James of the Marches

St. James of the Marches, O.F.M.
Saint James of the Marches by Francisco Zurbarán
Born	c. 1391 Monteprandone, March of Ancona, Papal States
Died	28 November 1476 Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism (Franciscan Order)
Beatified	1624 by Pope Urban VIII
Canonized	1726 by Pope Benedict XIII
Major shrine	Sanctuary of St. James of the Marches Monteprandone, Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Feast	28 November
Attributes	Depicted holding in his right hand a chalice, out of which a snake is escaping
Patronage	Patron of Monteprandone, co-patron of Naples, Italy

St. James of the Marches, O.F.M., (c. 1391 – 28 November 1476) (Italian: Giacomo della Marca) was an Italian Friar Minor, preacher and writer.

He was born Dominic Gangala in the early 1390s to a poor family in Monteprandone, then in the March of Ancona, (now in the Province of Ascoli Piceno) in central Italy along the Adriatic Sea. As a child, he began his studies at Offida under the guidance of his uncle, a priest, who soon afterwards sent him to school in the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno. He later studied at the University of Perugia where he took the degree of Doctor in Canon and Civil Law. After a short stay at Florence as tutor for a noble family, and as judge of sorcerers, James was received into the Order of Friars Minor, in the chapel of the Portiuncula, in Assisi, on 26 July 1416. At that time, he took the religious name of James. Having finished his novitiate at the hermitage of the Carceri, near Assisi, he studied theology at Fiesole, near Florence, with St. John of Capistrano, under St. Bernardine of Siena. He began a very austere life fasting nine months of the year. St. Bernardine told him to moderate his penances.

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