STOSS, ANDREAS. - Carmelite theologian, b. in Norimberga about 1477, d. in Bamberga on 10 Oct. 1540. Son of the celebrated woodcarver Veit Stoss, he took the habit in the convent of his native city. Appointed lecturer in theology (1510) and doctor of canon law by the University of Ingolstadt (1517), he was prior of Buda in 1513, provincial vicar of Hungary in 1514, prior of Norimberga in 1520, and provincial of Upper Germany from 1520 until his death.
His activity in defence of the Catholic faith began in Norimberga, from which he was expelled after the Senate had officially embraced Protestantism in 1525. He subsequently worked strenuously in the diocese of Bamberga, where he succeeded in overcoming the grave dangers threatening the faith, prevailing over the initial uncertainties of Bishop Weigand of Redwitz and becoming his most effective aid against the reformers. Delegated by him, he hastened to the Council of Trent convened at Mantova in 1537, which was meanwhile suspended. His prudence and firmness were also exercised in saving what could be saved of the convents of the Order.