Bertrand of Saint-Geniès

Bertrand of Saint-Geniès (c. 1260 – 6 June 1350), a Gascon law professor and papal chaplain, became Patriarch of Aquileia in 1334. Though already old, he came to Friuli with a programme of reform.

Allied with Venice and Austria, he defeated Rizzardo da Camino in 1335 and recovered the Cadore in 1347. He and the abbot of Moggio once celebrated Christmas mass in armour, a scene Udine re-enacted until 1848. He curbed the Friulian feudal lords and founded the university of Cividale in 1344.

The nobles allied against him in 1348, and in 1350, in his nineties, he was ambushed and killed at San Giorgio della Richinvelda. The Church venerates him as a blessed martyr.