Peter Nolasco

Peter Nolasco, O. de M. (Pere Nolasc in Catalan, Pierre Nolasque in French and Pedro Nolasco in Spanish; 1189 – 6 May 1256) was a Catholic nobleman known for founding the Royal and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy of the Redemption of the Captives (the Mercedarians) with approval by Pope Gregory IX on 17 January 1235.

Though there is debate about whether Nolasco was born in France or Spain, it is clear that he was in Barcelona when he was a teenager and became part of an army fighting the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula and was appointed tutor to the young king, James I of Aragon.