Bonaventura, ST, one of the most eminent Catholic theologians, whose real name was John of Fidenza, was born in 1221 at Bagnarea, in Tuscany. In 1243 he became a Franciscan monk; in 1253 a theological teacher at Paris, where he had studied; and in 1256 general of his order, which he governed strictly, but affectionately. His influence reconciled the differences which had sprung up among the cardinals on the death of Clement IV. in 1268, and procured the election of Gregory X. The new pope created him Bishop of Albano and cardinal in 1273, and insisted on his presence at the Council of Lyons, where he died, July 15, 1274, from sheer ascetic exhaustion. He was honoured with a splendid funeral, which was attended by the pope, the king, and all the cardinals.
On account of his unspotted character from earliest youth, as well as the miracles ascribed to him, he enjoyed, even during his lifetime, especial veneration. Dante, who wrote shortly after, places him among the saints of his Paradiso; in 1482 he was formally canonised by Sixtus IV.; and in 1587 was ranked by Sixtus V. as the sixth of the great doctors of the church. The religious fervour of his style procured for him the title of Doctor Seraphicus, and his own order are as proud of him as the Dominicans are of Thomas Aquinas. A great part of his writings is devoted to the praise of his order, and to the defence of Mariolatry, celibacy, transubstantiation, communion in one kind, and other doctrines and practices of the middle ages, which he attempts to deal with in a philosophical manner. His most important works are the Breviloquium, a text-book on dogmatics; the Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, and De Reductione Artium ad Theologiam, in which he represents union with God as the highest good; and a commentary on the Sententia of Peter the Lombard, in which he acutely argues against the eternity of the world, and also advances some original proofs of the immortality of the soul. He did more than any other of the early theologians to give a scientific form to the mystical theology. His Biblia Pauperum, or 'Poor Man's Bible,' is a mystico-allegoric explanation of the plain contents of the sacred books for the benefit of the laity. In warmth of religious feeling, however, and in the practical tendency of his ethics, he far excels the hair-splitting scholastics. The most complete edition of his works appeared at Rome (8 vols. 1588-96). See the works upon Bonaventura by Hollenberg (Berlin, 1862), Richard (Paris, 1873), Borgognoni (Rome, 1874), Vicenza (German translation, 1874), and Prosper, Amiens (1886).