Faustinus Tusculanus (Faostino da Toscolano/Luca di Domenico Bartoli, 1595-1679)

Faustinus Tusculanus (Faostino da Toscolano/Luca di Domenico Bartoli, 1595-1679) OFMRef. Italian friar. Joined the order at the S. Maria della Spineta friary near Fratta Todina on April 17, 1617. Ordained priest om March 7, 1626. Learned Arabi in Rome, in the S. Pietro in Montorio friary. Was invited to join Dionisio Canossa, prospected guardian of Jerusalem for the OFMRef, but this was delayed after the death of Canosa, which meant a sojourn in Naples in the Santa Chiara monastery, prior to a renewed invitation by Canosa's successor, Paolo da Lodi. A journey via Messia to Alexandria, Rosetta, Cairo, and Damietta, brought Faostino to Jerusalem in March 1633. He worked for a while as a pilgrim guide, as guardian of the Bethlehem friary, and he was subsequently sent to Constantinopel in 1634 to appeal to the Sultan in a conflict over the holy places with representatives of the Grek Orthodox Church. Due to Ottoman warfare with Persia, Faostino had to seek out the Ottoman army, and was only able to obtain partial reassurances once he had presented himself in the Ottoman headquarters near Merdin. Back in Jerusalem in 1636, he helped Pietro da Montepeloso with the compilation of his Holy Land chronicles, and worked as a secretary for Giacinto da Verona and for Andrea d'Arco, the new guardian of the Holy Land province. In subsequent years, Faostino was repeatedly sent on delicate missions to help support the Franciscan presence in the Holy land, to neutralize the policies the Ottoman commander in Jerusalem, and to fend off Capuchin ambitions in the Holy Land. Eventually, Faostino traveled back to Italy and to several European courts, also to obtain financial support for the Franciscan Holy Land mission. In this context, he also transcribed the Croniche di Terra Santa of Francesco da Serino, and he took part in the Franciscan general chapter of Toledo (July 1658). He died at Trevi (Perugia province), in the San Martino friary, on February 19, 1679. He is known for his Itinerario di Terrasanta (dated 19 March 1654), and kept in a manuscript format in the Biblioteca comunale L. Leonii of Todi (MS 204). It is a lengthy itinerary in a diary format that covers 509 manuscript pages, divided into 63 chapter of unequal length. It more or less covers the period 1633-1643 and also contains itineraries for pilgrims and info concerning what they can see in various places in the Holy Land. It also contains indulgences information, additional liturgical and prayer texts, and closes with the author's return to Italy, his sojourn in Venice and his longer stay in Rome. The descriptions of the Holy Land and other regions present in this work contain a wealth of information on plants, customs, legends, roads, and peoples. It apparently also contains one of the first European descriptions of the way to prepare and drink coffee. works Itinerario di Terrasanta : Biblioteca comunale di Todi L. Leonii, MS 204. literature Croniche ovvero Annali di Terra Santa del p. Pietro Verniero da Montepeloso , ed. G. Golubovich, 3 Vols. (Florence, 1929) I, LXIII & III, 120, 146, 234; Croniche o Annali di Terra Santa del p. Francesco da Serino , ed. T. Cavallon (Florence, 1939), xiif.; Annales minorum XXIX, ed. A. Chiappini (Florence, 1948), 567; Walter Bianchini, 'Faostino da Toscolano', Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 44 (1994)[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/faostino-da-toscolano_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ ], with additional information.

Works

• Itinerario di Terrasanta Itinerario di Terrasanta : Biblioteca comunale di Todi L. Leonii, MS 204.

  Todi

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Literature