JOHN (OLDRADI, OLDRATI) of MEDA, saint. — Born at Meda towards the end of the 11th century.
The tradition that makes him the founder of the Order of the Humiliati is entirely legendary. After a vision in which the Blessed Virgin showed him the habit of the Humiliati, he is said to have gone to Brera and there founded an Order composed solely of clerics under the Rule of St Benedict. He is also credited with the foundation of the house of Santa Maria in Rondineto near Como. Through his apostolate he contributed greatly to the spread of the Order in Lombardy. He died at Brera in the year 1159. A. De Stefano denied outright the historical existence of John. L. Zanoni, more correctly upholding his historicity, would place the framework of his life much later than the first half of the 12th century. For documents attest that one cannot speak of an Order of the Humiliati composed solely of clerics before 1200, and that the house at Rondineto in 1189 was still a confraternity of laymen only.