The Catholic diocese of Fossombrone (''Latin Name: Forosemproniensis'') existed in the Italian

province of Pesaro and Urbino The province of Pesaro and Urbino (, ) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pesaro. It also borders the state of San Marino. The province is surrounded by San Marino and Emilia Romagna in the north, Umbria and ...

, in the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

of Fossombrone, in the valley of the Metaurus River, 25 km (15 mi) southwest of the Adriatic seaport of Fano. In 1986, the diocese was suppressed and its territory incorporated into the diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola. Up to 1563, the diocese had been directly subject to the papacy. It then became a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the

archdiocese of Urbino In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. In 2000, Urbino lost its metropolitan status, and Fossombrone became part of the ecclesiastical province of Pesaro."Diocese of Fossombrone"
'' Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Diocese of Fossombrone"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016

History

Diocesi di Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola

Christianity was introduced there, according to Ferdinando Ughelli, by Felicianus of Foligno, though not until after the baptism of Constantine the Great (337). The martyrologies mention several martyrs: Aquilinus, Geminus, Gelasius, Magnus and Donata, also a bishop, Timothy, and his daughter (4 February), but these persons belong elsewhere, and were not honored in Fossombrone until the late 16th century. The first bishop of certain date is Innocent, who was present at the synods of

Pope Symmachus Pope Symmachus (died 19 July 514) was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death on 19 July 514. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy. Early life He was born on the Medi ...

(504). In 558, there was trouble with the papacy, due to the intrusion of a person called Paulinus.

Pope Pelagius I Pope Pelagius I (died 3 March 561) was the bishop of Rome from 556 to his death on 3 March 561. A former '' apocrisiarius'' to Constantinople, Pelagius I was elected pope as the candidate of Emperor Justinian I, a designation not well received i ...

wrote to the Magister Militum Joannes to have the pseudoepiscopus Paulinus taken into custody. In another letter to the Illustri Viator and Pancratius, he ordered that Paulinus be taken to a monastery, to which he had been relegated, as soon as possible. In a third letter, he ordered Basilius and Ocleantinus, who were defenders of Paulinus, to cease and desist from his cause. In a fourth letter, the pope requested Magister Joannes to bring Paulinus to him. Fossombrone was included in the

Donation of Pepin The Donation of Pepin, or Donation of Pippin, was the transfer of Frankish territory in central Italy to Pope Stephen II made by Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 756. The Donation took place amid the Byzantine Empire's decline in Italy ...

, but remained subject to the

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto () was a Lombards, Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard ''dux'' Faroald I of Spoleto, Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards invaded northern Italy in 568 and b ...

until 1198, when it passed under papal rule.

Pope Alexander II Pope Alexander II (1010/1015 – 21 April 1073), born Anselm of Baggio, was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform mo ...

, in the bull "Cum in Dei" of 15 May 1054, defined the boundaries of the diocese.

Pope Victor II Pope Victor II (c. 1018 – 28 July 1057), born Gebhard von Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes ...

(1055–1057) noticed the impoverished state of the diocese of Fossombrone, and gave the bishops the church of S. Giovanni in Sorbitulo with its income. Some of the property belonging to the church of Sorbitulo, the castle of Laureto, was subject to an attempt in 1182 by the Prior of Fons Avellana to acquire it;

Pope Lucius III Pope Lucius III ( – 25 November 1185), born Ubaldo Allucingoli, reigned as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1181 to his death in 1185. Born to an aristocratic family in Lucca, prior to being elected p ...

appointed three cardinals to investigate the claims, and then took the church under his protection. The diocese was then held in fief of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

by different families: by the

house of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

(1210–28), the Malatesta (1340-1445), the

Montefeltro Montefeltro is a historical and geographical region in northern Italy. It gave its name to the House of Montefeltro, Montefeltro family, who ruled in the area during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The mountainous region includes San Marino ...

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

, 1445-1631); from 1500 to 1503 it acknowledged the rule of

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

. On 4 June 1563,

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

signed the bull "Super Universas", by which he elevated the diocese of Urbino to the status of metropolitan archdiocese. He assigned as

dioceses of the new ecclesiastical province Cagli, Sinigaglia, Pesaro, Fossombrone, Montefeltro, and Gubbio. Fossombrone was no longer directly dependent upon the papacy. The cathedral of Fossombrone is dedicated to the martyr Saint Maurentius and to Bishop Aldobrandus. The cathedral had a Provost, a Theologus, a Penitentiarius and eleven canons. Bishop Lorenzo Landi (1612–1627) presided over a diocesan synod on 28 July 1619. Bishop Benedetto Landi (1628–1632) held a diocesan synod in 1629.

Diocesan Reorganizations

Following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, ''Christus Dominus'' chapter 40,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in Italy. He ordered consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned. On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed
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. The Vatican continued consultations which had begun under

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese. On 30 September 1986,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

ordered that the dioceses of Fano, Fossombrone, Cagli, and Pergola be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title ''Dioecesis Fanensis-Forosemproniensis-Calliensis-Pergulana''. The seat of the diocese was to be in Fano, whose cathedral was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedrals in Fossombrone, Cagli and Pergola were to have the honorary titles of "co-cathedral"; the Chapters were each to be a ''Capitulum Concathedralis''. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Fano, 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 suppressed dioceses. The new diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Urbino. In 2000, Urbino lost its metropolitan status, and became, along with its former suffragans, part of the ecclesiastical province of

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

Bishops of Fossombrone

''Erected: 5th Century''
''Metropolitan (1563–2000): Archdiocese of Urbino–Urbania–Sant’Angelo in Vado''; from 2000: ''

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pesaro The Archdiocese of Pesaro () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in central Italy. Its see at Pesaro was elevated to the status of metropolitan archiepiscopal see in 2000. Its suffragans are the Diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagl ...

to 1370

*Innocent (attested 504) ::... *Petrus (attested 876–877) ::... *Reginhardus (attested 967) ::... *Adam (attested 1036–1044) *Benedictus (attested 1049–1070) * Fulcuinus (Fulcinus) (attested 1076), ::... * Aldebrandus (1119) ::... *Gualfredus (attested 1140) ::... *Nicolaus (1179–1197) * nonymous(1201– ? ) *Ubertinellus (1217) *Monaldus (attested 1219–1228) * Ricardus (attested in 1243) *Gentilis *Jacobus de Cluzano (1286– ? ) *Monaldus (1296–1303) *Joannes (1304–1317) *Petrus (Gabrielli) (1317–1327) *Philippus (1327–1334?) *Arnaldus (1334–1342) *Hugolinus (1342–1363) *Galvanus (1363–1372)

1370 to 1800

*Oddo (1372–1408) *Ruellus de Ruelli (1408– ? ) *Joannes (de Verrucolo) (1420–1432 ?) *Delfino Gozzadini, O.Cist. (1433–1434) *Andrea de Montecchio (1434) * Gabriele Benveduto (1434–1449) * Agostino Lanfranchi (1449–1469) * Gerolamo Santucci (1469–1494) * Paul of Middelburg (1494–1534) * Giovanni Guidiccioni (1534–1541) * Niccolò Ardinghelli (1541–1547 Resigned) Cardinal * Lodovico Ardinghelli (Luigi Ardinghelli)(1547–1569) * Alessandro Mazza (1569–1575 Resigned) * Orazio Montegranelli (1577–1579 Died) * Ottavio Accoramboni (1579–1610 Resigned) * Giovanni Canauli (Cannuli) (1610–1612 Resigned) *

Lorenzo Landi Lorenzo Landi (1567 – 12 December 1627) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Fossombrone (1612–1627).Benedetto Landi (1628–1632 Resigned) * Giovanni Battista Landi (1633–1647) * Giambattista Zeccadoro (1648–1696) * Lorenzo Fabri, O.F.M. Conv. (1697–1709) *Carlo Palma (1709–1718 Died) *Eustachio Palma (1718–1754 Died) *Apollinare Peruzzini, O.E.S.A. (1755–1774 Died) *Rocco Maria Barsanti, C.R.M. (1775–1779 Appointed,

Bishop of Pesaro The Archdiocese of Pesaro () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in central Italy. Its see at Pesaro was elevated to the status of metropolitan archiepiscopal see in 2000. Its suffragans are the Diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola an ...

) *Felice Paoli (1779–1800 Appointed, Bishop of Recanati e Loreto)

1800 to 1986

*Stefano Bellini (1800–1807 Appointed, Bishop of Recanati e Loreto) *Giulio Maria Alvisini (1808–1823)Born in Bocchignano (Abbazia di Farfa) in the Sabine country, south-west of Rieti, in 1757, Alvisini (Aloisini) was prefect of studies at the Irish College in Rome, abbot commendatory of Farfa He was Auditor of Bishop Thomas Arezzo at the papal nunciature in Russia (1802-1804). On his return to Rome he was named Rector of the Greek College in Rome (1804). He was one of the founders of th
''Giornale Ecclesiastico''
He was named bishop of Fossombrone by

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

on 11 January 1808, and consecrated in Rome by Cardinal Michele di Pietro on 24 January. He died on 31 August 1823. Umberto Benigni,
Fossombrone (Forum Sempronii)
" ''The Catholic Encyclopedia.'' Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909, retrieved: 2016-10-12. M. J. Rouet de Journel
''Nonciatures de Russie d'après les documents authentiques''
Vol. 3 (Città del Vaticano 1922), pp. xxvii, 73, 130. Ritzler & Sefrin, ''Hierarchia catholica'' VII, p. 197. *Luigi Ugolini (1824–1850 Died) *Filippo Fratellini (1851–1884 Died) *Alessio Maria Biffoli, O.S.M. (1884–1892 Died) *Vincenzo Franceschini (1892–1896 Appointed,

Bishop of Fano The Diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy, created in 1986, when the historical Diocese of Fano was united to the Diocese of Cagli e Pergola and the Diocese of Fossombrone. I ...

) *Dionisio Alessandri (1896–1904 Died) *Achille Quadrozzi (1904–1913 Died) *Pasquale Righetti (1914–1926 Appointed, Bishop of Savona e Noli) *Amedeo Polidori (1931–1961 Retired) *Vittorio Cecchi (1961–1973 Resigned) *Costanzo Micci (1973–1985 Died) *Mario Cecchini (1986–1986 Appointed, Bishop of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola) ::''30 September 1986: United with the Diocese of Cagli e Pergola and the Diocese of Fano to form the Diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola''

Notes

Bibliography

Reference works

* pp. 698–699. (Use with caution; obsolete) * p. 254. (in Latin) * p. 156. * pp. 198. * p. 189-190. * p. 204. * p. 218-219.

Studies

*Benigni, Umberto
"Fossombrone."
In: ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' Volume 6 (New York 1906), pp. 154-155. bsolete*. *Ceccarelli, Giuseppe (2005). ''I Vescovi delle Diocesi di Fano, Fossombrone, Cagli e Pergola - Cronotassi.'' Fano: Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fano. *Kehr, Paul Fridolin (1909)
''Italia pontificia''
. Vol. IV (Berlin: Weidmann 1909), pp. 214-217. *Lanzoni, Francesco (1927).
Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)
'. . Faenza: F. Lega. *Schwartz, Gerhard (1907)
''Die Besetzung der Bistümer Reichsitaliens unter den sächsischen und salischen Kaisern: mit den Listen der Bischöfe, 951-1122''
. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner. pp. 243-244. * *Vernarecci, Augusto (1903)
''Fossombrone dai tempi antichissimi ai nostri con illustrazioni e appendice di documenti.''
. Volume 2, Part 2. Fossombrone: Monacelli 1903. {{coord missing, Italy Fossombrone 1986 disestablishments in Italy