Mittarelli was born in 1707 in
Venice and
christened Nicola Giacomo. At the early age of fourteen, Nicola entered the Camaldolese Order at the
Monastery of St. Michael, located on the island of
Murano in the
Venetian Lagoon. Upon his admission to the
novitiate of the monastery, he was given the name
Gian Benedetto, by which he was known for the rest of his life. He later studied
theology and
philosophy at the monasteries of his Order in
Florence and
Rome. When he completed his studies, he was assigned to teach these subjects to younger members of the Order. However, because he was not attuned to the
scholastic method, his superiors sent him to the Monastery of Saint
Parisius in
Treviso, where he became a
confessor and the
archivist of the Order. ==Career==