BANCHI, SERAFINO. - Dominican writer, born in Florence in the second half of the 16th century, died in Paris in 1622. He entered the Order at S. Domenico in Fiesole, completed his studies in Paris under the protection of Catherine de' Medici, and returned to Italy upon her death (1589). Invited to France by Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, he foiled an assassination attempt (1593) against Henry IV, who, in gratitude, offered him the bishopric of Angoulême (1604), which he declined out of humility. Remaining in Paris, he lived at the convent of S. Giacomo. He wrote, in French, a pamphlet against the king's would-be assassins (1586) and a work on the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin (1610).
