Rennes, Poitiers, 10 Jan 1716. He entered the Order of Benedictines, but lost his faith by reading an abridgment of the Old Testament.
"A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations"
Joseph Mazzini Wheeler
He also acquired for his diocese from the Benedictines of St. Mary of Lenley's in Normandy, the priory and houses of St. Andrew in the Ardes, belonging to that order.
"The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, August 1865"
Society of Clergymen
Giovanni had heard them speak, at Subiaco, of a young man of noble birth who had taken the habit of the Benedictines at Santa Scolastica after the death of the woman he loved.
"The Saint"
Antonio Fogazzaro Commentator: William Roscoe Thayer