The Archdiocese of Lucca () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. The diocese dates back as a diocese to at least the 4th century; it became an archdiocese in 1726. The seat of the archbishop is in Lucca, in the cathedral of S. Martino. It is not a metropolitan see, has no suffragan dioceses, and is an exempt diocese, that is immediately subject (exempt) to the Holy See (Papacy).
History During the Gothic Wars the city of Lucca was besieged and taken by Totila in 550. Hoping for assistance from the Franks, the Lucchesi obstinately resisted the attack of Narses, surrendering only after a siege of seven months (553). It later fell into the hands of the Lombards, was thenceforward a place of great importance, and became the favourite seat of the Marquesses of Tuscany.
In 981 Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor bestowed on its bishop civil jurisdiction over the entire diocesan territory; but in 1081 Emperor Henry IV made it a free city and conferred other favours upon it, especially in the way of trade. This was the origin of the Republic of Lucca. Lucca was generally on the side of the pope against the emperor, and hence joined the League of S. Ginesio (1197).Tommasi, p. 59. The league was organized with the help of two cardinal legates. Members included: Lucca, Florence, Siena, Volterra and other communities, but not Pisa.
Mythical history There is a legend that the Gospel was preached at Lucca by a certain St. Paulinus, said to be a disciple of St. Peter, and the discovery in 1197 of a stone, recording the deposition of the relics of Paulinus, a holy martyr, apparently confirmed this belief. On the stone, however, St. Paulinus is not called Bishop of Lucca, nor is there any allusion to his having lived in Apostolic times.P. Guidi, Osservazioni storico-critiche intorno a un' antica iscrizione relativa a S. Paolino, primo vescovo di Lucca, recentemente scoperta, , (Lucca 1902). Fedele Savio, "San Paolino fu primo vescovo di Lucca?" , in: Rivista di scienze storiche, Anno II, tomo 1 (1905), pp. 12-18. His hagiography belongs to the 13th century.Lanzoni, pp. 589; 79: "Una occhiata alle produzioni agiografiche latine registrate nella BHL ci permette di constatare che le leggende apostoliche di Eomolo di Fiesole {BHL, 7330-4), di Anatolone di Milano {BHL, 416), di Aspren di Napoli {BHL, 724) discendono al secolo xi; quelle di Cataldo di Taranto {BHL, 1652), di Marco di Atina {BHL, 3298), di Prosdocimo di Padova (JSITL, 6960), al secolo xii; di Paolino di Lucca {BHL, 6555), al xiii; di Oronzo di Lecce, ancora più giù!" His existence is unknown to all documents and monuments down to the end of the 12th century, and no church or chapel in the diocese was dedicated to him.Lanzoni, p. 596: "Paolino 1, preteso protovescovo di Lucca, è ignorato da tutti i monumenti e documenti lucchesi fino al termine del xii secolo. Egli, secondo la sua Passione {BEL, 6555), sarebbe stato il primo vescovo di Lucca, mandato da s. Pietro stesso e martirizzato sub Nerone; ma nessuna chiesa o cappella della città e della vasta diocesi, fino al xiii secolo, appare a lui dedicata." At the Council of Rimini (359), another Paulinus, Bishop of Lucca, was said to be present. Perhaps the legend of Paulinus, the follower of S. Peter, arose through a repetition of this Paulinus.Cappelletti XV, p. 497, derived from Ughelli I, p. 844, who gives no evidence. But no records of a council of Rimini in 359 survive. The claim of a second Paulinus or of his presence at Rimini cannot be tested. Bertini, Memorie e documenti, Vol. 4, p. 204 § 23: "Ma siccome il nostro P Mansi dopo aver esaminati gli atti del Concilio Ariminense nel Labbé, non trovò fatta di tal Vescovo commemorazione alcuna, inclinò piuttosto a toglierlo affatto dalla serie dei nostri Pastori. Per verità se la proposizione dell' Ughelli si avesse da sostenere colla sola nota o catalogo dei sottoscritti a quel Concilio, sarebbe priva di fondamento...."
Earliest bishops The first bishop of certain date is Maximus, present at the Council of Sardica (343). Remarkable for sanctity and miracles was St. Fridianus (Frediano) (560–588), son of Ultonius, King of Ireland, or perhaps of a king of Ulster (Ultonia), of whom in his "Dialogues" (III, 10) Gregory the Great relates a miracle.On St. Fridianus see Colgan, "Acta Sanct. Scot.", I (1645), 633–51; "Dict. Christ. Biog.", s. v.; Fanucchi, "Vita di San Frediano" (Lucca, 1870); O'Hanlon, "Lives of Irish Saints", under 18 Nov.; "Analecta Bollandiana", XI (1892), 262–263, and "Bolland. Bibl. hagiogr. lat." (1899), 476.
In 739, during the episcopate of Walprandus, the legendary Richard, King of the Angles and father of the Saints Willibald, Winnibald, and Walburga, died at Lucca and was buried in the church of S. Frediano. Under Bishop Giovanni (c. 781–800) it is said that the Volto Santo was brought to Lucca from Palestine; carbon dating puts the work c. 780–880.
Chapter and cathedrals
The original cathedral of the diocese of Lucca was the church of S. Reparata. At the beginning of the 8th century, the seat of the bishop was transferred to S. Martino, and S. Reparata became a collegiate church staffed by canons. On 6 October 1070, Pope Alexander II and 22 bishops and abbots consecrated the new cathedral of S. Martin in Lucca. The cathedral was run by a cathedral chapter.Carlo Biscotti, Notizie sommarie riguardanti le chiese, i benefizj ed il clero della archidiocesi di Lucca, , (Lucca: dalla tipografia Giusti, 1853), pp. 45-46. Cappelletti XV, pp. 543-548.
On 7 May 1120, Pope Calixtus II granted the use of the pallium to Bishop Benedictus (1118–1128) and his successors. Pope Lucius III granted the bishops the right to have the primatial cross carried before them in procession in their own diocese on 12 November 1181.
Suppression of the diocese of Lucca Garfagna was a river valley and a group of communes located north-northeast of the city of Lucca. Ecclesiastically, it was subject to the bishops of Lucca, but its civil administration was part of the Holy Roman Empire and subject to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who administered it through an imperial vicar.Carlo de Stefani, "Ordini amministrativi dei comuni di Garfagnana, dal XII al XVIII secolo," , in: Archivio storico italiano 5th series vol. 9 (Firenze 1892), 31-66, at pp. 32-37.). In 1222, constant hostility between Lucca and Pisa broke out into open warfare. In 1228, Pope Gregory IX intervened in 1228, and ordered the parties to make peace.Janet Ross, The Story of Lucca (London: J. Dent, 1912), pp. 29-30.
The nobles and barons of Garfagnana, taking an opportunity to free themselves from Lucca, swore oaths of allegiance to Pope Gregory IX on 23 November 1228. Pope Gregory appointed a papal vicar to administer the territory, in place of the imperial vicar. In 1229, Gregory wrote to Bishop Opizzo of Lucca, warning him not to molest the people of the Garfagnana.Domenico Pacchi, Ricerche istoriche sulla provincia della Garfagnana,, , (Modena: Società tipografica, 1785), pp. 71-78, esp. p. 71. When war broke out between Lucca and Pisa in 1230, not for the first time, the people of Garfagnana took advantage of the war, to rise in revolt to free themselves from the Lucchese. The Lucchese, despite the support of Pope Gregory for Pisa and his intervention in the Garfagnana, were not minded to allow the revolt of Garfagnana to go unpunished.Tommasi, pp. 72-74. Their principal attack was on the castle and town of Loppia, the capital of the imperial territory, which they destroyed.Pietro Magri, Il territorio di Barga, , (Firenze: Coi tipi dell'arte della stampa, 1881), p. 67, citing the letter of Gregory IX to the archbishop of Pisa: "Profanarunt sancta, diruerunt ecclesias, et altaria suffuderunt, et dilectum filium Plebanum de Loppia adducentes captivum, retruserunt eum in custodia carcerali." Giuseppe Garampi. Illustrazione di un antico sigillo della Garfagnana, (Roma: per Niccolò, e Marco Pagliarini, 1759), pp. 18-21.
On 8 April 1231, Pope Gregory IX wrote a letter to the people, prelates, and clergy of Lucca, announcing that, due to the enormous crimes (propter enormes civium Lucanorum culpas) of the citizens, he had decided to remove the bishop of Lucca and suppress the diocese."civitatem Lucanum episcopali honore, quo tunc se indignam reddidit... privavit." He appointed the bishop of Florence, then the archbishop of Pisa, then again the bishop of Florence, to be the representative of the pope in exerecising episcopal jurisdiction in the city and diocese of Lucca.Lucien Auvray, Registres de Gregoire IX, , Vol. 1 (Paris: Fontemoing 1896), p. 376, no. 390. Eubel I, p. 313, note 2. The diocese was restored, and a new bishop, Guercio Tebalducci, was appointed, by Gregory IX on 12 December 1236.Lucien Auvray, Registres de Gregoire IX, , Vol. 2 (Paris: Fontemoing 1896), p. 514, no. 3399. Eubel I, p. 313, note 2. Tommasi, pp. 69-74.
Gregory died on 22 August 1241. The Garfagnana was back under the control of Frederick II and the comune of Lucca by December 1242.Pacchi, 128-129.. Brachtel, pp. 19, 75-76.
Early 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 and of the Holy See.Dinelli, pp. 7-10.
On 12 March 1253, Bishop Guercio (1236–1255) presided over a diocesan synod in the cathedral of S. Martino in Lucca.Dinelli, pp. 54-58, publishes the decrees of the synod. Bishop Henricus (1300–1330) held a diocesan synod in 1300.Dinelli, pp. 58-65, gives a summary of the most significant material, chapter by chapter. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, places the synod c. 1308. A diocesan synod was held by Bishop Berengarius (1349–1368) in the episcopal palace in Lucca on 14 October 1351. He held a second synod on 20 October 1366, in the cathedral.Dinelli, pp. 65-66. Bishop Paolo Gabrielli (1374–1380) held a diocesan synod on 13 November 1374.Dinelli, p. 66. Bishop Nicolò Guinigi (1394-1404; 1432–1435) held two diocesan synods, one on 12 August 1404, and another on 16 September 1414.Dinelli, p. 67.
Schism Pope Gregory XII (Roman Obedience) fled from Rome and the power of Paolo Orsini on 9 August 1407. He travelled to Viterbo, to prepare for a congress which was to be held in Savona. In September, he and the papal court moved to Siena, where he held meetings with representatives of the French and of Pope Benedict XIII.
In 1408 Pope Gregory went to Lucca from Siena, to attempt to arrange a meeting with Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon Obedience), to settle the schism. On 9 May 1408, while still in Lucca, Pope Gregory created fourn new cardinals, two of whom were his nephews.Eubel I, p. 31. This was in apparent violation of the electoral capitulations signed and sworn to at his election in 1406.Augustinus Theiner (Editor), Caesaris S. R. E. Cardinalis Baronii, Od. Raynaldi et Jac. Laderchii Annales Ecclesiastici, Vol. 27 (Tomus Vigesimus Septimus 1397-1423), , Barri-Ducis: Ludovicus Guerin 1874, pp. 222-223. Eight of his cardinals removed themselves from Lucca in anger and fear, beginning on 11 May, and made for Pisa. The cardinals held a formal meeting at Livorno on 29 June, denouncing Gregory XII and calling for a church council. In fear of the French fleet, which held the city of Genoa, Gregory abandoned the announced plan to meet in Savona, and returned to Siena on 14 July 1408. F. Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume VI. 2 second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906), pp. 591-602. At the Council of Pisa on 5 June 1409, Gregory and Benedict were deposed.
Territorial losses