Jacobus de Teramo

(AB ANCHARANO), belonging to the family of Palladini, canonist and bishop, born in 1349 at Teramo in Italy; died in 1417 in Poland. After studying jurisprudence at Padua he was archdeacon at Aversa in 1384, and later Secretary of Papal Briefs and of the Poenitentiaria at Rome. He became successively Bishop of Monopoli (1391), of Tarentum (1400), of Florence (1401), and of Spoleto (1410). As Bishop of Spoleto he was also governor of the Duchy of Spoleto. In 1417 Pope Martin V sent him as legate to Poland, where he died the same year. He is the author of a commentary on Lombard’s “Book of Sentences” (Augburg, 1472); a dialogue entitled “De Pontificis Romani monarchia” (unprinted); and a peculiar little volume entitled “Consolatio peccatorum”, or “Processus Luciferi contra Jesum Christum”. The last work is a lawsuit between the Devil and Jesus Christ. The Devil is represented as suing Christ for having infringed upon the rights of his ownership by descending into hell. At the first trial Solomon acts as judge, while Moses is counsel of Jesus Christ and Belial for the Devil. At the second trial the Patriarch Joseph is judge, Aristotle and Isaias defend Jesus Christ, and the Emperor Augustus and Jeremias defend the Devil. In both trials the decision is in favour of Christ, but at the second trial the Devil is granted the right to take possession of the bodies and souls of the damned at the last judgment. This work was printed repeatedly and translated into several languages, but was later placed on the Index.