PIGNATELLI, Giacomo. — Canonist, b. at Grottaglie (Taranto) on 8 Apr. 1625, d. at Rome in 1698.
A priest and member of the chapter of the collegiate church of Grottaglie, he earned a doctorate in both civil and canon law at Rome. Having become a parish priest, he distinguished himself by his learning and zeal to such an extent that he was named chamberlain of the Roman clergy. He refused the nomination to bishopric on several occasions, and when, after much insistence, he accepted the see of Gravina (1685), he was obliged to renounce it because of calumnies; he then became parish priest of S. Maria del Pianto in Rome, where he died and was buried.
His principal writings are: the Consultationes canonicae, which long held authority in the Sacred Congregations, ecclesiastical tribunals, and even in the works of Benedict XIV (Rome 1668, 1675; Venice 1687); the Novissimae consultationes canonicae (Rome 1723; Venice 1736); Compendium seu index ad consultationes canonicas, edited by Abbot Carmine Tommaso Pascucci (Rome 1699; Cologne 1700; Venice 1733).