Henri Noris

1631-1704. Roman Catholic scholar and cardinal. Born in Verona, Italy, of English descent, he studied with the Jesuits at Rimini but joined the Augustinian Hermits* there in 1646. Lecturing in theology and ecclesiastical history at Pesaro, Perugia, Florence, Padua, and Pisa (where he held the chair, 1674-92), he was then appointed by Innocent XII as the first custodian of the Vatican Library, consultor to the Holy Office (1694), and cardinal (1695). Historia Pelagiana and Vindiciae Augustinianae (1673) were his chief works, containing his interpretation of Augustine's soteriology and defending his doctrine of grace, which he believed Baianism and Jansenism misunderstood. The Spanish Inquisition later accused him of heresy, but in 1748 Benedict XIV ordered his books to be removed from the Index.