Born Martin Tomitani, he belonged to the noble family of Tomitano and was the eldest of nine children. In 1456, while a law student in Padua, he heard St. James of the Marches preach the Lenten course and was inspired to enter the Franciscan order, taking the name Bernardino, after Bernardino of Siena. In May that year he joined the "Observantine" Franciscans, an austere branch of the Franciscan friars. He completed successfully his studies at Mantua and was ordained priest in 1463. He was small, shy, and stammered but his superiors assigned him to preach home-missions. Cured of an impediment in his speech, Bernardine began his apostolate up and down the Italian peninsula. Every city of note and every province from Lombardy in the north to Sardinia and the provinces of the south became successively the scene of his missionary labours.