FANTI, BARTOLOMEO, blessed. - Carmelite priest, b. in Mantova c. 1415, d. in 1495. He took the Carmelite habit in 1433 in the convent of Mantova, the centre of the reform that took its name from this city. He was subprior in 1437, prior in 1446, master of novices in 1454; in this office he exercised a decisive influence on the spirituality of the aforementioned reform. From 1461 until his death he was director of the Compagnia della Madonna del Carmine, for which he composed statutes based on the rule of St Albert, still preserved in the public library of Mantova.
Humble, gentle, affable, fervent in prayer and meditation, an exact observer of the rule, he was most devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary. The cult of which he was the object immediately after his death was confirmed by Pio X in 1909. His incorrupt body is venerated in the cathedral of Mantova beside that of his disciple, blessed Battista Mantovano.
BIBLI: AAS, 1 (1909), pp. 308-309; G. Fanucchi, Della vita del b. B. F., Lucca 1891. Bartolomeo M. Xiberna