Joannis Pontas

JOANNIS PONTAS (Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, 1638 - Parigi, 1728).
"Dictionarium casuum conscientiae : quos secundum moralis principia, ecclesiasticae disciplinae consuetudines, conciliorum, et canonisatarum."
Printer Antonio Bortoli , Venice, 1761.
It presents active xylophages, faults, humidities and tears.
Measurements: 37.5 x 24.5 x 4 cm.
Originally from the diocese of Avranches, Joannis Pontas studied with the Jesuits first in Rennes and then in Paris. In 1663 he became a priest and graduated in canon law, spending his whole life in the French capital. He wrote several works on moral theology and asceticism, among them the Dictionarium casuum conscientiae. The work contains an Index summorum pontificorum and an Index historicus auctorum, as well as an immense series of cases divided into three volumes. The first edition of 1715, published as Dictionnaire des cas de conscience in French, was later translated into several languages. The author of the preface is the Dominican Daniele Concina. Pontas is considered one of the masters of casuistry in the 17th century, as a defender of the theory according to which behaviors related to precise circumstances can influence the moral norm, opposing rigorism and laxism.