BERTRAND OF SAINT-GENIÈS (diocese of Ca-
hors), Blessed. — A doctor of law at Toulouse, auditor
of the Rota, he was appointed patriarch of Aquileia by
John XXII on 8 July 1334 and reached his see on
28 October. A constant concern for Bertrand was to
reclaim for the patriarchate the lands and castles that
belonged to his principality, and he did not hesitate to
enter into conflict with Rizzardo da Camino. He pre-
vented the dukes of Austria, who had also become lords
of Carinthia, from taking control of Venzone and thus
controlling communications between Friuli and Germany;
he opposed the claims of the counts of Gorizia. He held
two provincial councils in 1335 and 1339, diocesan
synods to restore ecclesiastical discipline, founded
monasteries, and organized the Chapter of Udine. When
jealousies resurfaced between Udine and Cividale, the
latter community regarded the patriarch as its enemy,
allied itself with the counts of Gorizia and some Friulian
lords, and defied the patriarch’s excommunications, which
were supported by the Udinesi and other communities.
A war ensued; Bertrand was attacked by his enemies in
the plains of Richinvelda on the right bank of the Tagli-
amento and killed on 6 June 1350. The Udinesi trans-
lated his remains to the cathedral of their city, where
Bertrand was venerated as a blessed.
The history of his cult is quite interesting: Clement
VIII permitted the celebration of his anniversary (6 June)
with a Mass *pro gratiarum actione* (cf. decree of 27 April
1599 by Patriarch Francesco Barbaro in *Acta SS. Iunii*,
I, p. 779); Benedict XIV, by a brief of 18 June 1756,
granted Udine the annual celebration of a solemn Mass
on 6 June (cf. Florio, op. cit., p. 257); Clement XIII,
finally, on 24 August 1758 and 7 April 1759, granted
the Mass and the Office of a Confessor to the dioceses
of Udine and Gorizia (Archivio della S. Congregazione
dei Riti, *Registrum Servorum Dei*, 1757–60, ff. 119, 182).