Saint Albert of Jerusalem was born in Italy in the mid-twelfth century. He entered the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross and later became bishop of Bobbio and then of Vercelli, working for peace, including by mediating between the pope and the emperor.

In 1205 he was appointed Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and because Jerusalem had fallen, he resided at Acre. There, at the request of hermits living on Mount Carmel, he wrote a rule of life for them, which became the foundation of the Carmelite Rule. In 1214, during a procession on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, he was killed by a man he had reprimanded.