Sylvester Gozzolini

Silvestro Guzzolini (1178 – 26 November 1267) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Silvestrini. He served as a canon in Osimo but respectful rebukes of his bishop's inappropriate conduct led him to leave for a hermitage before the bishop could strip him of his position. He remained in his hermitage with a determination to found a religious congregation and based it upon the Order of Saint Benedict after having a dream of Benedict of Nursia. His order received papal approval from Pope Innocent IV which allowed his order to expand across Italian cities to a significant degree.

His beatification was confirmed in the 1260s after his death in 1267, and he was later canonized in 1598 as a saint. Sylvester later build one of the first monasteries in his name close to this hermitage and likely also wrote the first biography of Bonfilius.

Disciples flocked to him seeking his direction and it became vital for him to choose a Rule. His fame worried Pope Gregory IX in 1228, who decided to send the Dominican friars Riccardo and Bonaparte to him to invite him into their order, but he refused.