Catherine of Siena clearly wasn't a fan of the easy life. The Italian mystic and author could have rested on her laurels in her home town in Tuscany, where she had gained a reputation for her dedication to the sick and poor, and her ecstatic visions. Instead, she decided to embark on a mission to save the Catholic Church and bring peace to Italy.
And so, in the mid-1370s, Catherine set out to foster peace within the church, and encourage Pope Gregory XI to quit Avignon (which had been the seat of popes since 1309) and return to the papacy's traditional home in Rome. Shortly after, Gregory entrusted Catherine with the thorny task of negotiating a peace with the rebellious city of Florence.
