GAMBACORTA (GAMBACORTI, lat. Gambacorta), PIETRO, blessed. - Founder of the Poor Hermits of S. Girolamo, or Gerolamini, b. at Pisa on 15 February 1355, d. at Venice on 17 June 1435. His father Gerardo, of the noble G. family originating from Germany, appears to have been the brother of Pietro G., ruler of the Pisan Republic; his mother Niera, a woman of great piety, maintained an intimate correspondence with s. Caterina da Siena.
While his father, in order to ensure descendants, was preparing his son Pietro for marriage, he withdrew to an eremitical life on Monte Casana near Urbino, now Montebello. Later, joined by several disciples, he founded the Congregation of the Poor Hermits of S. Girolamo, suppressed in 1933 by Pio XI because it had been reduced to very few hermits, making communal life impossible. In 1729 the Office and Mass of the blessed were approved. The place where he was buried is not known with certainty: diligent searches, especially in the church of the monastery of S. Girolamo in Venice, the most likely location, have proved fruitless.