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Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza

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A Spanish canonist and bishop; b. of a noble family at Burgos; d. 1595, at Jaén. He made such progress in his studies at Salamanca that at the age of 21 years he already occupied a professorial chair in canon law. After being auditor for six years at Valladolid, he was appointed auditor of the rota in Rome and held this office for twelve years. In 1574 he became Bishop Astorga, whence he was transferred to the more important See of Jaén in 1580. He was a model bishop and extremely charitable. He wrote some works on canon law, the best known of which are "Selectarum interpretationum libri VIII" (Rome, 1571, Burgos, 1573, 1575, Antwerp, 1616), and "De redditibus ecclesiasticis" (Rome, 1569, Burgos, 1573, 1575). In the latter, which is dedicated to Pius V, he argues again the famous canonist Martin Azpilcueta, that clerics are not bound in justice, but only in charity, to give to the poor that part of their revenues which is not necessary for their own sustenance. His complete works were published in three volumes (Antwerp, 1616).