CARLO FRANCESCO da BRENO. - Born at Breno (Brescia) on 7 Sept. 1672, of the noble Camozzi family; died in Rome, in the convent of S. Francesco a Ripa, on 28 Jan. 1745. Having entered the Franciscan Order in 1689, he was called to hold the chair of Controversies at the missionary college of S. Pietro in Montorio in Rome, but had to relinquish it because of illness.
He published a substantial work: Manuale missionariorum orientalium, 2 vols. in folio, Venice 1727. In the first volume he deals with the errors most widespread in the Near East, including those of the Copts and Abyssinians; in the second he sets forth the Catholic faith from the pastoral missionary standpoint. Also important for missiology is an appendix to vol. II, pp. 413-74: De instructione missionariorum apostolicorum. He subsequently published a summary of the principal work: Epitome manualis miss. orient., Rome 1736.