Berissa (), also spelled ''Berisa'', ''Verisa'', or ''Verissa'', was a city in the late

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Pontus Polemoniacus, in Asia Minor, which Kiepert and W. M. Ramsay have identified with the modern village of Baulus (also known as ''Bolus''), 25 kilometres south-west of

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

.Louis Petit, "Berissa"
in ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'' (New York 1907)

History

In the time of St. Basil Berissa was included in the diocese of Ibora, as appears from Basil's letters LXXXVI and LXXXVII, but soon after became an independent bishopric in Armenia Prima, with Sebasteia as metropolis. This important change took place before 458, when its bishop, Maxentius subscribed with his colleagues of Armenia Prima the synodal letter to the Emperor Leo I (Mansi, XII, 587-589). Hierocles, at the beginning of the 6th century, does not treat it as an independent city; but it is mentioned as such by

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

in a

Novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

of 536, among the cities of Armenia Secunda. The emperor, when creating the province of Armenia Quarta in 536, gave to Armenia Prima the name of Armenia Secunda, without altering the established ecclesiastical organization, so that Berissa remained a suffragan see of Sebasteia. At some point while Berissa, under the name Verissa, was part of Armenia Secunda, the see was elevated to archiepiscopal rank, where Verissa is still regarded by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

. Among its later bishops may be mentioned Thomas, who was present at the fifth ecumenical council at Constantinople, in 553 (Mansi, IX, 175), and another at the sixth in 680–681 (Mansi, XI, 66). It appears still later in the ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...

'' as

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 ...

to Sebasteia. In some texts, it appears as Merisse or Kerisse, merely palaeographical mistakes. Berissa was a Latin bishopric as late as the 15th century, when Paul II appointed the Franciscan Libertus de Broehun to succeed the deceased bishop, John (Wadding, Annales Minorum, VI, 708). No longer a residential bishopric, Berissa is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 849

References

Catholic titular sees in Asia History of Tokat Province Populated places in ancient Pontus Populated places in ancient Lesser Armenia Former populated places in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire {{Authority control