RENATO, CAMILLO. — Pseudonym of an Italian anti-Trinitarian and Anabaptist heretic, b. in Sicily at the beginning of the fifteenth century, d. after 1571 at Caspano. In all probability he was the Minorite Paolo Ricci, also known as Lisia Fileno. In 1542 he is found in exile in Valtellina with Curione; in 1545 he was a schoolmaster at Chiavenna.
Like Stancaro and Lelio Socini, he developed Christian doctrine in his own, radical manner, on the basis of a philological-rationalistic interpretation of the Bible, particularly with regard to Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, under the influence of Zwinglian symbolism. He regarded Baptism as a simple profession of faith and therefore as valid exclusively for adults; indeed, he considered it merely the sign of rebirth in the Spirit, which had already taken place, and in itself unnecessary. In the Lord’s Supper he saw neither a special pledge of Grace nor a source of spiritual strengthening, but only a testimony to the believers’ faith in the Kingdom of God. Such spiritual rebirth, with justifications and developments proceeding from Platonic influence, mingled with Averroist motifs, appears in R.’s doctrine concerning the sleep of souls after death and the true life reserved for the saved souls when they rise again after the Last Judgment. For these ideas, expressed for a restricted circle in a Trattato del Battesimo e della Cena and in a profession of faith sent to a friend, R. was soon attacked by Agostino Mainardi (v.) and Pier Paolo Vergerio (v.). At Mainardi’s instigation, the Synod of the Canton of Grisons intervened in the controversy (Chur, 1547, 1549–50); at first it confined itself to recognizing Mainardi’s profession of faith as orthodox; subsequently it required R.’s followers to subscribe to it and R. to cease preaching and teaching; finally, it excommunicated him. Through Vergerio’s intervention, in 1551 R. signed a recantation and submission to the Zwinglian creed (Confessio raetica). Yet he did not remain quiet for long; SEGRETO (v.) inspired him to write a long Latin poem in defense of freedom of conscience; Calvin replied by treating him as a «libertine». Without further compromising himself through public manifestations, he cultivated close personal relations with the Italian exiles unwilling to accept the doctrines from beyond the Alps without reservations, particularly with Lelio Socini, who probably derived from R. no small number of elements of his anti-Trinitarianism. Despite his recantation, he was not admitted to the Synods of Grisons; indeed, in 1570 he was expelled from the territory by the cantonal Diet.