# Rainerius > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rainerius > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rainerius.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainerius > Source revision: 1304523412 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Patron saint of Pisa, Italy}} {{for|the Pope Paschal II (Raniero)|Pope Paschal II}} {{Infobox saint |honorific_prefix= Saint |name= Rainerius |birth_date= c. 1115/1117 |death_date= c. 1160 |feast_day= June 17 |venerated_in= [Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church) |image= 'Saint Rainerius' by Cecco di Pietro.jpg |imagesize= 200px |caption= ''Saint Rainerius'' by [Cecco di Pietro](/source/Cecco_di_Pietro) |birth_place= |death_place= Pisa, Italy |titles= |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date= |canonized_place= |canonized_by=[Pope Alexander III](/source/Pope_Alexander_III) |attributes= depicted as a bearded hermit in a [hairshirt](/source/hairshirt) holding a [rosary](/source/rosary); as a young pilgrim in a hairshirt carrying a banner with the [Pisan cross](/source/%3ACommons%3ACategory%3ACoats_of_arms_of_Pisa); as being raised up by devils; or as dying in a hairshirt. |patronage= Pisa; travellers |major_shrine= Duomo di Pisa |suppressed_date= |issues= }} '''Rainerius''' (''c''. 1115/1117 – 1160) is the [patron saint](/source/patron_saint) of [Pisa](/source/Pisa) and patron saint of travellers.[André Vauchez](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Vauchez) (1993) ''The Laity in the Middle Ages: Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices'', Daniel E. Bornstein, ed., and Margery J. Schneider, trans. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press), 55. His [feast day](/source/feast_day) is June 17, his name may also be spelled '''Raynerius''', '''Rainerius''', '''Rainier''', '''Raineri''', '''Rainieri''', '''Ranieri''', '''Raniero''', or '''Regnier'''. ==Life== Rainerius was the son of Gandulfo Scacceri, a prosperous [merchant](/source/merchant) and [shipowner](/source/shipowner) of Pisa, and Mingarda Buzzaccherini. In his youth, he was a traveling musician. Later biographies stress his worldliness at this stage. He met, through his travels, a holy man, Alberto, a nobleman from [Corsica](/source/Corsica) "who wore a cloak of animal hair, like a goat", and had entered the monastery of Saint Vitus (San Vito) in Pisa and become renowned for his work for the poor.Vauchez (1993), 58–60. Rainerius was so impressed that he became a devout [Christian](/source/Christians). In 1146, Rainerius set himself up as a merchant in order to pay for his fare to the [Holy Land](/source/Holy_Land). The business took him to many ports, and he became wealthy through trade with the sailors. His travels took him to the Holy Land, where, it is said, he had a vision by which he understood that his wealth was hindering him from devoting himself to God.[http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=15180&cid=30957&ecid=30957&crid=0 "St. Rainerius", ''FaithND'',, University of Notre Dame] He resolved to give up his wealth and live in complete poverty. He remained in the Holy Land for seven years, living as a beggar and visited the holy shrines (the [Holy Sepulchre](/source/Holy_Sepulchre), [Mount Tabor](/source/Mount_Tabor), [Hebron](/source/Hebron), [Bethlehem](/source/Bethlehem)). His austerity was so excessive, his later biographer noted, that God had to tell him to eat. [[File:Andrea di Bonaiuto - Scenes from the Life of St Rainerus (detail) - WGA00312.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Scene from the life of Saint Rainerius. Detail from a fresco of [Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze](/source/Andrea_di_Bonaiuto_da_Firenze) in the Campo Santo.]] In 1153 Rainerius returned to Pisa and entered the monastery of Saint Andrew (Sant'Andrea) and subsequently that of Saint Vitus. There he achieved fame and became a [preacher](/source/preacher),[https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/178 "St Rainier of Pisa", ''Independent Catholic News''] being treated like a saint even in his lifetime, reputedly expelling [demon](/source/demon)s and performing miracles. His body was carried in a triumph through the city to its resting place in the [Duomo of Pisa](/source/Piazza_dei_Miracoli) upon his death.Vauchez (1993), 67–69. ==Veneration== His life was the subject of a cycle of [fresco](/source/fresco)s by [Antonio Veneziano](/source/Antonio_Veneziano_(painter)) in the [Campo Santo](/source/Camposanto_Monumentale). According to later stories, he was canonised by [Pope Alexander III](/source/Pope_Alexander_III). In 1161 or 1162 a Pisan [canon](/source/Canon_(priest)) named Benincasa wrote a long and invaluable ''vita'' of the saint. He says Rainerius resembled the son of God through his life of strict ''imitatio Christi'' (imitation of Christ).Vauchez (1993), 62–63. Benincasa also goes so far as to claim ["a royal priesthood in Christ"](/source/Priesthood_of_all_believers) of which Rainerius and all the baptised were a part. With the growth of Pisan influence, Rainerius's cult spread throughout the Mediterranean. In 1632 the [Archbishop of Pisa](/source/Archbishop_of_Pisa), the local clergy, and the Pisan magistrates elected Rainerius as the patron saint of the city and the diocese. In 1689 his body was [translated](/source/translation_(relics)) to the altar of the Duomo. He is generally portrayed as a bearded hermit in a [hairshirt](/source/hairshirt) holding a [rosary](/source/rosary); as a young pilgrim in a hairshirt carrying a banner with the [Pisan cross](/source/Pisan_cross); as being raised up by devils; or as dying in a hairshirt. ==Notes== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== {{commons|Category:Saint Rainerius}} *[http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/58000 San Ranieri di Pisa] {{in lang|it}} *{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20040325192207/http://www.navigationdusavoir.net/PortalPisa/traderoutes/medievale_legend.htm San Ranieri Scacceri]}} {{in lang|it}} {{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Saints|Italy}} {{Authority control}} Category:Italian saints Category:Italian hermits Category:People from the Province of Pisa Category:12th-century Christian saints Category:Burials at Pisa Cathedral Category:1110s births Category:1160 deaths --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rainerius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainerius) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainerius?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.