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Benedict of Aniane, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Benedict of Aniane, Saint, c.750–821, French abbot who became a monastic adviser to Louis I. He first founded (c.780) an austere monastic community at Aniane in Languedoc, based on Eastern asceticis...

Benedict, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Benedict, Saint bĕnˈədĭkt [key], d. c.547, Italian monk, called Benedict of Nursia, author of a rule for monks that became the basis of the Benedictine order, b. Norcia (E of Spoleto). He went to ...

Benedict the Black, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Benedict the Black, Saint, d. 1589, Sicilian friar. Born a slave, he became a hermit and later a Franciscan lay brother. Although illiterate, his humility and extraordinary powers as spiritual directo...

Arnold, Benedict

(Encyclopedia)Arnold, Benedict, 1741–1801, American Revolutionary general and traitor, b. Norwich, Conn. As a youth he served for a time in the colonial militia in the French and Indian Wars. He later became a pr...

Benedict XI

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XI, d. 1304, pope (1303–4), an Italian (b. Treviso) named Niccolo Boccasini; successor of Boniface VIII. Prior to his election he had been master general of the Dominican order. As pope he ...

Benedict XIII

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XIII, antipope: see Luna, Pedro de. ...

Benedict XIV

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XIV, 1675–1758, pope (1740–58), an Italian (b. Bologna) named Prospero Lambertini; successor of Clement XII. Long before his pontificate he was renowned for his learning and wrote a class...

Benedict XV

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XV, 1854–1922, pope (1914–22), an Italian (b. Genoa) named Giacomo della Chiesa; successor of Pius X. He was made archbishop of Bologna in 1907 and cardinal in 1914, two months before his...

Benedict XVI

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XVI, 1927–, pope (2005–13) and Roman Catholic theologian, a German (b. Marktl am Inn, Bavaria) named Josef (or Joseph) Alois Ratzinger; successor of John Paul II. He entered the seminary ...

Benedict Biscop

(Encyclopedia)Benedict Biscop bĭsˈkəp [key], c.628–690, English monk. He founded the monasteries of Wearmouth (at Sunderland) and Jarrow, and he was abbot of St. Peter's, Canterbury. Bede was his pupil. ...

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