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Pietro I Orseolo
doge of Venice, Monk, Hermit (928-987)
Feast: 10 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Pietro Orseolo, of a noble Venetian family, distinguished himself in battles against pirates and was elected Doge of Venice in 976 after a violent revolt, accepting only out of duty. He rebuilt the Doge's palace and St Mark's at his own expense and gave generously to the poor.
In 987 he secretly left Venice to become a monk at Cuxa in the Pyrenees, where he was a model of humility, prayer and charity, for a time under St Romuald's guidance, and died there.
The miracles
Venerated from the eleventh century, the honour paid to him was ratified by Pope Clement XII in 1731.
Why that counted as sanctity
A doge who left power to become a humble monk.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Peter Urseolus
- Wikidata Q707192 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Pietro I Orseolo (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.