Salviati, Bernardo

Salviati, Bernardo, an Italian cardinal of the same family as the preceding, was born at Florence in 1492. As a knight of St. John of Jerusalem he took part in several expeditions against the barbaric corsairs, and reached the rank of general of the galleys He undertook a campaign in the Peloponnesus when the island of Rhodes was in the hands of Soliman: he laid Tripoli in ruins, destroyed the forts along the canal of Fagiera, besieged and took Cordon, in the Morea, and ravaged the island of Scio. Thus in a short time his name became a terror to the Turks. Being sent to Barcelona, to Charles V, he pleaded in vain for the liberty of his country, then torn by revolutions. Having gone to the court of France, he followed the advice of his relative, Catherine de' Medici, entered in ecclesiastical life, and was made almoner of the queen. In 1549 Salviati became bishop of Saint-Papoul, and, at the request of Catherine de' Medici, received from Pius IV the cardinal's hat, together with the bishopric of Clermont. He died at Rome, May 6, 1568.