Raymond of Piacenza (1139/40 – 26 July 1200), called the Palmer or Zanfogni, was a Catholic pilgrim and religious who practiced charity to the poor and ill. Raymond's nickname, "the Palmer", derives from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, from which he brought back the customary palm frond. Such a pilgrim was called a Palmarius or Palmerius (Italian: Palmario or Palmerio). His feast day is 26 July.

Raymond's life is known from a Latin vita written in 1212, only twelve years after his death, by a certain Rufinus, at the instigation of Raymond's son Gerard. This was kept in the library of San Raimondo di Piacenza, a Cistercian convent, until 1525, when it was lent out to a Dominican friar to be translated into Italian. It was never seen again. The Bollandist Peter van der Bosch translated the Italian back into Latin for the Acta Sanctorum (July, vol. VI, col. 645–57). This version has been translated into English by Kenneth Baxter Wolf.

Raymond was born at Piacenza to parents "neither illustrious in origin nor completely lowborn", i.e., of the burgeoning middle class. He was raised by his mother until about the age of twelve, and never received a thorough education, being still "unlettered" at his death. At about twelve he was sent by his father to learn the family trade of shoemaking at a certain workshop. His father died when he was an adolescent (his biographer presumes that to be fourteen), and after receiving the permission of Bishop Hugh (1155–66), Raymond and his mother went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Raymond was ill for much of the journey and almost died on the return trip by sea.

Raymond's mother died soon after their return to Italy but before they reached Piacenza. At Piacenza Raymond's relatives persuaded him to marry, which he did, and he returned to shoemaking to support his family. In his leisure hours, his biographer writes, he conversed with religious men and became wise enough to preach, on holidays, in houses and workshops. His fame soon grew and people flocked to hear him. His biographer refers to him as their "spiritual leader", though he notes that Raymond refused to contravene canon law by preaching publicly. Instead, he urged those of his listeners who wanted more to speak with a priest or a monk.

In the space of one year all five of Raymond's children died, probably of an epidemic. He tried to persuade his wife to abstain from sexual relations so that they could devote themselves more fully to God, but she refused, saying "If I wished to be a nun, I would follow this advice. But since you have married me, it seems right to me to behave like a married woman, not like a widow or a nun". They had another child, a son named Gerard (Gerardo), whom Raymond secretly dedicated to Brigid of Kildare in her church at Piacenza. Shortly after his wife was afflicted with an incurable disease, to which she eventually succumbed, a fact which is treated by his biographer as Providence. Raymond then took vow a celibacy and, leaving Gerard and all his possessions (including his house) with his parents-in-law, left on a series of pilgrimages, which he planned to perform for the rest of his life.

Raymond first followed the Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela, supporting himself by begging. From Compostela he went to Vézelay, where, since the mid-eleventh century, the body of Mary Magdalene was said to lie. According to a legend that developed there Mary had lived out her life in penance in the caves of the Sainte-Baume near Marseille after the ascension of Christ. Raymond visited there and then hurried through Provence, where he visited the shrine of the Three Maries at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue. From there he visited the shrine of Anthony the Great at Vienne and that of Bernard of Clairvaux, either at Clairvaux or Menthon. He returned to Italy and visited the shrine of Augustine of Hippo at Pavia. He then proceeded to Rome.

While he was sleeping under a portico at the Basilica of Saint Peter, contemplating another pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he had a vision of Jesus Christ, who told him to return to Piacenza and "lead the rich to almsgiving, rival parties to peace, and those who have strayed—especially wayward women—to a proper way of life". He claimed that Christ had told him to wear a sky-blue, knee-length garment with loose sleeves and no hood, and to always carry a cross over his shoulder. These things he adopted in the Val di Taro, on his way back to Piacenza. He also wore a traveller's cap, perhaps as a reminder of his former pilgrim's life.

If I were to try to describe one by one all of blessed Raymond’s virtues, all of his labors, and each of his pious works, an entire year would not be sufficient for the task. So I think it will suffice to have briefly culled a few from them, for the glory of God and his saint and as an example to those living now as well as to those who will come in the future. So I will not mention how many times he came upon children here and there who had been abandoned and secretly cast aside; children whom he carried—often two at a time, one in each arm, lest they perish in their misery, all the while crying out of pity—back to his hospital to nurture with his care. Nor will I say how many sick people, especially foreigners and pilgrims, destitute and on the street without any resources, he carried on his own back.