DE TUDESCHI (DE TUDISCO), NICCOLÒ (Panormitanus, Abbas Siculus, Abbas Modernus). - Canonist, b. at Catania in 1386, d. in July 1445.
He was a monk of the Order of St Benedict and professor of canon law, first at Bologna in 1411, then at Parma in the academic years 1412-18, then at Siena during the academic years 1418-30; afterwards again at Bologna in the academic years 1431 and 1432. In 1425 he had become abbot of the monastery of S. Miniato; in 1433 he was named auditor of the Apostolic Chamber and referendary of the Pope; finally he was elected archbishop of Palermo (1435) and created cardinal by the antipope Felix V on 12 Nov. 1440.
To him is owed a lengthy commentary on the Decretals of Gregory IX which enjoyed great authority in his time and is still considered one of the most excellent works of the decretalist period. He is also the author of a commentary on the Liber sextus of Boniface VIII and another on the Clementines. A Florilegium of the two laws is also attributed to him. N. de' T. remained famous for having very often departed from the opinion of the Glossa and for upholding, on fundamental points of canon law, an independent and sometimes even bold position.