MERINERO, JUAN de. – Franciscan theologian, born in Madrid in 1600 and died in a reputation for holiness in 1663. He entered the Order at the age of 16; taught theology in the Convent of S. Diego at Alcalá; was guardian of the Convent of Madrid and provincial minister of Castile; on 11 June 1639 he was elected minister general.
His work was beneficial to the Order, in this being supported by Urban VIII and Innocent XI. He had new statutes prepared for the Cismontane family, which were promulgated in 1642 (Statuta, constitutiones et decreta generalia familiae cismontanae Ord. S. Francisci de Obser., Rome 1642); he promoted the missions, especially those of America and the Holy Land. Under him the Order was in full vitality and received new impetus from the movement of stricter observance, known as the «reform». In 1645, at Toledo, G. Mazzara of Naples was elected as his successor. At the proposal of Philip IV, he was appointed bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo and shortly afterward of Valladolid (1645-63). M., regarded as one of the finest Spanish scholastics and an excellent Scotist, left: Commentaria in Aristotelis dialecticam iuxta I. Duns Scoti mentem (Alcalá 1629); Cursus integer philosophiae iuxta I. Duns Scoti mentem (Madrid 1659); and the posthumous Cursus theologicus iuxta mentem Doctoris Subtilis (ibid. 1668). During his generalate he wrote: De reformatione Ordinis seraphici (ibid. 1641) and Commentaria in Regulam S. Clarae (ibid. 1642). Of interest for the history of Mariology is the Tractatus de conceptione Deiparae Virginis seu de huius articuli de finibilitate (Valladolid 1652).