GUGLIELMO da MALAVALLE, Saint
Founder of the Congregation of Hermits, known as the Guglielmines or Guglielmites, died near Siena on 10 February 1157. It is thought that he was born in France at an unspecified time; he became a monk around 1153 on the small island of Lupocavio near Pisa, and in 1155 he retired to a desolate valley (Malavalle) near Siena, where he died. Canonized by Innocent III in 1202, his feast is celebrated on 10 February. His body is preserved in Castiglione di Pescaria, while his head is venerated in the church of the Jesuits in Antwerp.
Few and uncertain details are available about the life of the Saint, as he was confused by later biographers with other contemporary and similarly named saints and monks. It is believed that in his youth G. devoted himself to military service and led a sinful life. Having gone on a penitential pilgrimage to Rome, Pope Eugenius III is said to have imposed on him, as a means of remitting his sins, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After spending eight years in the Holy Land, he went to central Italy, where he established an institute of monks.
GUGLIELMO da MALAVALLE — GUGLIELMO di MOERBEKE