MARIANO da GENAZZANO. - Of the Hermits of St. Augustine, preacher, b. at Genazzano in 1450, d. at Sessa on 14 Dec. 1498. After some years of teaching, he devoted himself to preaching in northern and central Italy, being especially renowned in Florence.
He enjoyed the friendship and intimacy of Lorenzo il Magnifico and of the Florentine humanist circles; because of his manner and his eloquence, highly elegant and not devoid of rhetorical refinements, he was lavishly praised by Poliziano. He was one of Savonarola’s most bitter opponents and contributed to his downfall.
In Florence and elsewhere he established convents of his Order, in which he held various offices and of which he was vicar general for the Congregation of Lombardy (1497). From Alessandro VI he obtained that the office of sacristan to His Holiness be assigned to a religious of his Order (a privilege that still endures).