UGO da SAN CARO (Hugo a Sancto Caro). — A learned exegete and theologian, b. at St-Cher near Vienne in the Dauphiné, d. at Orvieto on 19 March 1263. In 1225 he entered the Dominican Order. In Paris he studied philosophy, theology, and law. After holding various offices in the Order, in 1244 he was appointed cardinal by Innocent IV, who employed him as legate in Germany and on other missions.
U. composed quite a few biblical works. Following the tendency of his time, he concerned himself especially with the text of the Vulgate. To him is owed a Sacra Biblia recognita et emendata, id est a scriptorum vitiis expurgata. Additis ad marginem variis lectionibus codicum manuscriptorum Hebraeorum, Graecorum et veterum Latinorum codicum aetate Caroli Magni scriptorum. He also composed a biblical correctorium (v.), ca. 1248, which, together with the Correctorium Parisiense, replaced the Correctorium Senonense in the Dominican Order. In this textual revision U. followed particularly the notes of s. Jerome and of other ancient authors, assigning excessive weight to readings closer to the Hebrew original. The first biblical concordance and the division of the chapters into smaller sections, marked by letters of the alphabet, are due to U. The division was adopted by many exegetes and also by liturgical texts, as may be seen in ancient Missals and Breviaries. As an exegete, U. took considerable care with the literal sense, while not neglecting, in accordance with the practice of his time, the spiritual sense. His Postillae in universa Biblia iuxta quadruplicem sensum litteralem, allegatum, morale, anagogicum exerted a marked influence on subsequent exegesis; they were printed several times: the first edition appeared at Basel in 1482; the best is that of Venice of 1754 (Opera omnia in universum Vetus et Novum Testamentum, 8 vols.). In the question of the canon of the biblical Old Testament, U. (cf. Prologus in Eccli., ed. Venice, III, 171b) attributed secondary authority to the deuterocanonical books, following s. Jerome.
As a theologian, U. composed a Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard and Quaestiones disputatae on the Sacraments, some of which have been identified in a manuscript at Douai.