Pietro Delfino or Delfin, O.S.B. Cam., (born at

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1444; died 16 January 1525) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona () are a Catholic Church, Catholic monastic order of pontifical right for men founded by Romuald, St. Romuald. Its name is derived from the Holy Hermitage () in Camaldoli, high in the mountains of Tuscany, ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

patristic Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics em ...

scholar,

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

, and

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of his

religious Order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

Life

Pietro Delfin was a patrician of Venice, member of the famous Delfin family, one of the oldest noble families in Venice. Pietro entered the Camaldolese Monastery of St. Michael, which was located on the island of

Murano Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 (2004 figures). It is famous for its glass making. It was o ...

in the

Venetian Lagoon The Venetian Lagoon (; ) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea, in northern Italy, in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Italian and Venetian languages, ' (cognate of Latin ' ), has provided the English name for an enclosed, ...

. In 1479, he was elected abbot of the same community. The following year he was made

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

general of the Order, based at

Camaldoli Camaldoli () is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Poppi, in Tuscany, Italy. It is mostly known as the ancestral seat of the Camaldolese monastic order, originated in the eponymous hermitage, which can still be visited. The name was derived from ...

in the region of

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

. He held that office until the year 1513 when he resigned in favour of Paul Giustiniani, whom he had invested with the Camaldolese

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

in 1510. Delfin was the forty-sixth prior general from St. Romuald, the founder of the Camaldolese, and he was the last elected for life--the office after him being held for three years only. From 1481 to 1508, Delfin was proposed to serve as bishop of Venice on five occasions, but refused them all. On four occasions he was also proposed to serve as Patriarch of Aquilea, but refused again. He was also presented with the cardinalate in two occasions, but respectfully declined to the Pope to continue serving the camaldolese order. Delfin was one of the main opposers to Savonarola, but still promoted the reform inside the Catholic Church which would lead to the Council of Trento.

Works

The letters of Delfin, which number more than 4,000, are addressed to other religions and other orders and to various secular dignitaries, contain accounts of contemporary events in his own Order and the Church in general. A collection of his Latin letters was published at Venice in 1524. Several others that had been omitted in the Venetian editions were included later in Martène's "Veterum Scriptorum amplissima collectio". The "Apothegmata Patrum" and the "Dialogues" on

Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...

are still unedited.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: * MARTENE, ''Veterum Scriptorum et monumentorum ecclesiasticorum et dogmaticorum amplissima collectio'', III, 915.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delfino, Pietro 1444 births 1525 deaths Camaldolese Order Italian abbots 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Italian Benedictines Benedictine abbots Benedictine scholars Benedictine writers 15th-century Venetian writers Republic of Venice clergy 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians 16th-century Venetian writers 16th-century Italian male writers 15th-century Christian abbots