BERNARDIN OF SIENA, ST. , Franciscan preacher, was born of a noble family. His parents died in his childhood, and on the completion of his education, he spent some years in the service of the sick in the hospitals and thus caught the plague, of which he nearly died. In 1402 he entered the Franciscan order in the strict branch called Observant, of which he became one of the chief promoters (see FRANCISCANS). Shortly after his profession, the work of preaching was laid upon him, and for more than 3o years he preached with wonderful effect all over Italy, and played a great part in the religious revival of the beginning of the 15th century. In 1437 he became vicar-general of the Observant branch of the Franciscans. He refused three bishoprics. He died in 1444, and was canonized in 145o.
The first edition of his works, for the most part sermons, that, in a striking manner, reflect the life of the people, was printed at Lyons in I 501 ; later ones in 1636, 165o, and 1745. Specimens are to be found in Miss A. Harrison's Examples of S. Bernardino (1926). His life will be found in the Bollandists; a good modern biography has been written by Paul Thureau-Dangin (1896), and translated into English by Gertrude von Hugel