GIOVANNI da VERCELLI, Blessed. - Born at the beginning of the 13th century at Mosso S. Maria (province of Vercelli), died at Montpellier on 30 November 1283. He was a master of canon law at Paris, where he had studied, and later at Vercelli. In 1229, moved by the preaching of the Blessed Giordano of Saxony, he entered the Dominican Order.
In the convent of Vercelli, of which he was the founder, he taught theology for several years and from 1245 to 1257 was superior; then, elected provincial minister of Lombardy, he began to be known even to the popes themselves, who repeatedly designated him as inquisitor against the heretical sects 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 moment onward, his entire life was absorbed by the cares of the Order, for whose growth he worked indefatigably, personally visiting almost all the convents, especially in France, Italy, and Hungary. He knew and deeply revered St. Thomas Aquinas, whose doctrine he defended at the Chapter of Paris (1279) against the opposition that had arisen within and outside the Order. Nicholas III appointed him Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1278, but G. declined the honor. His cult was approved in 1903.