ROBERTO CARACCIOLO (commonly known as Fra' Roberto da Lecce) was a Franciscan preacher, born in Lecce in 1425 and died there on 6 May 1495. Of the noble Caraccioli del Leone family, he entered the Observant Franciscans as a teenager at his parents' insistence, but in 1452 he transferred to the Conventuals. A Master of Theology, he was an indefatigable and ardent popular preacher for nearly fifty years, stirring enthusiasm throughout Italy from as early as 1448 (Perugia, Rome), much like St. Bernardino of Siena. Trithemius calls him “a man of outstanding intellect, sweet and ornate in speech, distinguished by his life and conduct, a most celebrated and famous preacher throughout the Christian world; by word and example he drew many away from iniquity.” He was beloved by Nicholas V and Callistus III; the latter sent him as apostolic nuncio to the duke and people of Milan in 1456. Paul II appointed him apostolic preacher in 1465. Ferrante I of Aragon wished him as royal preacher in Naples, where he was enrolled in the Accademia Pontaniana. In 1475 he became bishop of L’Aquila, in 1477 he was transferred to Aquino by Sixtus IV, and in 1483–84 he moved to the see of Lecce, retaining the bishopric of Aquino.
He left admired collections of sermons both in Latin and the vernacular: De laudibus sanctorum, printed in ten cities; Discorsi sul timore dei giudizi di Dio (13 editions); Specchio della fede cristiana (6 editions); Opus Quadragesimale perutilissimum quod de paenitentia dictum est (30 editions); Quaresimale dei peccati (8 editions); Quaresimale della Penitenza (24 editions); Sermones de adventu et de timore iudiciorum Dei (13 editions); and a Trattato contro la separazione dei frati Minori dell'Osservanza dai Conventuali, to which Father Nicola d'Osimo replied around 1453. Other works were attributed to him, perhaps to lend them greater authority. All his works were printed in three volumes (Venice 1490) and in one volume (Lyon 1513, by the Alemanni press).