The Vallombrosans are a monastic Catholic order following the Rule of Saint Benedict, named for Vallombrosa, a shady valley about 30 kilometers from Florence on the northwestern slope of Monte Secchieta. The order was founded in 1038 by John Gualbert, a Florentine nobleman of the Visdomini family, who according to tradition forgave his brother's murderer after the man threw himself to the ground in the form of a cross and pleaded for mercy; Gualbert had already become a Benedictine monk at San Miniato before establishing the Vallombrosa monastery to balance contemplative and communal monastic life. The order is part of the Benedictine Confederation and today maintains nine houses with about 73 monks.
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