Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Harold, Francis
HAROLD, FRANCIS (d. 1685), Franciscan and author, was a native of Limerick, and member of the Franciscan order, to which his uncle, Luke Wadding, was the historiographer. Harold acted for a time as professor of theology at Vienna and Prague. He subsequently became an official of the Irish Franciscan convent of St. Isidore, Rome, of which Wadding was rector, and was appointed chronographer of the order of St. Francis. He died at Rome, 18 March 1685.
Harold published: 1. A Latin epitome of Wadding's 'Annals of the Franciscans,' extending from 1208 to 1540, Rome, 1662, 2 vols. fol. To the first volume Harold prefixed a memoir of Wadding, with a dedication to Cardinal Francesco Barberini. The second volume was dedicated to Michael Angelo Sambuca, minister-general of the Franciscan order. The 'Life of Wadding' was reissued at Rome in 1731. 2. 'Limalimata conciliis, constitutionibus synodalibus, et aliis monumentis, quibus Toribius Alphonsus Mogrovius, archiepiscopus Limanus, provinciam Limensem seu Peruanum imperium elimavit, et ad normam canonum composuit; omnia fere ex Hispanico Latine reddita, notis etscholiis illustrata,' Rome, 1673, fol. This work contains a collection of documents connected with the councils and affairs of the Spanish representatives of the Roman catholic church in Peru, with many particulars illustrating the relations between the Spanish missionaries and the Indians. 3. 'Beati Tlmribii Alphonsi Mogroveii, archiepiscopi Limensis vita exemplaris,' Rome, 1683, 4to. This biography of Alfonso Toribio Mogrobeio, the zealous and philanthropic archbishop of Lima (1581 to 1606 ), who was canonised in 1726, is of great rarity. A copy, with the author's manuscript corrections, is preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
[Traité de l'étude des Conciles, Paris, 1724; Annales Ordinis Minorum, 1731; Dictionnaire de Moreri, Paris, 1759; Scriptores Ordinis Minorum, 1731.]