Giovanni di Matera

John of Matera or Mathera, also known as John of Pulsano was a Benedictine monk.

Life John was born at Matera to a family of nobles. As a young man he moved to Taranto where he asked for hospitality and work from the Basilian monks of the Island of San Pietro. There he worked as a shepherd. Due to some misunderstandings with the monks, he left the islet and went to Calabria and then to Sicily, continuing to live a life of penance and renunciation.

He remained there for two years before moving to Apulia, where he stayed with relatives. He founded a small monastic community in Ginosa,

After meeting and spending some time with the hermit William of Vercelli at Bagnoli, he decided to go to Palestine. Around 1127 while passing through Bari, he realised that his mission had to take place there. He was rescued from prison by Grimoald, Prince of Bari, who ordered him to give an account of his theology to prove his orthodoxy. He preached under Grimoald in Bari.

He is remembered on 20 June and is portrayed as an abbot driving the devil away with a rod.