The saint to whom this small church is dedicated – depicted in the bas-relief on the façade – is a Flemish knight who lived before the year 1,000, of vengeful character who, after killing his father and mother lying in bed believing them to be his wife and her alleged lover, led a life of atonement and prayer. As early as the Middle Ages there was a building dedicated to the saint in the area that was later occupied by the construction of the Castello Estense. The original church was demolished in 1385 and rebuilt in its current location in 1405 by order of Marquis Nicholas II. The church has been closed since the 2012 earthquake and, although, no features attributable to the seventeenth century are recognized, on a par with the Castle, it was opened for the 2017 edition of open monuments, as a milestone in the process of historical and urban transformation of the city.
