JUAN DE MERINERO. — Franciscan theologian, born in Madrid in 1600 and died in the odor of sanctity in 1663. He entered the Order at the age of 16; he taught theology at the Convent of St. Diego in Alcalá; he was guardian of the Convent of Madrid and provincial minister of Castile; on 11 June 1639 he was elected minister general.
His work for the Order was beneficial, favored in this by Urban VIII and Innocent XI. He had new statutes prepared for the Cismontane branch, which were promulgated in 1642 (Statuta, constitutions et decreta generalia familiae cismontanae Ord. S. Francisci de Obser., Rome 1642); he promoted the missions, especially those in America and the Holy Land. Under his leadership the Order was in full vitality and received new impetus from the movement of stricter observance, known as the “reform.” In 1645 in Toledo, G. Mazzara of Naples was elected as his successor. On the proposal of Philip IV, he was appointed bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo and shortly thereafter of Valladolid (1645–63). Merinero, considered one of the best Spanish scholastics and an excellent Scotist, left behind: Commentaria in Aristotelis dialecticam iuxta I. Duns Scot mentem (Alcalá 1629); Cursus integer philosophiae iuxta I. Duns Scot 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 definibilitate (Valladolid 1652).