CONTARINI, ANTONIO. - Rhenish regular canon and tenth patriarch of Venice. Descended from two noble Venetian families, his parents were Luigi and Orsola Barbo. He embraced religious life in the flourishing Congregation of the Regular Canons of the Saviour. After his profession, he remained from 1470 to 1490 at S. Antonio di Castello near Venice.
He was then prior at S. Maria Maggiore in Treviso (1490-1493 and 1495-1502), at S. Antonio di Castello (1493-95), and at S. Salvatore in Venice (1503-1508). He was also visitor of the Congregation (1502-1503 and 1505-1508). At S. Maria di Castello and in Treviso he lived for several years together with his confrere Bl. Arcangelo Canetoli. At the unanimous request of the senate, he was made patriarch on 17 Nov. 1506. He governed the Venetian Church with great zeal and effectively promoted reform among the secular and regular clergy, as well as in various convents of nuns. He died on 7 Oct. 1524 and was buried in the chapel of S. Croce, which he had erected in the patriarchal church.