Teobaldo Roggeri (1100 - 1150) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

shoemaker and

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

from the

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

n province noted for his simple manner of living and for his commitment to the needs of the poor of the Diocese of Alba. Roggeri received his beatification from

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

in 1841 after the pontiff confirmed that there was a significant 'cultus' (or popular and longstanding devotion) to the tradesman.

Life

Teobaldo Roggeri was born in the

n region to nobles from

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in 1100. The careful reading and attentiveness to the

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caused him to abandon his noble status in favor of a simple and austere life. He was orphaned of both his parents during his childhood so set off for

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

in 1112 where he became an apprentice to a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

. Roggeri worked as a cobbler and proved to be quite skilled in his trade which prompted the master to hope in vain that Roggeri would wed his daughter Virida and continue the business after his death; however the apprentice instead made a private vow to remain

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. He also worked as a porter and spent time transporting sacks of grain from place to place as part of his job. His master died in 1122 after a decade of working with Roggeri. This prompted Roggeri to embark on a solemn pilgrimage - with a bundle and a staff - to the

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica ( Spanish and Galician: ) is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The ...

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and he later returned to Alba to resume his work. He used his meager income to help the poor of his region and he often slept outside the local church. On one occasion the owner of the shoe store where he worked asked that he take a sack of wheat to the mill to be ground into flour. He agreed but gave handful after handful to the poor people that he encountered along the path to the point where no more wheat remained. He lacked the courage to face the woman back at the store and refused to go back without something to return so he filled the bag with sand and left it on the woman's doorstep before running off. The woman found flour in the bag though later learned of what had happened. This began the tale of the so-called "miracle of the flour" and happened not long before his death. Roggeri died in 1150 after contracting a serious illness while visiting the widow of a cobbler. Per his request he was buried in an unmarked patch of ground between the two churches of San Lorenzo and San Silvestro. His grave became a place of pilgrimage and miracles. After several decades his grave grew obscure and became lost. His remains were rediscovered late in the evening of 21 January 1429 by the Bishop of Alba Alerino Rambaudi; the legend is that the church bells rang out on their own at sunrise on 1 February 1429 in celebration of the find. His remains are now enshrined in the Alba Cathedral.

Beatification

The confirmation of the popular devotion of Roggeri in 1841 acted as the formal conferral of beatification from

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roggeri, Teobaldo 1100 births 1150 deaths People from Vicoforte 12th-century venerated Christians 12th-century Italian people Beatifications by Pope Gregory XVI Italian beatified people Shoemakers