FRANCESCO BENCI. — One of the finest humanists of the Society of Jesus in the 16th century, born at Acquapendente in 1542 (his baptismal name was Plautus), died in Rome on 6 May 1595. A pupil of Antonio Muret, correspondent of Lipsius, he entered the novitiate in Rome in 1570 and was then assigned to teaching rhetoric at Siena, Perugia, and chiefly at Rome.
His works, all in Latin, include funeral orations, school tragedies, an epic poem: *Quinquae Martyres* (Venice 1591, in honour of Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva and companions), occasional poems. Numerous were the editions of his *Carminum libri quattuor* (Rome 1591), *Orationes XXII* (ibid. 1590), and *Orationes et carmina* (ibid. 1592). B. was also the compiler of the *Litterae annuae* of the Society of Jesus from 1586 to 1591 (ibid. 1589–94).