Fulk, also known as Folco Scotti, was born in Piacenza in 1164 to parents of Scottish stock with Irish origins; the surname Scotti was then given to Irish who had settled in Italy. At about the age of twenty he entered the Canons Regular of Sant'Eufemia. After initial studies in Piacenza he was sent around 1185 to pursue theology in Paris. Near 1194 he became prior of Sant'Eufemia. He taught theology for a time in Piacenza, was made a canon, and later archpriest of the cathedral of Piacenza.
On 2 August 1210 he was chosen Bishop of Piacenza; the papal legate Gherardo da Sesso secured confirmation from Pope Innocent III. Because of the tangled political situation he could not receive episcopal consecration at once. Tradition holds that he may have taken part in the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. In 1216 Pope Innocent III himself consecrated him bishop, and shortly afterward Pope Honorius III transferred him to the vacant see of Pavia, where he remained until death.
As bishop he strove to remain apart from political intrigue so that he might give himself entirely to the spiritual and material good of his flock. In Pavia he established free meals for the poor and free schools for the young, undertook the reform of monasteries, defended ecclesiastical rights against civil power, and intervened as peacemaker in the struggles among local factions and between the cities of Piacenza and Pavia. He died in Pavia on 26 October 1229 (some sources give 16 December) and was buried in the cathedral. After his death Pope Gregory IX recognized him as a saint; his relics were translated from the old to the new cathedral in 1567.
Imitate today his single-hearted pastoral care, seeking the good of souls above every worldly entanglement, and ask his intercession for bishops and pastors who labor amid conflict.
