Agnello (Agnelli, or Agnellus), Andrea

Agnello (Agnelli, Or Agnellus), Andrea, was abbot of St. Mary's, Blanchernoe, and of St. Bartholomew's, Ravenna. He was made abbot of the monasteries when very young, and even before he had taken the religious vow. He occupied the tenth place among the priests of Ravenna, under Petronacius, from A.D. 821 to 837, and wrote a history of the prelates who governed the Church of Ravenna before him, entitled Agnelli, qui est Andreas, Abbatis S. Marica ad Blachernas, Liber Pontificalis, sive Vita Pontificum Ravennatum. This work was first made public by the abbot Benedict Bacchini at Modena in 1708. Muratori printed it in vol. ii, pt. i, of Scriptores Retuum Italicarum. The father of Agnello having conspired against the pope, Paul I, he was taken to Rome, where he died in prison. This treatment rendered the son less favorable to the interests of the court of Rome, and his writings were regarded as outrages against the pontifical authority. Moreri has confounded this archbishop with the preceding. See Landon, Eccles. Dict. s.v.; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.