Abstract

In the spring of 1566, a mysterious stranger appeared in Venice and began to preach around the Piazza San Marco. He called himself Dionisio Gallo, and no one has ever discovered whether that was his real name. Dionisio had come from France where he had apparently been rector of the College de Lisieux, although even that small detail of his life has not been established definitively. He claimed that in 1563 the Virgin Mary had anointed him in a mystical vision and that his prophetic mission was initiated with this anointment. Through his preaching and his writing, he criticized many of the same abuses in the Church that had been cited by Luther and by the reform commission established by Pope Paul III. The Council of Trent had completed its sessions, but Dionisio, along with many others, did not believe that the Council had accomplished the work of reform.