Casanata, Geronimo

Casanata, Geronimo an Italian prelate, was born at Naples, June 13 (others say Feb. 13), 1620. He left the bar in order to devote himself to ecclesiastical work. Innocent X made him his chamberlain, and governor of some of his cities. In 1658, Alexander VII sent him to Malta as inquisitor. In 1673 Clement X made him cardinal, and finally Innocent XII appointed him, in 1693, librarian of the Vatican. Casanata loved literature and encouraged those who cultivated it. He died at Rome, March 3,1700. He founded the famous "Bibliotheca Casanatensis," by bequeathing his rich library to the Dominicans of the convent of Minerva, with a revenue of four thousand Roman crowns. He wrote Discorso Istorico sopra l'Origine e Progresso della Regalia. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Géneralé, s.v.; Chalmers. Biog. Dict. s.v.; Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lexikon. s.v.