BUSSOLARO, JACOPO. - Augustinian preacher, b. at Pavia about 1312, d. at Ischia in 1380. While still young he entered the Hermits of St. Augustine. His fame is due almost entirely to the fact that he waged a terrible political struggle against the Visconti, invaders of his native city. From the pulpit he inveighed against corrupt morals and against the powerful usurpers, inciting the people to defend themselves. Elected commander of the garrison of Pavia, he organized its defense, and on 28 May 1356 defeated the enemies. Having subsequently freed the city also from its internal enemies (the Beccaria family), he granted the people of Pavia their communal liberties. But on 13 Nov. 1359, after repeated battles, the Visconti became masters of Pavia, and confined the friar in a gloomy underground cell, ordering that he be fed only bread and water. For fifteen years he languished in prison. Once freed, he took refuge on the island of Ischia, where his brother Bartolomeo was bishop, and there he died.
BUSSOLARO, JACOPO
BIBL.: C. Magurta, I Visconti e gli Sforza nel Castello di Pavia, Milano 1883; R. Majocchi-N. Casacca, Codex diplomaticus Ord. E. S. Augustini Papiae, I, Pavia 1905; C. Milani, Due documenti inediti del frate J. B., ibid. 1936; G. Vanzini, I. B. pavese e frate eremitano di S. Agostino, Firenze 1942.
Cite this article
“BUSSOLARO, JACOPO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. III (1949), p. 168. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/bussolaro-jacopo.