Casto Innocenzio Ansaldi

Reverend; Casto Innocenzio Ansaldi O.P.
Born	7 March 1710; Piacenza, Duchy of Parma
Died	4 May 1780 (aged 70); Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia
Occupations	Theologian ; Archaeologist ; University teacher
Academic background
Alma mater	Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Academic work
Institutions	University of Naples Federico II; University of Ferrara; University of Turin

Casto Innocenzio Ansaldi O.P. (7 March 1710, Piacenza, Italy – 4 May 1780, Turin) was an Italian professor, theologian and archaeologist.

Early life and education

In 1726 Ansaldi entered the Dominican Order at Parma, where he pursued his preparatory studies. In 1733 he was a student of the College of St. Thomas in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum where he attached himself to Giuseppe Agostino Cardinal Orsi.

Career

In 1735 he taught philosophy at Santa Caterina in Naples, and the following year received the chair of metaphysics at the University of Naples. However, in 1737 he was forced to resign after receiving orders from his superiors to move to Bologna. He seems to have disobeyed the order and gone into hiding for some time to avoid the consequences. The King of Naples created a chair of theology for him in 1737, which he retained until 1745. In that year he was appointed first teacher of theology at the Dominican convent in Brescia. Thereafter, to 1770, he taught at Ferrara and then at Turin. In the latter city he held the chair in theology for twenty years with great success and repute. He was averse to the scholastic method and therefore had serious trouble with the authorities of the Order, which was finally smoothed over by Angelo Maria Cardinal Quirini and Pope Benedict XIV.

Controversy

His controversy with Francesco Maria Zanotti in defense of Maupertuis's apology (Berlin, 1749) for Christian morality, as superior to that of the Stoics, was celebrated in the eighteenth century.^[1] He also compiled Della necessità e verità della religione naturale e rivelata (Venice, 1755), a collection of evidences and admissions from the works of celebrated non-Catholics. His brother, also a Dominican, Carlo Agostino Ansaldi, wrote a work (Turin, 1765) on the large number of the Christians before Constantine I; another brother, Pietro Tommasso Ansaldi, wrote a dissertation on the divinity of Christ (Florence, 1754).

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Casto Innocenzio Ansaldi — Theologian and archaeologist, b. at Piacenza, in Italy, 7 March, 1710; d. at Turin, in 1780. In 1726 he entered the Dominican Order at Parma, where he pursued his preparatory studies, and in 1733 was a student of the Minerva College at Rome, where he attached himself to Cardinal Orsi. In 1735 he taught philosophy at Santa Caterina in Naples, and the following year received the chair of metaphysics at the University. The King of Naples created a chair of theology for him in 1737, which he retained till 1745. From 1745 to 1770 he taught successively at Brescia, Ferrara, and Turin. In the latter city he taught for twenty years with great success and repute. He was averse to the scholastic method and therefore had serious trouble with the authorities of the Order, which was finally smoothed over by Cardinal Quirini and Benedict XIV. His published works fill several volumes, and have ever been prized for a combination of theological and historical erudition. Most of them are directed against the anti-Christian tendencies of his day. His most important works are: "Patriarchae Josephi, Aegypti olim proregis, religio a criminationibus Basnagii vindicata" (Naples, 1738), vol. XIII in the "Raccolta d'opuscoli di P. Calogerà" (Venice, 1741); "De traditione principiorum legis naturalis" (Brescia, 1743; Oxford, 1765); "De Romanâ tutelarium deorum in oppugnationibus urbium evocatione liber singularis" (Brescia, 1742; Venice, 1753, 1761; Oxford, 1765), "De martyribus sine sanguine" (Milan, 1744; Venice, 1756, in the "Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum" of Ugolini), a valuable anti-Dodwellian dissertation on the sufferings of the primitive Christians; "Herodiani infanticidii vindiciae" against those who impugned its historicity (Brescia, 1746); "De authenticis sacrarum Scripturarum lectionibus" (Verona, 1747), a very learned and solid work in favour of the accuracy of the Fathers in quoting Scripture; "De baptismate in Spiritu Sancto et igni commentarius sacer philologicocriticus" (Milan, 1752); "De Theurgiâ deque theurgicis a divo Paulo memoratis commentarius" (Milan, 1761); "Riflessioni sopra i mezzi di perfezionare la filosfia morale" (Turin, 1778), with a biography of the author; "De perfectione morali" (Turin, 1790); "Praelectiones theologicae de re sacramentaria " (Venice, 1792). His controversy with Francesco Zanotti in defence of Maupertuis's apology (Berlin, 1749) for Christian morality, as superior to that of the Stoics, was celebrated in the eighteenth century. He also compiled: "Della necessità e verità della religione naturale e rivelata" (Venice, 1755), a collection of evidences and admissions from the works of celebrated non-Catholics. His brother, also a Dominican, Carlo Agostino, wrote a work (Turin, 1765) on the large number of the Christians before Constantine; another brother, Pietro Tommasso, wrote an excellent dissertation on the divinity of Christ (Florence, 1754).

HURTER, Nomenclator (2d ed.), III, 64-67.

References

Back to citation Polizzi, Gaspare (2020). "ZANOTTI CAVAZZONI, Francesco Maria". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 100: Vittorio Emanuele I–Zurlo. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-88-12-00032-6.

Bibliography

His published works fill several volumes, and have been prized for a combination of theological and historical erudition. Most of them are directed against the anti-Christian tendencies of his day. His most important works are:

De Causis Inopiae veterum Monumentorum pro copia Martyrum Dignoscenda
De Martyribus sine Sanguine Dissertatio (Milan, 1739)
Patriarchae Josephi, Aegypti olim proregis, religio a criminationibus Basnagii vindicata (Naples, 1738), vol. XIII in the Raccolta d'opuscoli di P. Calogerà (Venice, 1741)
Dissertatio de veteri Ægyptiorium Idolatriâ, in the Raccolta Calogerana, 23, 135.
De Principiorum Legis naturalis Traditione, Libri tres (Milan, 1742)
De Romanâ tutelarium deorum in oppugnationibus urbium evocatione liber singularis (Brescia, 1742; Venice, 1753, 1761; Oxford, 1765)
De traditione principiorum legis naturalis (Brescia, 1743; Oxford, 1765)
De martyribus sine sanguine (Milan, 1744; Venice, 1756, in the Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum of Ugolini), a valuable anti-Dodwellian dissertation on the sufferings of the primitive Christians
De Forensi Judaeorum Buccina Commentarius (Brescia, 1745)
Herodiani infanticidii vindiciae against those who impugned its historicity (Brescia, 1746)
De authenticis sacrarum Scripturarum lectionibus (Verona, 1747), a learned and solid work in favor of the accuracy of the Fathers in quoting Scripture
De baptismate in Spiritu Sancto et igni commentarius sacer philologicocriticus (Milan, 1752)
De Theurgiâ deque theurgicis a divo Paulo memoratis commentarius (Milan, 1761)
Riflessioni sopra i mezzi di perfezionare la filosfia morale (Turin, 1778), with a biography of the author
De perfectione morali (Turin, 1790)
Praelectiones theologicae de re sacramentaria (Venice, 1792)

A New General Biographical Dictionary by Hugh James Rose, 1857

Rosa, Mario (1961). "ANSALDI, Casto Innocente". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 3: Ammirato–Arcoleo. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. OCLC 883370.

[1] Back to citation Polizzi, Gaspare (2020). "ZANOTTI CAVAZZONI, Francesco Maria". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 100: Vittorio Emanuele I–Zurlo. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-88-12-00032-6.

[1]