Fagnani, Prosper

Fagnani, Prosper an Italian writer on ecclesiastical law, was born in 1598. He was for fifteen years secretary of the Congregation for the Interpretation of the Council of Trent (Congregatio Conc. Trid. Interpret.), and subsequently professor of canon law at the Roman Academy. He was regarded as the ablest Roman jurist of his time, and was frequently consulted by the popes. Alexander VII charged him with compiling a commentary on the Decretals, which appeared in 3 volumes, fol. at Rome in 1661 (reprinted at Cologne, 1676; Venice, 1697, and in many other editions). As Fagnani had been entirely blind from his forty-fourth year, he had to dictate the whole commentary to a clerk. He died at Rome in 1678. — Wetzer u. Welte, Kirch.-Lex. 4:883.