Roman Catholic Diocese of Cortona

For the diocese of Crotone (Calabria), see Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Crotone-Santa Severina. For the diocese of Coronea (Coron, Greece), see Latin Bishopric of Coron.

Cathedral of Cortona

The diocese of Cortona was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in central Italy, which existed from 1325 to 1986. It was immediately subject to the Holy See.

In 1986 the diocese of Cortona was united with the Diocese of Sansepolcro and the Diocese of Arezzo to form the diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro. It became a suffragan (subordinate) diocese of the Metropolitan archdiocese of Florence. ^{[1] [2]}

History

Ancient Cortona was one of the twelve cities of Etruria. In the 6th century it was destroyed by the Lombards but was soon rebuilt. From that time until 1325 the city and its territory were assigned ecclesiastically to the Diocese of Arezzo.

At the beginning of the 14th century, however, Arezzo and Cortona were still involved in the struggles between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. Arezzo was Ghibelline in allegiance, supporting the emperor; Cortona, which had been conquered by Arezzo in 1258, was Guelf, and supported the papal states. ^[3] In Arezzo, two aristocratic factions contended for domination, the Verdi and the Secchi, and when the latter gained control they had their leader, Guido Tarlati of the castle of Petramala, elected bishop of Arezzo. He embarked on an activist program, building a wall around the city, and creating a new silver and copper currency. ^[4] His program also included military conquest: Lusignano, Chiusi, Fronzoli, Castel Focognano, Rondina, Bucine, Caprese, Lacerina, and Monte Sansovino. This expansionist activity greatly alarmed both the Florentines and Pope John XXII, who, though safely settled in Avignon, feared for the loss of church territories and the threat to the papal states. He determined to take action against Bishop Guido, who was paying no attention to his angry protests. ^[5]

In the year 1325, at the request of Guglielmo Casali, ^[6] Captain (Gonfaloniere) of the People of Cortona, Pope John XXII raised Cortona to episcopal rank, as a reward for the fidelity of its Guelph populace. ^[7] A month later, on 20 July 1325, the Bishop of Arezzo, Guido Tarlati de Petramala, was excommunicated. ^[8]

In the papal bull, "Vigilis speculatoris", dated 19 June 1325, Pope John XXII established the new diocese of Cortona by detaching its territory from the diocese of Arezzo. He created the church of S. Vincenzo, which had belonged to the monastery of Ss. Lucilla and Flora, the new cathedral. ^[9] In a bull of 29 June 1325, the Pope designated Rinaldo di Guido, parish priest of S. Andrea, the new Provost of the cathedral. In another bull, dated 30 June 1325, Pope John established the cathedral Chapter, composed of two dignities (Provost and Archdeacon) and eight Canons. ^[10]

The current Cathedral of Cortona became the diocesan seat only in 1507.

The diocesan seminary was founded by Bishop Francesco Perignani (1572–1577) in 1573. ^[11]

Diocesan synods

A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was (1) to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; (2) to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; (3) to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. ^[12]

Bishop Giovanni Alberti (1585–1596) presided over a diocesan synod in 1588. ^[13]

Bishop Cosmo Minerbetto conducted a diocesan synod in Cortona in 1624. ^[14] A diocesan synod was held in Cortona in August 1634 by Bishop Lorenzo della Robbia. ^[15]

Suppression of the diocese

On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished. Instead, the Vatican continued consultations which had begun under Pope John XXIII for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese. In Tuscany, this particularly affected three dioceses: Arezzo, Cortona, and Borgo San Sepolcro (Biturgensis).

On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Arezzo, Cortona, and San Sepolcro be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Dioecesis Arretina-Cortonensis-Biturgensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Arezzo, and the cathedral of Arezzo was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedrals in Cortona and San Sepolcro were to become co-cathedrals, and their cathedral Chapters were to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Arezzo, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the former dioceses of Cortona and Borgo San Sepolcro. ^[16]

Bishops

from 1325 to 1603

• Rainerius Ubertini (1325–1348) ^[17]
• Gregorio de Fasciani (1348–1364) ^[18]
• Benedetto Vallati, O.P. (1364– ? ) ^[19]
• Giuliano de Chinibaldi, O.P. (attested 1382) ^[20]
• Lorenzo Coppi (1388– ? ) Roman Obedience ^[21]
• Ubaldino Bonamici (1391–1393)
• Bartolomeo da Troia, O.Min (1393–1404) ^[22]
• Henochus (Enoc) de Cioncolari, O.E.S.A. (1404– ? )
• Matteo Testi (1426–1439 deposed) ^[23]
• Bartolomeo Lopaci, O.P. (1439–1449) ^[24]
• Matteo Testi (1449–1455 resigned)
• Mariano Salvini, O.S.M. (1455–1477) ^[25]
• Cristoforo Bordini (1477–1502) ^[26]
• Rainerio Guicciardini (1502–1504) ^[27]

Cardinal Francesco Soderini (1504–1505 Resigned) Administrator ^[28]

• Guglielmo Copponi (1505–1515) ^[29]

Cardinal Francesco Soderini (1515–1516 Resigned)Administrator ^[30]

• Giovanni Sernini (1516–1521) ^[31]
• Silvio Passerini (1521–1529 Died)
• Leonardo Bonafide, O.S.B. (1529–1538 Resigned)
• Giovambattista Ricasoli (1538–1560 Appointed, Bishop of Pistoia)
• Matteo Concini (1560–1562 Resigned)
• Girolamo Gaddi (1562–1572 Died)
• Francesco Perignani (1572–1577 Died)
• Costantino Piccioni, O.S.A. (1577–1585 Died)
• Giovanni Alberti (bishop) (1585–1596 Died)
• Cosimo de Angelis (1597–1603 Died)

from 1603 to 1986

• Filippo Bardi (dei Verni) (1603–1622 Died)
• Cosmas Minerbetti (1622–1628 Died)
• Lorenzo della Robbia (1628–1634 Appointed, Bishop of Fiesole)
• Ludovico Serristori (1634–1656 Died)
• Filippo Galilei (1657–1677) ^[32]
• Nicola Oliva, O.S.A. (1677–1684) ^[33]
• Pietro Luigi Malaspina, C.R. (1684–1695 Appointed, Bishop of Massa Marittima) ^[34]
• Giuseppe Cei, C.O. (1695–1704) ^[35]
• Sebastiano Zucchetti (1705–1714) ^[36]
• Pietro Giovanni Battista Puccini (1716–1726 Died) ^[37]
• Luigi Gherardi (1726–1754) ^[38]
• Giuseppe Ippoliti (1755–1776) ^[39]
• Gregorio Alessandri (1776–1802) ^[40]
• Filippo Ganucci (1802–1806) ^[41]
• Niccolò Laparelli (1807–1821) ^[42]
• Girolamo Conversini (1824–1826) ^[43]
• Ugolino Carlini (1829–1847 Died)
• Giuseppe Antonio Giacomo Borghi, O.F.M. Cap. (1849–1851 Died)
• Feliciano (Laurentius Joachim) Barbacci, O.F.M. (1854–1869 Died)
• Giovanni Battista Laparelli Pitti (1872–1896 Died)
• Guido Corbelli, O.F.M. (1896–1901 Resigned)
• Michele Angelo Baldetti (1901–1923 Resigned)
• Riccardo Carlesi (1923–1932 Died)
• Giuseppe Franciolini (1932–1978 Retired)
• Telesforo Giovanni Cioli, O. Carm. (1978–1983 Retired)
• Giovanni D'Ascenzi (1983–1986 Appointed, Bishop of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro)

See also

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Sansepolcro
• List of Catholic dioceses in Italy

Notes

1. "Diocese of Cortona" Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
2. "Diocese of Cortona" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
3. Blake R. Beattie (2007). Angelus Pacis: The Legation of Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, 1326-1334. Boston and Leiden: Brill. p. 14. ISBN   978-90-04-15393-6.
4. Robert Black (2002). Benedetto Accolti and the Florentine Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. pp. 2, 33. ISBN   978-0-521-52227-4.
5. Leader Scott (1883). Luca della Robbia, with other Italian sculptors. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. pp.  93–94. Bishop Guido was deposed from the episcopal seat of Arezzo before Pope John XXII created the diocese of Cortona on 19 June 1325. Bullarium, p. 314 column 1: "et illa penes eam plene et integraliter volentes perpetuo remanere: conventiones et pacta dudum habita inter Guidonem, tunc episcopum Aretinum, et commune ac populum civitatis Cortonen." Giovanni Villani, Cronica Book X, chapter 11, speaks of his deposition.
6. Franco, Cardini (1973). "Una signoria cittadina " minore " in Toscana: i Casali di Cortona". Archivio Storico Italiano. 131 (2/3 (477)): 241–255, at 250-253. JSTOR   26258801.
7. Mancini, p. 97. Bullarum diplomatum IV, p. 313 column 1: "universitas Cortonae, quae hactenus de Aretina dioecesi existebat, sinistrae parlis non declinat in devium, nec suam ponit cum indevotis eiusdem Ecclesiae portionem, sed prono et prompto animo in eiusdem Ecclesiae obsequium totaliter se exponit."
8. Beattie, p. 14. Eubel I, p. 104. Bishop Guido was replaced by an Apostolic Administrator, Boso Ubertini, the Provost of Arezzo. Enzo Droandi (1993). Guido Tarlati Di Pietramala, Ultimo Principe Di Arezzo. Cortona: Calosci. ISBN   978-88-7785-087-4.
9. Mancini, p. 97. Bullarum Diplomatum Vol. IV, pp. 312-315.
10. Mancini, p. 97.
11. Kathleen M. Comerford (1998). "Italian Tridentine Diocesan Seminaries: A Historiographical Study". The Sixteenth Century Journal. 29 (4): 1014. doi:10.2307/2543355. JSTOR   2543355.
12. Benedictus XIV (1842). "Lib. I. caput secundum. De Synodi Dioecesanae utilitate". Benedicti XIV ... De Synodo dioecesana libri tredecim (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus. Mechlin: Hanicq. pp. 42–49. John Paul II, Constitutio Apostolica de Synodis Dioecesanis Agendis (March 19, 1997): Acta Apostolicae Sedis 89 (1997), pp. 706-727.
13. Comerford, p. 1014.
14. Cosmo Minerbetto (1624). Synodus dioecesana Cortonensis sub D. Cosmo Minerbetto, episcopo, celebrata, anno 1624 (in Latin). Florence: Barthol. et Marcus Sermartellii.
15. Lorenzo Robbia (1634). Constitutiones synodales editae ab ... Dom Laurentio Robbia, ... episcopo Cortonensi, die augusti MDCXXXIV (in Latin). Arezzo: Apud H. de Goris.
16. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 654-656.
17. Rainerius Ubertini was the brother of Boso Ubertini, the Provost of Arezzo, who had been named Apostolic Administrator of Arezzo when Bishop Guido Tarlati was excommunicated and deposed. Boso was named Bishop of Arezzo on 17 April 1326. Rainerius died on 12 September 1348, according to his tombstone: Cappelletti XVIII, p. 281. Mancini, p. 98. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, pp. 212-213.
18. A member of the family of the Counts of Fasciani, Gregorio had been Archdeacon of the cathedral Chapter. He was approved as bishop by Pope Clement VI on 5 November 1348. He died in 1364, before 9 February. Ughelli I, pp. 625-626. Eubel I, p. 213.
19. On the death of Bishop Gregorio, the clergy and people of Cortona elected Fra Julianus (Giuliano), O.P., as his successor. Pope Urban V, however, quashed the election and provided instead Fra Benedetto Vallati, O.P. The date of his death is unknown, but a successor is recorded in 1382; this was at the time of the beginning of the Western Schism. Cappelletti, p. 281-284.
20. Thomas Ripoll (1739). Bullarium ordinis FF. Praedicatorum (in Latin). Vol. Tomus septimus. Rome: Hieronymus Mainard. p. 523.
21. Coppi was appointed by Urban VI on 11 February 1388. Eubel I, p. 213.
22. bartolomeo: Eubel I p. 213.
23. It is disputed whether this Bishop Matteo was Matteo Testi (as Eubel I, p. 213) states, or Matteo Ughi (Mirri, pp. 81-94, 111-114. Bishop Matteo attended the Council of Basel, and joined the faction of the antipope Felix V. He was deposed as a schismatic by Pope Eugenius IV.
24. Appointed, Bishop of Coron in 1449. "Bishop Bartolomeo Lopaci, O.P." Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved August 3, 2016.^{[ self-published source ]}
25. Salvini participated in the Council of Florence in 1438. He had been Prior of the convent of the Annunziata in Florence, and then Prior of the Florentine Province, and then Prior General of his Order. He was named Bishop of Cortona by Pope Nicholas V on 31 January 1455. Annalium Sacri Ordinis Fratrum Servorum B. Mariae Virginis A suae Institutionis exordio Centuriae Quatuor (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus (secunda ed.). Lucca: Typis Marescandoli. 1719. pp. 441, 448. Ughelli p. 628. Cappelletti XVIII, p. 286. Eubel II, p. 138.
26. Christophorus e marchionibus de Pratella: He was Commissary General of the Apostolic Camera (Treasury), and a familiaris and Prefect of the Apostolic Palace (Majordomo) of Pope Innocent VIII. He was a secretary of Pope Alexander VI, and served as commissary of the papal army. He died in Rome on 12 November 1502. Ughelli, p. 628. Eubel II, p. 138 with notes 4 and 5.
27. Guicciardini, who had been a Canon and Archdeacon in the cathedral Chapter of Florence, was appointed by Alexander VI on 28 November 1502. He died on 2 February 1504. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica III, p. 179 with notes 2 and 3.
28. Soderini: Eubel III, p. 179. Ughelli, p. 628. Cappelletti, p. 286, wrongly states that Soderini had never been Administrator, but that Bishop Guicciardini's successor was a Francesco Illori of Terni. Gams, p. 743, makes Illori and Soderini the same person.
29. A native of Florence, Copponi had been the ambassador of Florence to the Pope. He was appointed Bishop of Cortona on 25 May 1505 by Pope Julius II. He participated in the Fifth Lateran Council in 1512. Eubel III, p. 179.
30. Soderini: Ughelli, p. 628.
31. Sernini de' Cucciatis had been Vicar General in Fermo, and then papal in Benevento. He was a protonotary apostolic and chamberlain of Pope Leo X. He was sent as papal legate to the Emperor Maximilian, to obtain the suppression of the Protestants; the Emperor made him a Count Palatine. He died on 1 October 1521. Cappelletti, p. 286-287 (quoting his epitaph). Eubel III, p. 179.
32. Galilei died in Cortona in January 1677. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 174 with note 3
33. Born in Prato, Oliva held a degree of master of theology, and had been Provincial of the Province of Siena of his Order. He became Procurator of his Order in the Roman Curia, and then Prior General of his Order. He was appointed Bishop of Cortona by Pope Innocent XI on 22 November 1677. he died in March 1684. Ughelli, p. 632. Ritzler-Sefrin, page 174 with note 4.
34. Ritzler-Sefrin, p. 174 with note 4. "Bishop Pietro Luigi Malaspina, C.R." Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved August 21, 2016
35. Ritzler-Sefrin, p. 174 with note 5. "Bishop Giuseppe Cei, C.O." Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 14, 2017
36. Ritzler-Sefrin, p. 174 with note 6.
37. Ritzler-Sefrin, p. 174 with note 7.
38. Born in Borgo San Sepolcro in 1686, Gherardi died in Cortona on 5 April 1754. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 174 with note 8.
39. Born in Pistoia in 1717, Ippoliti held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure from the Sapienza in Rome. He was appointed 15 May 1755 by Pope Benedict XIV. He was transferred to the dioceses of Pistoia e Prato by Pope Pius VI on 15 April 1776. Cappelletti, p. 291. Ritzler-Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 184 with note 2.
40. Born in Fiesole in 1728, Alessandri held a doctorate in theology from the University of Pisa (1755). He had previously held a prebend in the Collegiate Church of S. Francesco in Liburno (Pisa). He had been Bishop of Soana (1773–1776). He was transferred to the diocese of Cortona by Pope Pius VI on 20 May 1776. In 1787, on order of Grand Duke Leopold, he attended the council of Florence. He died in Cortona on 15 April 1802. Cappelletti, p. 291. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 184 with note 3; 388 with note 6.
41. Born in Florence in 1741, Ganucci was named Bishop of Cortona on 20 September 1802 by Pope Pius VII. He was appointed Bishop of Livorno on 6 October 1806. Notizie per l'anno 1806 (Roma: Cracas 1806), p. 131. Notizie per l'anno 1808 (Roma: Cracas 1808), p. 151.
42. Laparelli was born in Cortona in 1741. He was transferred from the diocese of Colle on 23 March 1807. Notizie per l'anno 1808 (Roma: Cracas 1808), p. 137.
43. Giuseppe Baraldi (1827). Notizia di Monsignor Girolamo Conversini, vescovo di Cortona (in Italian). Modena: Eredi Soliani.

Books

• Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo. Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. p. 743. (Use with caution; obsolete)
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus (ed.); Gulik, Guilelmus (1923). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.{{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. Tomus V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi. Vol. Tomus VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1968). Hierarchia Catholica medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. VII (1800–1846). Monasterii: Libreria Regensburgiana.
• Remigius Ritzler; Pirminus Sefrin (1978). Hierarchia catholica Medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. VIII (1846–1903). Il Messaggero di S. Antonio.
• Pięta, Zenon (2002). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. IX (1903–1922). Padua: Messagero di San Antonio. ISBN   978-88-250-1000-8.

Studies

• Bullarum diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum romanorum pontificum taurinensis (in Latin). Vol. Tomus IV. Turin (Augusta Taurinorum): Seb. Franco et Henrico Dalmazzo editoribus. 1859. pp. 312–315.
• Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1864). Le chiese d'Italia (in Italian). Vol. decimotto (18). Venezia: G. Antonelli. pp. 267–297.
• Guazzesi, Lorenzo (1760). Dell'antico dominio del vescovo di Arezzo in Cortona. Pisa: per Gio. Paolo Giovannelli. p.  69.
• Mancini, Girolamo (1897). Cortona nel medio evo (in Italian). Firenze: G. Carnesecchi.
• Mirri, Giuseppe (1972). I vescovi di Cortona dalla istituzione della diocesi (1325–1971). Cortona 1972. (in Italian)
• Ughelli, Ferdinando; Coleti, Nicolò (1717). Italia sacra: sive De episcopis Italiae et insularum adjacentium, rebusque abiis praeclare gestis... (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus (secunda ed.). Venice: apud Sebastianum Coleti. pp. 620–632.

External links

• Benigni, Umberto (1908). "Cortona." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. Retrieved: 2 November 2019.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Cortona". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.