GIOVANNI da VERCELLI, blessed. - B. at the beginning of the 13th century at Mosso S. Maria (province of Vercelli), d. at Montpellier on 30 Nov. 1283. He was a teacher of canon law at Paris, where he had studied, and then at Vercelli. In 1229, inspired by the preaching of Blessed Giordano di Sassonia, he entered the Dominican Order.
At the convent of Vercelli, of which he was founder, he taught theology for several years and, from 1245 to 1257, was superior; then, having been elected provincial minister of Lombardy, he began to be known even to the popes themselves, who repeatedly appointed him inquisitor against the heresies spreading in those regions. At the General Chapter of Paris in 1264, G. was elected master general of his Order, an office he held until his death. From that time onward his whole life was absorbed by the concerns of the Order, for whose growth he laboured tirelessly, personally visiting almost all the convents, especially those of France, Italy, and Hungary. He knew and deeply venerated St Thomas d'Aquino, whose doctrine he defended at the Chapter of Paris (1279) against the opposition that had arisen within and outside the Order. Nicolò III appointed him patriarch of Jerusalem in 1298, but G. refused this honour. His cult was approved in 1903.