Quaresmius, Franciscus°

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QUARESMIUS, FRANCISCUS°

QUARESMIUS, FRANCISCUS °, a 17th-century Franciscan friar. Quaresmius was born at Lodi, Italy, and from 1619 to 1626 was custodian and apostolic commissary for the Holy Land. He later served as the general procurator of the Franciscan Order and from 1637 as custodian of St. Angelo, Milano.

He was the author of two folio volumes Elucidatio Terrae Sanctae historica, theologica et moralis (1639) which contain the most complete survey of the remains and legends of the Holy Land as accepted in Catholic circles. Quaresmius painstakingly copied inscriptions and used the archives of the Mt. Zion monastery for his description of the traditions and monastic institutions of 17th-century Palestine.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]