Melania the Younger was a 5th-century Christian ascetic and member of the wealthy Roman senatorial class. Born in Rome around 383, she was the granddaughter of Melania the Elder. Despite an early marriage to her cousin Pinianus, she eventually embraced a life of celibacy and extreme poverty. After inheriting vast family estates, she and her husband distributed their wealth to the poor and the Church, eventually traveling to places like Sicily and Jerusalem to live a monastic existence.