From Provence, St. John of Matha was ordained priest in Paris and retired to a solitary life conscious that God was calling him to a special mission. He spent three years in prayer and recollection and then founded the Trinitarian Order for the ransom of Christians held by the Mohammedans. A great number of houses were founded and innumerable prisoners set free. St. John of Matha spent the last two years of his life in Rome where he died in 1213.