Banchi, Serafino

Banchi, Serafino an Italian Dominican, was born at Florence near the middle of the 16th century. A protege of Catherine de' Medici, he went to France while very young, and this was his adopted country. In 1593 he denounced the project of Barriere of assassinating Henry IV, and refused the archbishopric of Angouleme. He died in Paris in 1622. He wrote Apologie contre les Jugements Tgmeraires de ceux qui ont pense servir la Religion en faisant assassiner le Roi de France (Paris, 1596). See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.