Peter of Ruffia, Bl.

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PETER OF RUFFIA, BL.

Inquisitor, martyr; b. Ruffia, Piedmont, Italy, c. March 1320; d. Susa, Piedmont, Feb. 2, 1365. Born of the noble Cambiani family, he entered the dominicans when he was 16 years old. A brilliant student of Scripture, theology, and law, he directed his learning against the heretical waldenses. Because of his knowledge of Piedmont and its people, innocent vi named him inquisitor general there in 1351. Peter worked in the Diocese of Turin until mid-January of 1365, when he began a tour of the Alpine valleys near Switzerland. At the Franciscan friary in Susa he was assassinated by two heretics. He is buried in the church of St. Dominic, Turin. pius ix approved his cult on Dec. 4, 1856.

Feast: Nov. 7.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Nov. 3:684686. i. taurisano, Catalogus hagiographicus ordinis praedicatorum (Rome 1918) 1:2930. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints (New York 1956) 4:291292.

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