Pacificus of Verona

Pacificus of Verona (Italian: Pacifico di Verona) (c. 776 – 23 November 844 AD) was a 9th-century Carolingian Italian religious leader, notable for his tenure as the archdeacon of Verona from 803 until his death in 844, as well as the historiographical debate over the validity of the many achievements ascribed to him.

During his residency in Verona, he is alleged to have accomplished a number of feats, including composing or copying a large volume of texts, founding or helping to found several institutions in and around Verona, as well as several inventions that have been attributed to him. His works have been referenced and idealized by many inhabitants of Verona throughout history, and his charters were frequently used as evidence in debates surrounding the authority of the bishops and archdeacons of the city. He was reportedly well educated on a variety of subjects and has been held up by some as an example of a Carolingian Uomo Universale. There is a street named after him in Verona.

Not much can be determined about Pacificus from contemporary documents, as few survive from his time. His existence is proved by at least one private document bearing his autograph signature from 809, as well as possibly a second similar document from 814. These documents relate to the properties held by the schola sacerdotum (a school for priests) he is credited with founding in Verona. There are several other charters or documents claimed to have been written or signed by Pacificus, but their authenticity is currently a matter of debate. In addition there are several marginalia believed to have been written by Pacificus on manuscripts from Church's Veronese archives, as well as numerous manuscripts attributed to him.

What other information available on his life comes from later sources, and there is some debate as to the reliability of the information they give us. These sources include two epitaphs in the Verona Cathedral which had long been thought contemporaneous to Pacificus, but which some now argue date from the cathedral's construction in the twelfth century, some 270 years after Pacificus' death. Other sources providing details from Pacificus' life include the fourteenth-century work Historiae Imperialis (Imperial History) by Giovanni de Matociis (commonly known as Giovanni Mansionario), and the 16th-century work Antiquitates Veronenses by the Augustinian monk Onuphrius Panvinius.

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