Giacomo LADERCHI. — Oratorian, historian, born in Faenza ca. 1678, died in Rome on 23 April 1738.
He devoted himself to hagiography and published various writings on the subject, including *Vita s. Petri Damiani* (Rome 1702) and *Acta passionis s. martyrum Crescii et Sociorum* (Florence 1707); both, but especially the latter, led him to write two apologetic works: *La civiltà di oggi ossia l'abuso della critica odierna* (Rome 1726) and *I congressi letterarii di oggi* (Venice 1734). Other works to be mentioned include: *De basilisci s. martyrum Petri et Marcellini dissertatio historica* (Rome 1705); *Acta s. Cecilia et transiberiana basilica illustrata* (ibid. 1772); but above all, his continuation of the *Annales* of Baronius with vols. XXXV–XXXVII covering the pontificate of St Pius V (Rome 1728–34). Of all these works, it must be said that they do not always display sufficient critical preparation or accurate evaluation of the documents and their importance.
C. Celestino Testore