BERSUIRE (BRESSUIRE), PIETRO. — Benedictine, born at St.-Pierre du Chemin toward the end of the thirteenth century, died in Paris in 1362. He entered the Franciscan Order when young, but left it to join the Benedictines of S. Salvatore. In 1332 he was appointed abbot of Fosse de Tigné, and in 1336 transferred to the abbey of Bruyeres-le-Châtel. Having gone to the papal court at Avignon, he became one of the household of Cardinal Pietro Deprès, to whom he dedicated his two principal works; he also met Petrarch, who esteemed him for his learning and piety. Through the same cardinal, in 1343 he obtained the abbey of Our Lady of Clisson, and in 1349 that of Coulombs. Nevertheless, he resided in Paris, where he attended university courses, and in 1350 was confined in the episcopal prison because of his independent character and the criticisms he had directed at the ecclesiastical authorities. Released through the intervention of the university, he became secretary to King Giovanni of France. In 1354 he obtained the priory of St-Eloi in Paris, where he ended his days. He wrote several highly esteemed works, including the Reductorium morale (1340) and the Repertorium morale (1359), both dedicated to Cardinal Deprès; he was the first to translate and comment on Ovid’s Metamorfosi.
P. B., in Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'Ecole française de Rome, 4 (1884), pp. 19-27; G. Mollat, P. B. chambrier de Notre-Dame de Coulombs au diocèse de Chartres, in Revue Bénédictine, 22 (1905), pp. 271-73; Gesamthatalog der Wiegendreche, III, Berlin 1928, no. 3862-67; B. Heurtebize, s. v., in DHG, VIII, col. 914-16. Agostino Amore