Diocese of Gubbio

The Diocese of Gubbio () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in the province of Perugia, in Umbria, central Italy."Diocese of Gubbio" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Diocese of Gubbio" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016

History

The earliest known Bishop of Gubbio is Decentius, though a letter of Pope Innocent I notes that he had predecessors. Gregory the Great (590–604) entrusted to Bishop Gaudiosus of Gubbio the spiritual care of Tadinum, about a mile from the modern Gualdo, which had been long without a bishop of its own.

In the eighth century Gubbio became part of the Patrimony of St. Peter, together with the duchy of Spoleto. Arsenius of Gubbio (855) together with Nicholas of Anagni, opposed the election of Pope Benedict III. It was often at war with Perugia, and its victory in 1151 over Perugia and ten other towns is famous. St. Ubald, bishop of the city, directed the campaign. Gubbio favoured the Ghibelline party; however, in 1260 the Guelphs surprised the town, and drove out the Ghibellines; who returned again in 1300 under the leadership of Uguccione della Faggiola, and Federico I da Montefeltro, whereupon Pope Boniface VIII sent his nephew Napoleone Orsini who drove them out once more.

Giovanni Gabrielli, lord of Gubbio, was expelled by Cardinal Albornoz (1354) and the town handed over to a pontifical vicar.McCracken, pp. 69-70. In 1381, however, the bishop, Gabriele Gabrielli, succeeded in being appointed pontifical vicar and again, lord of Gubbio.

Other bishops of Gubbio were

Rudolph Gabrielli (1061), honoured for his sanctity by Peter Damian; Alessandro Sperelli (1644), author of many learned works, who restored the cathedral.

Schism of 1159–1179 The bishopric of Theobaldus Balbi, O.S.B. (1160–1179) was unfortunately a time of great upheaval in the Church. The papal conclave of September 1159 had produced two popes, and a schism. The majority of cardinals elected Cardinal Rolando Bandinelli, who called himself Pope Alexander III; a minority stood by Cardinal Octavianus de' Monticelli, who called himself Pope Victor IV. Victor was a friend and adherent of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.M. Meyer, Die Wahl Alexander III und Victor IV (1159): Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Kirchenspaltung unter Kaiser Friedrich I (Göttingen 1871). While Bishop Theobaldus professed obedience to Pope Alexander, Frederick appointed as Bishop of Gubbio the Abbot of the monastery of S. Donnato, Abbot Bonactus (Bonnato). The schism thus enveloped the diocese of Gubbio.Cappelletti, p. 394.

A grant to the Church of Gubbio by the Emperor Frederick, dated 8 November 1163, indicates that the Ghibellines were in full control of the city and that Bonactus was bishop-elect. Bishop Theobaldus had retreated to the monastery of Fonte Avellina, where he had been Prior before his election as bishop; there he remained until the death of the intruder Bonactus, in 1164 or 1165.Cappelletti, pp. 394-396. The schismatic Pope Victor IV died on 20 April 1164, and his schismatic successor Guido Cremensis (Antipope Paschal III) died on 20 September 1168.Gregorovus, p. 594. Their successor, Joannes de Struma (Calixtus III), surrendered to the real Pope, Alexander III, on 29 August 1178. The remnants of the schism were liquidated at the Third Council of the Lateran in March 1179, by which time Bishop Theobaldus had died.Hefele, VII, pp. 499-500, 513.

Suffragan From time immemorial, the bishops of Gubbio had been directly subordinate (suffragans) of the Holy See (Papacy), with no supervisory archbishop intervening, and were therefore required to attend Roman synods. But in 1563 the situation was altered. In his bull Super universas of 4 June 1563, Pope Pius IV reorganized the administration of the territories of the March of Ancona by creating a new archbishopric by elevating the bishop and Archdiocese of Urbino. He created the new ecclesiastical province of Urbino, which was to include the dioceses of Cagli, Pesaro, Fossombrone, Montefeltro, Senigallia. and Gubbio.Cappelletti, Vol. III, pp. 206-208, quotes the full bull. The bishops of those dioceses (except the Bishop of Gubbio, who objected) took their oaths to their new Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Urbino, on 4 July and 12 July: Cappelletti, Vol. III, pp. 208-209. But, as a result of the resistance begun by Bishop Mariano Savelli, it was not until the eighteenth century that Urbino could exercise effective metropolitan jurisdiction.

In the 15th century, the dukedoms of Montefeltro and Urbino fell into the hands of the della Rovere family. But the family did not prosper, in terms of male heirs. In 1623, the aged duke, Francesco Maria II lost his only son to an epileptic seizure. Without suitable collateral relatives, he determined to leave his dukedoms to the Papacy, and, on 30 April 1624, the appropriate documents were registered in Rome. Taddeo Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, took formal possession and appointed a governor, though Duke Francesco Maria continued to rule during his lifetime. When he died on 23 April 1631, Urbino, and Gubbio along with it, was incorporated into the Papal States.McCracken, pp. 107-111.

In accordance with the decree Christus Dominus, chapter 40, of the Second Vatican Council, on 15 August 1972 Pope Paul VI issued the decree Animorum utilitate, in which he changed the status of the diocese of Perugia, from being directly dependent upon the Holy See to being a Metropolitan archdiocese. The ecclesiastical province of Perugia was to contain as suffragans the dioceses of Assisi, Citta di Castello, Citta della Pieve, Foligno, Nocera and Tadinum, and Gubbio. The diocese of Gubbio ceased to be dependent upon the archdiocese of Urbino.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 64 (Citta del Vaticano: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1972), pp. 667-668.

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.

Bishop Alessandro Sperelli (1644–1672) presided over seven diocesan synods; one was held on 10—12 July 1646, and another on 7—9 June 1650.Constitutiones det decreta edita ab Ill.mo et Rev.mo Dom. Alexandro Sperello Assissensis, Dei et Apostol. Sedis gratia Episcopo eugubina in Synodis celebratis... (Perugia: Sebastiano Zecchino 1651). Bishop Sostegno Maria Cavalli (1725–1747) held a diocesan synod in Gubbio in 1725; he held another on 13—15 September 1728. Bishop Vincenzo Massi (1821–1839) held a diocesan synod on 5—7 June 1827.

Bishops of Gubbio to 1200

... Decentius (attested 416)Pope Innocent I addressed (416) a letter to Bishop Decentius concerning liturgy and church discipline. Gams, p. 699 column 1. Lanzoni, pp. 481-482. ... Gaudiosus (attested 599)Gaudiosus: Gams, p. 699 column 1. Lanzoni, p. 482. ... Florentinus (attested 769)Bishop Florentius was present at the Lateran synod of Pope Stephen III in 769. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XII (Florence: A. Zatta 1766), p. 715. Sarti, p. 20. ... Benenatus (Bennato) (attested 826)Bishop Bennato attended the Roman synod of Pope Eugene II in 826. ... Erfo (attested 853)Bishop Erfo was present at the Roman synod of Pope Leo IV on 8 December 853. Some manuscripts of the proceedings give the name Joannes instead of Erfo. This has been turned by Sarti and others into two bishops of Gubbio in the same year at the same synod. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XIV (Venice: A. Zatta 1773), p. 1020. Sarti, pp. 20-21. Gams, p. 699 column 1. Arsenius (attested 855)Arsenius: Sarti, p. 21. Gams, p. 699 column 1. Dominicus (attested 861)Dominicus: Sarti, pp. 21-22. Gams, p. 699 column 1. ... Joannes (attested 967, 968)Joannes was present at the synod of Ravenna of April 967, and again in 968. Schwartz, p. 244. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XVIII (Venice: A. Zatta 1773), p. 503. ... Julianus (attested 1032)Sarti, pp. 25-26. Gams, p. 699 column 1. Teudaldus (attested 1036, 1044)Teudaldus was present at the Roman synod of April 1044. Sarti, pp. 26-28. Schwartz, p. 244. ... Guido (attested 1057)Guido: Sarti, pp. 28-31. Schwartz, p. 244. Rodulfus (attested 1059)Rodulfus subscribed the papal election decree of Pope Nicholas II on 13 April 1059. Schwartz, p. 245. Pietro Damiani, O.S.B. (1060–1066 Resigned) RodulfusRodulfus (II): Schwartz, p. 245. MainardusMainardus: Gams, p. 699 column 1. Schwartz, pp. 245-246. Ubaldus (attested 1068)Ubaldus: Schwartz, p. 246. Hugo (attested c. 1070–1074)Hugo: Gams, p. 699 column 1. Schwartz, p. 246. Dominicus, O.S.B. (attested 1075)Dominicus: Gams, p. 699 column 2. Rusticus (attested 1097)Rusticus: Gams, p. 699 column 2. Joannes Laudensis (John of Lodi) (1105–1106)A monk of Fonte Avellana, Joannes was bishop for only one year. He was consecrated by Pope Paschal II (1099–1118). He died on 7 September 1106, at the age of eighty. He was the author of the "Life of Peter Damiani". Gams, p. 699 column 2. Schwartz, pp. 246-247. Joannes Stephanus (attested 1126, 1127)Schwartz, p. 247. Ubaldo Baldassini (1129–1160)On 9 May 1160, Bishop Ubaldus issued a grant to the church of S. Felicissimo, recognizing all its traditional rights and privileges. An altar was dedicated in his honor in 1197, in a church which afterwards belonged to the Franciscans. Cappelletti, pp. 390-394. Theobaldus Balbi, O.S.B. (1160–1179) Offredus, O.S.B. (1179 – after 1184)Offredus, or Ofreductus, took part in the Third Council of the Lateran in March 1179. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, Tomus XXII (Venice: A. Zatta 1778), p. 214. Bentivoglius (attested 1188)Bentivoglio: Gams, p. 699 column 2. Marcus (1195–1200)Marcus: Gams, p. 699 column 2.

1200 to 1500

Albertus (1200–1206)Albertus: Sarti, pp. 129-130. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, p. 242. Villanus, O.S.B. (attested 1206, 1237)Villanus was appointed by Pope Innocent III, after the election of another candidate, the Canon Raynaldus, was quashed. Sarti, pp. 130-135. Eubel, I, p. 242 with note 1. Jacobus (Giacomo), O.Min. (d. c. 1278)Villanus: Sarti, pp. 147-158. Eubel I, p. 242. Benvenutus, O.Min. (1278–1294?)Benvenuto served as papal legate to restore peace between Alfonso X of Castile and Philip III of France. Sarti, pp. 158-162. Eubel, I, p. 242. Ventura (1295–1302Sarti, pp. 163-170. Franciscus Joannes, O.P. Petrus Hugo, O.E.S.A. Franciscus Vesianus Rolandi, O.Min. (1346–1350)Vesianus was appointed Bishop of Gubbio by Pope Clement VI on 2 October 1346. On 14 June 1350 Vesianus was transferred to the diocese of Capua. He died in 1342. Eubel, I, pp. 165, 242. Joannes de Mailhaco, O.Min. Joannes Bencii Carruccii Gabriel Neccioli (1377–1384 Died)Gabriel Neccioli de Gabrielibus (Gabrielli) was appointed Bishop of Gubbio by Pope Gregory XI on 13 April 1377. He died in 1384, though there is a report that he was dead by September 1383. Sarti, pp. 197-201. Eubel, I, p. 242. Adam de Dompno Martino, O.Min. (1384–1388) (Avignon Obedience)Adam was appointed by Clement VII on 20 July 1384. He lived in Paris, and never took possession of the diocese of Gubbio. Sarti, p. 202. Eubel, I, p. 242 with note 9. Lorenzo Corvini (1384–1390) (Roman Obedience)Corvini was appointed bishop of Gubbio by Urban VI. On 17 January he was named Vicar in spiritualibus of the city of Rome by Urban VI. On 29 November 1390 he was transferred to the diocese of Spoleto by Pope Boniface IX. He died on 1 September 1403. Sarti, p. 203. Eubel, I, pp. 242 with note 10; 461. BertrandusSarti, pp. 203-204.