Boniface of Valperga

He entered the religious life as a monk at the Benedictine abbey of Fruttuaria, about twenty kilometres north of Turin. Subsequently, he entered the Augustinian Collegiate church of Saint Ursus in Aosta where, having been made Prior in 1210, he exerted a vigorous leadership in both the spiritual and temporal realms.

In 1268, Boniface, together with Rainerio, entered into an alliance with the Marquis of Monferrato and the Count of Biandrate against the San Martino family and the Municipality of Ivrea, which were threatening hostilities. On 16 May 1291, Boniface of Mazzè, Count of Valperga, appeared before the Bishop of Ivrea, acting on behalf of his son Obertino of Mazzè, and his cousin's son William of Candia. On 8 March 1305, following the death of Marquis Giovanni I of Monferrato at Chivasso and his burial in the Monastery of Santa Maria di Lucedio, the vassals and representatives of the Marquisate assembled at Trino. There, they resolved to appoint envoys to travel to Constantinople to petition. An envoy was elected to travel to the Byzantine court and petition Empress Irene (Yolande) of Montferrat, sister of the deceased marquis and wife of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, to come in person or send one of her sons to assume possession of Monferrato, according to Giovanni's testament, to assume possession of Monferrato in accordance with the late marquis’s testamentary wishes. Among those elected was Albertino of San Giorgio, Count of Biandrate. The lords of San Giorgio, Rainerio of Mazzè, and several members of the Valperga comital family attended the assembly.

He was entombed first in the Collegiate church of Saint Ursus; then his remains were translated to the cathedral of Aosta. His cultus developed rapidly, and his veneration as a “blessed” remained steady over the centuries, with various monuments being dedicated to him in the cathedral. It was ratified as ab immemorabili by Pope Leo XIII on 28 April 1890.