- Jordan de Alamaia
Born to the Saxon nobility, he received a pious upbringing and was noted for his charity to the poor from an early age. Educated in Germany, and received his masters degree in theology at the University of Paris. Joined the Order of Preachers in 1220 under Saint Dominic himself. Prior-provincial of the Order in Lombardy, Italy in 1221. Succeeded Dominic as master-general of the Order in 1222. Under his administration, the Order spread throughout Germany, and into Denmark.
A noted and powerful preacher; one of his sermons brought Saint Albert the Great into the Order. Wrote a biography of Saint Dominic. His writings on Dominic and the early days of the Order are still considered a primary sources. Spiritual director of Blessed Diana d’Andalo, and helped her found the monastery of Saint Agnes.
- c.1190 at Padberg Castle, diocese of Paderborn, Westphalia, old Saxony (in modern Germany)
- rumoured to have been born in Palestine while his parents were on a pilgrimage, and named after the River Jordan, but this is apparently aprochryphal
- drowned in 1237 in a shipwreck off the coast of Syria while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
- buried in Acre
- “Blessed Jordan of Saxony“. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 October 2015. Web. 25 May 2016. <>