Bruodin, Bonaventure (c.1610–71), Franciscan priest and martyr, was born in Munster. Educated on the Continent, he joined the Franciscan order and in the late 1640s was appointed professor, holding the chair of theology and philosophy in the archiepiscopal seminary at Prague for fifteen years. In the early 1650s there was some controversy over lectureships at the Bohemian friary, and Bruodin, along with one of the chief protagonists, Bernardine Clancy, was temporarily expelled from the college. He then taught theology at the convent of Our Lady of the Snows at Prague (1651–4) alongside Clancy, while his cousin Fr Anthony Bruodin (qv), the prolific writer and propagandist, taught philosophy at the convent in Olmütz. Unlike Fr Anthony, Bruodin was a popular figure, and made a good impression upon those he came into contact with.
He was restored as professor of theology around 1654, but his health began to fail. Filled with a desire to assist his native country, he attempted to resign from academic life in 1660. He was forced to carry on, however, until a replacement was found in the summer of 1661. The Irish Franciscan province was at that time troubled by the actions of Fr Peter Walsh (qv), whose supporters were attempting to impose a ‘remonstrance’ on the Irish clergy declaring unqualified allegiance to Charles II and disclaiming the pope's authority to absolve them from such allegiance. Before returning to Ireland Bruodin went to Flanders, where he wrote a tract against the remonstrance. It was not published, however, and disappeared without trace; according to Walsh this was because he was unable to get permission from the Irish confrères or the internuncio. Unperturbed, Bruodin went to London in early 1662; there he encountered Walsh, whom he angered by attempting to persuade some of the laity from taking the oath of allegiance. He then went to Paris, before reaching Ireland around the end of 1663. Bruodin acted as a calming influence in religious circles in Ireland, restoring some measure of stability to the Franciscan order. He was appointed guardian of Ennis friary in Co. Clare in 1669. His objections to the oath of fidelity, however, attracted the suspicion and hostility of government figures, who had him arrested. He was imprisoned in a dungeon in Dublin, where his health collapsed. He contracted a disease, which proved terminal, and he died 28 May 1671.
Accepted by his contemporaries as a martyr of the faith, he was honoured as such. In recognition of his work his name was included on the necrology of the Bohemian province, and the anniversary of his death was celebrated by the friars, with his life taught as an example worthy of imitation.