1. LORENZO (1380-1465), the Laurentius Justinianus of the Roman
calendar, at an early age entered the congregation of the canons of St
George in Alga, and in 1433 became general of that order. About the same
time he was made by Eugenius IV. bishop of Venice; and his episcopate
was marked by considerable activity in church extension and reform. On
the removal of the patriarchate from Grado to Venice by Nicholas V. in
1451, Giustiniani was promoted to that dignity, which he held for
fourteen years. He died on January 8, 1465, was canonized by Pope
Alexander VIII., his festival (semi-duplex) being fixed by Innocent
XII. for September 5th, the anniversary of his elevation to the
bishopric. His works, consisting of sermons, letters and ascetic
treatises, have been frequently reprinted,--the best edition being that
of the Benedictine P. N. A. Giustiniani, published at Venice in 2 vols.
folio, 1751. They are wholly devoid of literary merit. His life has been
written by Bernard Giustiniani, by Maffei and also by the Bollandists.
2. LEONARDO (1388-1446), brother of the preceding, was for some years a
senator of Venice, and in 1443 was chosen procurator of St Mark. He
translated into Italian Plutarch's _Lives of Cinna and Lucullus_, and was
the author of some poetical pieces, amatory and religious--_strambotti_
and _canzonetti_--as well as of rhetorical prose compositions. Some of
the popular songs set to music by him became known as _Giustiniani_.
3. BERNARDO (1408-1489), son of Leonardo, was a pupil of Guarino and of
George of Trebizond, and entered the Venetian senate at an early age. He
served on several important diplomatic missions both to France and Rome,
and about 1485 became one of the council of ten. His orations and
letters were published in 1492; but his title to any measure of fame he
possesses rests upon his history of Venice, _De origine urbis Venetiarum
rebusque ab ipsa gestis historia_ (1492), which was translated into
Italian by Domenichi in 1545, and which at the time of its appearance
was undoubtedly the best work upon the subject of which it treated. It
is to be found in vol. i. of the _Thesaurus_ of Graevius.
4. PIETRO, also a senator, lived in the 16th century, and wrote on
_Historia rerum Venetarum_ in continuation of that of Bernardo. He was
also the author of chronicles _De gestis Petri Mocenigi_ and _De bello
Venetorum cum Carolo VIII._ The latter has been reprinted in the
_Script. rer. Ital._ vol. xxi.
Of the Genoese branch of the family the most prominent members were the
following:--
5. PAOLO, DI MONIGLIA (1444-1502), a member of the order of Dominicans,
was, from a comparatively early age, prior of their convent at Genoa. As
a preacher he was very successful, and his talents were fully recognized
by successive popes, by whom he was made master of the sacred palace,
inquisitor-general for all the Genoese dominions, and ultimately bishop
of Scio and Hungarian legate. He was the author of a number of Biblical
commentaries (no longer extant), which are said to have been
characterized by great erudition.
6. AGOSTINO (1470-1536) was born at Genoa, and spent some wild years in
Valencia, Spain. Having in 1487 joined the Dominican order, he gave
himself with great energy to the study of Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee and
Arabic, and in 1514 began the preparation of a polyglot edition of the
Bible. As bishop of Nebbio in Corsica, he took part in some of the
earlier sittings of the Lateran council (1516-1517), but, in consequence
of party complications, withdrew to his diocese, and ultimately to
France, where he became a pensioner of Francis I., and was the first to
occupy a chair of Hebrew and Arabic in the university of Paris. After an
absence from Corsica for a period of five years, during which he visited
England and the Low Countries, and became acquainted with Erasmus and
More, he returned to Nebbio, about 1522, and there remained, with
comparatively little intermission, till in 1536, when, while returning
from a visit to Genoa, he perished in a storm at sea. He was the
possessor of a very fine library, which he bequeathed to the republic of
Genoa. Of his projected polyglot only the Psalter was published
(_Psalterium Hebraeum, Graecum, Arabicum, et Chaldaicum_, Genoa, 1616).
Besides the Hebrew text, the LXX. translation, the Chaldee paraphrase,
and an Arabic version, it contains the Vulgate translation, a new Latin
translation by the editor, a Latin translation of the Chaldee, and a
collection of scholia. Giustiniani printed 2000 copies at his own
expense, including fifty in vellum for presentation to the sovereigns of
Europe and Asia; but the sale of the work did not encourage him to
proceed with the New Testament, which he had also prepared for the
press. Besides an edition of the book of Job, containing the original
text, the Vulgate, and a new translation, he published a Latin version
of the _Moreh Nevochim_ of Maimonides (_Director dubitantium aut
perplexorum_, 1520), and also edited in Latin the _Aureus libellus_ of
Aeneas Platonicus, and the _Timaeus_ of Chalcidius. His annals of Genoa
(_Castigatissimi annali di Genova_) were published posthumously in 1537.