Bl. Pietro Gambacorta

Pietro Gambacorta was born in 1355 into the family that ruled Pisa. Little is known for certain about his life. Around 1380 he left behind his rank and became a hermit on Monte Cesana near Urbino, living in a hut of branches and begging for food.

Companions joined him, and he founded the Poor Hermits of St Jerome (the Hieronymites of Blessed Peter of Pisa), approved by Pope Martin V in 1421. The order later grew to over ninety houses but was dissolved in 1933. He died in Venice in 1435. His cult was confirmed in 1693.

Legend and tradition. Tradition says his first followers were twelve highwaymen he converted. The surviving sources are few and mostly devotional.

Pietro Gambacorta was beatified in 1693.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.