EGIDIO DA VITERBO. – Augustinian theologian and philosopher, b. in Viterbo in 1469 to the Antonini family, d. 21 December 1532. In Padua he attended the lectures of Agostino Nifo; in a hermitage in Istria he listened to those of Domizio Gavardo; and finally, in Florence, he studied at the school of Ficino, of whom he became one of the finest disciples.
Returning to Rome a convinced Neoplatonist, he based his lectures on that system, sustaining public disputations with great distinction. He promptly began his career as a preacher in Florence, under the guidance of fra' Mariano da Cenazzano (v.), and immediately acquired fame. He took part, though moderately, in the campaign against Savonarola, toward whom he later somewhat changed his opinion and conduct, eventually displaying a certain esteem for him. After the friar’s tragic end, he stayed for a long time in Naples, where he was elected a member of the Pontaniana Academy.
In 1506 Julius II appointed him apostolic vicar to govern the Order, of which, in 1507, he was elected superior general, despite his reluctance. His activity was also considerable because the Holy See often entrusted him with delicate assignments. With zeal and charity he devoted himself to restoring monastic discipline and reorganizing studies.
E. delivered the inaugural address of the Fifth Lateran Council on 3 May 1512: he spoke with noble frankness about the ills of the Church, arousing profound emotion in the assembly. In July 1517 he was made a cardinal by Leo X; later he was given the administration of the diocese of Napi, and then that of Viterbo in Tuscania.
The years that elapsed from the end of the pontificate of Leo X through those of Clement VII and Paul III were employed by him in carrying out the many offices entrusted to him by the pontiffs and in continuing his philosophical, literary, and philological studies. He defended the teaching of the Oriental languages, in which he was highly proficient, and encouraged his fellow religious to study them. When news reached him of the devastation inflicted on Rome by the imperial troops and of the siege endured by the Pope in Castel S. Angelo, E., at his own expense, enlisted in the Marches two legions of approximately 2,000 men and hurried to join the army of the League which, encamped a few miles from Rome, was supposed to bring aid to the Pope; but the ineptitude of the Duke of Urbino frustrated the generous offer.
He left many critical works on biblical texts, theological treatises, philosophical dissertations, politico-religious polemics, and philological and grammatical investigations. Cardinal Niccolò Ridolfi, his successor in the bishopric of Viterbo, collected E.’s writings in 64 volumes. Most of them, however, were lost, and only a few are still preserved in manuscript in the various libraries of Europe. The Historia XX vasculorum is a valuable source, often made use of by Pastor, for the period in which the author lived.
