Raymond of Penyafort was a 13th-century Dominican friar and influential canon lawyer. Born in Santa Margarida i els Monjos, he studied in Barcelona and Bologna, eventually earning doctorates in both civil and canon law. He served as the Master General of the Order of Preachers and held significant ecclesiastical roles, including serving as a grand penitentiary. He is most renowned for his massive contribution to legal history through the compilation of the Decretals of Gregory IX, a foundational collection of church laws that remained authoritative for centuries.