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.
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 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]
^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.
^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.
JSTOR26258801.
^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."
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 654-656.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^Galilei died in Cortona in January 1677. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 174 with note 3
^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.
^Born in Borgo San Sepolcro in 1686, Gherardi died in Cortona on 5 April 1754. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 174 with note 8.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
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.