Innocentia

Who they were

According to tradition, Innocenza was born into a noble and wealthy family and was martyred at Rimini by the Emperor Diocletian at about sixteen or seventeen years old, in the early 4th century, after soldiers brought her before him and he failed to make her renounce her faith. Devotion to her in the diocese of Rimini is documented from before the year 1000, and a chapel dedicated to her near the bishop's palace is recorded as early as 996.

Her veneration is also attested by a country church on Monte Tauro, about eight miles from the city, thought to predate the 11th century, and by local statutes that once required an offering on her feast day, 16 September. Some scholars have wondered whether Innocenza was truly a martyr, or simply a virgin of Rimini, perhaps a founder or donor connected to a religious house, since her chapel was called a "monasterium" in the oldest texts.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Virgin said to have been martyred at Rimini under Diocletian at about sixteen; venerated there since before the year 1000, feast 16 September.