The Diocese of Volterra () is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

of 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 ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is 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 Pisa The Archdiocese of Pisa () is a Latin Church metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Pisa, Italy.

."Diocese of Volterra"
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Diocese of Volterra"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016

History

Volterra was an ancient

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...

town, later conquered by the Romans. According to the ''

Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...

'', Volterra was the birthplace of St. Linus, the immediate successor of St. Peter. Nothing is known of its Christian origins. Justus (560), along with his brother Clement and Ottaviano, is one of the three patrons of the diocese of Volterra, and was involved in the

Schism of the Three Chapters The Schism of the Three Chapters was a schism that affected Chalcedonian Christianity in Northern Italy lasting from 553 to 698 AD and in some areas to 715 AD, although the area out of communion with Rome contracted during that time. It was part of ...

. In the Carolingian period it belonged to the Marquisate of Tuscany; with the approval of Henry, son of

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

, its governance passed into the hands of the bishop, until his temporal authority was suspended by the commune. In the wars or factions of the 13th century, Volterra, being

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centu ...

, was continually embroiled with the Florentines, who captured it in 1254, but won permanent control only in 1361. The diocese of Volterra was immediately subject to 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 ...

until 1856, when it became a suffragan of Pisa.

Diocesan synods

A diocesan synod was an irregularly held but important meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purposes were to proclaim the various decrees already issued by the bishop, to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy, and to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. John Paul II, Constitutio Apostolica ''de Synodis Dioecesanis Agendis'' (March 19, 1997)
''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'' 89
(1997), pp. 706-727. Bishop Guido Servidio (1574–1598) presided over a diocesan synod in the cathedral of Volterra on 8–10 May 1590, and had the constitutions of the meeting published. Bishop Orazio degli Albizzi (1655–1676) held a diocesan synod on 2 October 1657, and published the acts; he held another synod on 11 November 1674. A diocesan synod was held by Bishop Ottavio del Rosso (1681–1714) in the cathedral on 14–15 June 1684, the acts of which were published. He held his second synod in the cathedral of Volterra on 26–27 April 1690; its decrees were also published.

Bishops of Volterra

to 800

:... *Eumantius (before 496) *Opilio (before 496) *Eucharistius (494-496) *Elpidius (attested 496, 501, 502) *Gaudentius (attested 556) :Leo (566?) *Geminianus (attested 649) :... *Marcianus (attested 680) :... *Tommaso (attested 752) :...

800 to 1200

:... : ndreas (820 or 822)*Grippo (attested 821) *Petrus (attested 826, 833) *Andreas (attested 845, 851, 853) :... *Gauginus (attested 874, 882) *Petrus (attested 886) :... *Alboinus (attested 904–908) :... *Adelardus (attested 918–929) :... *Boso (attested 943–959) *Petrus (attested 966–991) *Benedictus (attested 997–1015) *Gunfredus (attested 1017–1039) *Guido (Wido) (attested 1042–1061) *Herimannus (attested 1064–1073) *Petrus (attested 1018–1099) *Ruggero Gisalbertini (1103–1132) *Crescentius (attested 1133–1136) *Adimarus (Odimarus, Odalmarus) (attested 1137–1147) *Galganus (attested 1150–1168) *Hugo Saladini (attested 1171–1184) *Hildebrandus (attested 1185–1211)

1200 to 1500

*Paganus de Ardenghesca (1212–1239) *Galganus (1244–1251) *Rainerius Ubertini (1251–1260) *Albertus Scolari (1261–1269) :''Sede vacante'' (1269–1273) *Rainerius Ubertini (attested 1273–1301) *Rainerius Belforti (1301–1320) *Rainuccius Allegretti (1321–1348) *Filippo Belforti (1348–1358) *Almerico Chiati (1358–1361) ''Bishop-elect'' * Pietro Corsini (18 Mar 1362 –1363) *Andrea Cordoni (1363–1373) *Lucius de Cagli (1374–1375) *Simon Pagani (1375–1384) *Onofrio Visdomini O.E.S.A. (1384–1390) *Antonio Cipolloni (1390–1396) *Giovanni Ricci (1396–1398) * Luigi Aliotti (1398–1411) *Jacopo di Scolaio degli Spini (1411) *Stefano del Buono (1411–1435) * Roberto Adimari (1435–1439 Resigned) * Roberto Cavalcanti (27 Apr 1440 – 25 Feb 1450) * Giovanni Neroni Diotisalvi (21 Feb 1450 –1462) * Ugolino Giugni (1462–1470) * Antonio degli Agli (1470–1477) *Cardinal Francesco Soderini (1478–1509 Resigned)

1500 to 1800

* Giuliano Soderini (23 May 1509 –1514) *

Francesco della Rovere Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

(12 Jun 1514 –1530) : Cardinal

Giovanni Salviati Giovanni Salviati (24 March 1490 – 28 October 1553) was a Florentine diplomat and cardinal. He was papal legate in France, and conducted negotiations with the Emperor Charles V. Biography Salviati was born in Florence to Jacopo Salviati, ...

(1530-1532 Resigned) ''Administrator'' * Giovanni Matteo Sertori (1532–1545) * Benedetto Nerli (22 Jun 1545 – 1565) * Alessandro Strozzi (3 Apr 1566 – 4 Apr 1568) * Ludovico Antinori (2 Aug 1568 –1574) * Marco Saracini (1574) * Guido Servidio (1574 – 1 May 1598) * Luca Alemanni (7 Aug 1598 – Jun 1617 Resigned)Gauchat, ''Hierarchia catholica IV'', p. 372. * Bernardo Inghirami (12 Jun 1617 – 5 Jun 1633) * Niccolò Sacchetti (25 Sep 1634 – 8 Jun 1650) "Bishop Niccolò Sacchetti"
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016 * Giovanni Gerini (19 Sep 1650 –1653) * Orazio degli Albizzi (5 Jul 1655 – 30 Jan 1676)"Bishop Orazio degli Albizzi"
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 7, 2017 * Carlo Filippo Sfondrati, B. (12 Jul 1677 – 11 May 1680) * Ottavio del Rosso (14 Apr 1681 – 31 Dec 1714) *Lodovico Maria Pandolfini (13 Jan 1716 – 18 May 1746) *Giuseppe Du Mesnil (6 May 1748 – 13 Mar 1781) *Alessandro Galletti (13 Mar 1781 Succeeded – 2 Jun 1782) *Aloisio Buonamici (23 Sep 1782 – 2 May 1791) *Rainieri Alliata (19 Dec 1791 –1806)

since 1800

*Giuseppe Gaetano Incontri (6 Oct 1806 – 15 Apr 1848) *Ferdinando Baldanzi (1851–1855) *Giuseppe Targioni (3 Aug 1857 – 17 Apr 1873) *Ferdinando Capponi (25 Jul 1873 –1881) *Giuseppe Gelli (27 Mar 1882 – 2 Mar 1909) *Emanuele Mignone (29 Apr 1909 –1919) *Raffaele Carlo Rossi, O.C.D. (22 Apr 1920 –1923) *Dante Carlo Munerati, S.D.B. (20 Dec 1923 – 20 Dec 1942) * Antonio Bagnoli (17 Aug 1943 –1954 *Ismaele Mario Castellano, O.P. (24 Aug 1954 – 3 Aug 1956 Resigned) *Marino Bergonzini (12 Jan 1957 –1970) *Roberto Carniello (7 Oct 1975 – 5 Mar 1985 Resigned) *Vasco Giuseppe Bertelli (25 May 1985 – 18 Mar 2000 Retired) * Mansueto Bianchi (18 Mar 2000 –2006)On 4 November 2006 Bianchi was transferred to the diocese of

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. *Alberto Silvani (8 May 2007 – 12 January 2022) *Roberto Campiotti (12 January 2022 – present)

Notes and references

Books

* p. 763-764. (Use with caution; obsolete) * * * * * * * * *

Studies

* * * * * ith many documents*Kehr, Paul Fridolin (1908)
''Italia pontificia''
vol. III. Berlin 1908. pp. 279–315. *Lancini, Gaetano (1869). ''Illustrazione sulla cattedrale di Volterra''. Siena: Sordo-Muti. *Lanzoni, Francesco (1927)
''Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)''
Faenza 1927, pp. 559–564. *Paganelli, Jacopo (2015)
''«Episcopus vulterranus est dominus». Il principato dei vescovi di Volterra fino a Federico II''
Dissertation: University of Pisa. 2015. *Paganelli, Jacopo (2015)
"«Infra nostrum episcopatum et comitatum». Alcuni caratteri del principato vescovile di Volterra (IX-XIII sec.)".
2015, Rassegna Volterrana. *Schwartz, Gerhard (1913)
''Die Besetzung der Bistümer Reichsitaliens unter den sächsischen und salischen Kaisern : mit den Listen der Bischöfe, 951-1122''
Leipzig-Berlin 1913, pp. 223–224. *Schneider, Fedor (1907).
Regestum volaterranum: Regesten der Urkunden von Volterra (778-1303)
'. Roma: Loescher. * * *Volpe, G. (1964). "Vescovi e Comune di Volterra," in: ''Toscana Medievale'' (Firenze: Sansoni 1964), pp. 143–311.

External links

*Benigni, Umberto

The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Retrieved: 29 February 2020. {{authority control

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...

de:Liste der Bischöfe von Volterra