PIETRO DELFIN. — General of the Camaldolese Order, born in Venice in 1444, died there on 15 January 1525. He became a religious in 1480, cultivated letters and theology, and maintained relations with the most illustrious men of his time, especially with the humanists. Elected general in 1480, he remained in office until his death; however, from 1514 his authority was purely nominal, since in that year Leo X entrusted the effective government of the Order to two vicars.
A man of mild character, he allowed D. Basilio Nardi, more an adventurer than a monk, free rein, and lacked the energy to implement the religious reform he nonetheless desired. An irreconcilable and embittered opponent of Savonarola, in his *Dialogus in Ieronymum Ferrarisem* he even went so far as to call for the friar of San Marco to be condemned to the stake. His epistolary output was vast, partly edited by Giacomo da Brescia (Venice 1524), which combines stylistic elegance with theological learning and an abundance of historical information.