FAVARONI, AGOSTINO del. — Augustinian theologian, born in Rome around 1360, died at Prato in 1443 in a reputation for holiness. He completed his theological studies at Bologna, where, sent there in 1384, he became chancellor in 1386, master in 1392, and subsequently lecturer in the theological faculty of the same city. He later taught « at Perugia (1411) » and at Florence (1416).
In 1419 he was elected head of the Order, in 1431 archbishop of Nazareth in the Abruzzi, and the following year apostolic administrator of Cesena. He took part in the Council of Basel, where in 1433 some of his propositions were condemned as Hussite (cf. Mansi, XXXIX, pp. 109–10). ■ F. appealed to Pope Niccolò V, but the commission of theologians established to examine the incriminated propositions delivered an unfavorable judgment. As a theologian ■ F. is distinguished by his pronounced spirit of reaction against Scholasticism. In the doctrine of justification, certain inaccurate expressions have caused him to be regarded as pre-Lutheran. The defense against this accusation, brought principally by A. V. Müller and attempted by Deniffe and Stakemeier, although satisfactory, is not yet perfect.
The principal works, all in manuscript, are: Super sententias libri IV; Tractatus de Sacramento unitati Christi; De Christo capite Ecclesiae; De potestate papae et potestate summi pontificatus; De christo Christi erga electus; commentaries on the Pauline epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Hebrews, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians; De sacerdotio Christi et electorum; De libero arbitrio; De peccato per originem tracto, etc.