop of Toulouse. On 15 Oct. 1266 he was appointed by the Pope abbot of the abbey of Montmajour; then, on a date unspecified between 17 June 1277 and 31 Oct. 1278, he was appointed by Nicholas III rector of the Marca Anconitana (an office he left between 4 March and 12 June 1281), while remaining, at least until July 1286, abbot of Montmajour. On 20 June 1286 Pope Honorius IV appointed him bishop of Tripoli of Syria, but he remained in Italy, where he received various other assignments from Nicholas IV, who in 1291 or 1292 also sent him to England and Sweden to organize a crusade; on 14 Dec. 1295 Boniface VIII appointed him administrator of the abbey of Montecassino; where he died, probably on 20 July of the following year.