Bartolomeo Spina was an Italian Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 theologian and scholastic philosopher.

Life

He joined the Dominican Order at Pisa in 1494. He was involved in the attempted take-over of the Milanese convent of Sant'Eustorgio by the Observant friars of the Congregation of Lombardy before becoming master of studies at the Dominican studio in Bologna in 1513-4. He served as inquisitorial vicar in Modena from 1517-9, where he was involved in prosecuting witches, and then regent master at S. Domenico in Bologna in the early 1530s. He was appointed (1536) by the Venetian Senate to the chair of theology at the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

. He was also for a time socius of the Master-General of the Order of Preachers, and prior provincial of the Holy Land.

In July, 1542, he was made Master of the Sacred Palace

Master of the Sacred Palace

In the Roman Catholic Church, Theologian of the Pontifical Household is a Roman Curial office which has always been entrusted to a Friar Preacher of the Dominican Order and may be described as the pope's theologian...

 by Pope Paul III

Pope Paul III

Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...

, and during the four years that he discharged the duties of that office he rendered services to the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 and to the Fathers of the Council of Trent

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...

, regarding many difficult and mooted questions. As Master of the Sacred Palace, he was said to have wanted to move against Copernicus' De revolutionibus, only stopped by his death. From the year 1518 Spina was engaged in a heated controversy with his famous confrère, Cardinal Cajetan. Still more harsh was his opposition to Ambrose Catharinus, whom he denounced as guilty of heresy to Paul III about the beginning of the year 1546.

Works

The most important of Spina's works are:

• "Tutela Veritatis de Immortalitate Animæ contra Petrum Pomponatium" and
• "Flagellum in Tres Libros Apologiæ Pomponatii de Immortalitate Animæ",

both published in 1518. Of special interest are also

• "Tractatus de Stringibus et Lamiis" (Venice, 1523), and
• "Apologiæ Tres adversus Joann. Franc. Ponzinibium Jurisperitum" (Venice, 1525).

He also edited many works of Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...

, including his commentary on the Physics, Metaphysics, and logical works, as well as some of his Biblical commentaries (Matthew, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations).

In his treatise "De Conceptione B. Mariæ Virg." (Venice, 1533), Spina opposed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...

.