ANDREW DE COMITIBUS, BL.

Franciscan brother; b. Anagni, Italy, c. 1240; d. convent of San Lorenzo al Piglio, Rome, Feb. 1, 1302. He was a member of the noble family of the Conti (de Comitibus) and a close relative of Popes innocent iii, gregory ix, alexander iv, and boniface viii. Pope Boniface wished to create him cardinal, but Andrew's humility and holiness of life led him to refuse the proffered dignity; some chronicles suggest that he was actually created cardinal and renounced the office.

Andrew is said to have been the author of the treatise De partu Beatae Mariae Virginis, which has since been lost. Andrew was famous during his lifetime for his many miracles, and Boniface VIII is quoted as saying that, had Andrew died during his reign, he would have canonized him. He was eventually beatified by innocent xiii in 1724, and his cause is still under consideration. He is buried in the church of San Lorenzo al Piglio.

Feast: Feb. 15; Feb. 1 (Franciscans).

Bibliography: Compendium chronicarum Fratrum Minorum scriptum a patre Mariano de Florentia, Archivum Franciscanum historicum 2 (1901) 457–472. b. marinangeli, "Memorie del convento di S. Lorenzo al Piglio (Roma)," Miscellanea Franciscana 20 (1919) 148–154. s. pellegrini, Il beato Andrea Conti, 1250–1302 (Piglio 1959). m. bihl, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart (Paris 1912–) 2:1654–55. w. forster, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 1:514–515. a. mercati and a. pelzer, Dizionario ecclesiastico, 3 v. (Turin 1954–58) 1:139.

[t. c. crowley]