BENVENUTUS SCOTIVOLI, ST.

Bishop; d. Ancona, Italy, March 22, 1283. Having studied law at Bologna, he returned to his Diocese of Ancona, was ordained, and became archdeacon there. In 1263 he was appointed administrator, and in 1264 bishop, of the Diocese of Osimo, vacant since 1239. He was also made governor of the March of Ancona. Buried in the cathedral of Osimo, he became the city's patron saint in 1755. An earlier inspection of his tomb had revealed a gray capuche sewn to a lambskin, and this led the popular biographer Jean Baldi (1620) to assert that this bishop had been a Franciscan. L. Wadding accepted the evidence and F. Diaz obtained the concession of a Mass and Office (1697) for the new edition of the Franciscan Breviary. In 1765, D. Pannelli, a priest of Osimo, contended that Benvenutus had not been a Franciscan, opening a lively controversy with Flaminio da Latera. Although da Latera could not establish his position, the feast of St. Benvenutus was nevertheless retained in the Franciscan calendar on March 22.

Bibliography: a. du monstier, Martyrologium franciscanum (2d ed. Paris 1753). Acta Sanctorum March 3:390–393. l. wadding, Scriptores Ordinis Minorum (Lyons 1625–54) 4:246; 5:4–5. d. pannelli, Memorie istoriche de'santi Vitaliano e Benvenuto, vescovi d'Osimo, 2 v. (Osimo 1763). d. fillareti, Lettere… a un Padre Minorita (2d ed. Osimo 1765). l. oliger, "Discussiones della vita e degli scritti del P. Flaminio Annibali da Latera, O.F.M.," Archivum Franciscanum historicum 7 (1914) 577–620, esp. 596–598. l. jadin, ibid. 8:292–293. l. de clary, Lives of the Saints and Blessed of the Three Orders of St. Francis, 4 v. (Taunton, Eng. 1885–87) 1:517–519. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienhereux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes (Paris 1935–56) 3:497–498.

[j. cambell]