Giles of Viterbo
Italian Augustinian friar, bishop and cardinal (1469-1532)
Giles Antonini commonly referred to as Giles of Viterbo (Latin: Ægidius Viterbensis, Italian: Egidio da Viterbo), was a 16th-century Italian Augustinian prelate, reforming theologian, orator, humanist and poet who served as Bishop of Viterbo e Tuscania. He was made a cardinal in 1517.
Early life
Antonini was born to humble parents and his given name is not known; his father was Lorenzo Antonini, of Canepina, near Viterbo, and his mother, Maria del Testa. He entered the Order of St. Augustine in June 1488, at which time he was given the name Giles. He began a course of studies at priories of the Order in Ameria, Padua, Istria, Florence and Rome, studying philosophy, and later made a doctor of theology. He became Vicar General of the Order in 1506. Upon the death of the Prior General, he was elected as his successor at three successive General Chapters of the Order: in 1507, 1511 and 1515, with the patronage of Pope Julius II.
He was a noted preacher, presiding at several papal services of Pope Alexander VI. He also travelled widely, due to his responsibilities as head of the Order. This allowed him to be in touch with leading intellectual figures of the period, with whom he formed working collaborations. One friend, Giovanni Pontano, dedicated a work to him, entitled Ægidius.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q380652. VIAF identifies the subject as 62342111. The Library of Congress control number is n85303913. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1517, 1488, 1506 and 1507.
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This entry incorporates text from “Giles of Viterbo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.