Parma (2)
Parma
Located in central Italy. The city is situated on the river of the same name, an affluent of the Po, flowing through a fertile plain, where grain and vines are cultivated; it also contains many fine pastures; the silk culture is highly developed, as also the cheese, tobacco, and leather industries.
The cathedral was begun in 1060, to replace the ancient one destroyed by fire two years earlier; finished in 1074, it was dedicated in 1106 by Paschal II. It is a fine example of the Lombard style, in the shape of a Latin cross, with three naves; three tiers of galleries, supported by small columns, give a bright aspect to the façade; the cupola, of the sixteenth century, is adorned with frescoes by Correggio, Parmigianino (Girolamo Mazzuola), and other masters; the inlaid work and the carvings of the choir and of the sacristy are by Lendinara and the Consorzialis; there are four statues by Giacomo and Damiano da Gonzate; the ciborium of the high altar, with its beautiful sculptures, is of the fifteenth century; in the crypt is the tomb of the Bishop St. Bernardo, with sculptures by Prospero Clementi. The baptistery is separate, in the shape of an irregular octagon, and was begun in 1196 by the architect and sculptor Benedetto Antelami.
Other churches of note are: San Giovanni Evangelista, formerly of the Benedictines, founded in 981, restored in 1510, façade by Simone Moschino (1604), contains the best paintings of Correggio and Mazzuola; the Steccata (1521), by Zaccagni, on the plan of a Greek cross, with a majestic cupola, containing pictures by Parmigianino and other masters; the Annunziata, in which there are frescoes by Correggio; Santa Maria del Quartiere, the cupola of which was painted by Barnabei; S. Rocco; S. Antonio; S. Sepolcro contains works by Baglioni, Cignaroli, and Mazzola; and the Oratorio di S. Lodovico, formerly the ducal chapel. Among the palaces are: del Giardino (1564), with frescoes by Carracci; della Pilotta (1597), with a museum of antiquities, and a gallery of paintings especially rich in works by Correggio; and the Biblioteca Palatina, containing 303,836 volumes, 4770 manuscripts and 60,000 copper engravings. There are monuments in honour of Correggio and Parmigianino. The university, which dates from 1025, was instituted with pontifical privileges only in 1392, and was developed, more especially, by Duke Ferdinando di Borbone; there are several intermediary schools, besides the episcopal seminary, a seminary for foreign missions, an Accademia of the fine arts, and State archives.
Parma was a city of the Boian Gauls, to which a Roman colony was sent in 183 B. C. In 377, the town suffered so greatly from the barbarians that St. Ambrose numbers it among the ruined cities. The Lombards took the city in 569 or 570, but their chief in 590 placed himself under the exarch Callinicus, who in 601 took possession of Parma, and imprisoned the Duke Godiscalc; the city however soon returned to the Lombards (603). According to the “Vita Hadriani”, Parma was comprised in the donation of Pepin to the Holy See; but in reality, it appears to have belonged to the kings of Italy, who, in the tenth century, gave over the government to its bishops, in whose hands it remained until St. Bernardo resigned it in 1106; from which time the city governed itself as a free commune, first under a consul, and then under a podestà. In 1167 it was obliged to join the Lombard League. In the thirteenth century (1199, 1200, 1204), Parma was at war with its neighbour Piacenza; later it aroused the indignation of Innocent III by the robbery of a pontifical legate. In 1218 a peace was established. In the struggle between the popes and Frederick II, Parma was at first on the side of the emperor; but in 1247, the Guelphs obtained possession of the town, which Frederick attempted in vain to take. Uberto Pallavicino, a native of Parma and a Ghibelline, stood out against Ezzelino, and succeeded in becoming podestà of Parma. In the fourteenth century (1303-16) Gilberto da Correggio became lord; after him, Gianquirico Sanvitale and the brothers de’ Rossi contended for the lordship; then came John of Bohemia (1331), Mastino della Scala (1335-41), the sons of da Correggio, Obizzo d’Este.
Finally, through purchase, Parma was annexed to the Duchy of Milan, and so remained, except for a time when it was governed by the de’ Rossi and by the Terzi (1404-20), until 1499, when Louis XII of France took possession. In 1512 Julius II united Parma to the Pontifical States; it should be said that John of Bohemia had previously held it as a fief of the Holy See; but from 1515 to 1521, the city was again in the hands of the King of France. In 1545, Paul III erected Parma and Piacenza into a duchy, in favour of his son Pierluigi Farnese; then began for Parma an era of splendour, during which Correggio (Allegri), Mazzola, and other famous masters showered treasures of art upon it. Pierluigi, loved by the people and hated by the nobles, fell at Piacenza, 10 Sept., 1547, the victim of a conspiracy directed by Ferrante Gonsaga, imperial Governor of Milan. The garrison of Parma prevented the city from falling into the power of Ferrante, as Piacenza fell; and after long negotiations with the emperor, the son of Pierluigi, Ottavio, was confirmed in the duchy by Julius III in 1550. That prince governed wisely, and a conspiracy against him by Count Landi was happily frustrated.
He was succeeded in 1585 by Alessandro Farnese, who became famous in the wars of Flanders and of France, and who died of a wound at Arras, in 1592. Ranuccio enlarged the state and protected study, founding a college of nobles; his son Odoardo, in 1622, succeeded to the duchy, which was governed during his minority by his mother Margherita and his uncle Cardinal Odoardo, as regents. During this reign there arose the contention with the Barberini for possession of the Duchy of Castro, an ancient fief of the Farnese, and that strife ended in the destruction of Castro, in 1649 under the son of Ranuccio II (1646-94). Duke Francesco, having died without children, was succeded by his brother Antonio (1727-31), who also died without issue; and the succession to the duchy complicated the War of the Spanish Succession. By the treaty of Seville, the duchy was given to Charles of Bourbon, son of Philip V of Spain and Isabella Farnese (daughter of Francesco); and when Charles ascended the throne of Naples, the Peace of Vienna gave Parma to Austria (1736; the battle of Parma, 1734); but the intrigues of Isabella did not cease until the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle had given the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, enlarged with that of Guastalla, to her other son Philip (1749). This prince inaugurated a French absolutism in the duchy, especially at the expense of the Church. In 1765 he fell from his horse, was trampled upon, and dogs tore him to pieces. Under Ferdinando (1765-1802) relations with the Holy See grew still more strained in imitation of the French court, he first concentrated, and then suppressed the religious houses, and was supported against Rome by the other Bourbon courts. In 1802 the duchy was annexed to the French republic, In 1814 it was given to Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon, against whom a revolution broke out in 1831, but was quickly suppressed by Austrian troops. Marie Louise was succeeded by Carlo Lodovico, Duke of Lucca, against whom a new revolution broke out in 1848, and the city was occupied by the Piedmontese. On the other hand, Carlo II abdicated in favour of his son Carlo III (1849). After the Piedmontese defeat at Novara, the Austrians placed Carlo III on the throne of Parma, but he was stabbed to death in 1854, and in 1859 his son Robert was dethroned, while the annexation of his state to Piedmont was decreed.
The first known Bishop of Parma is Urbanus, a partisan of the antipope Ursicinus, and deposed by Pope Damasus in 378. Other bishops were: Gratiosus (680); Lantpertus (827); Wihbodus (860-77), who bore important charges from Louis II and his successors; Aicardus in 920 restored the cathedral, which had been destroyed by fire; Sigefredus, a former chancellor of King Hugo, accompanied in 937 Hugo’s daughter Berta, the promised bride of Constantine Porphyrogenitus; Hucbertus (961), to whom Ratherius di Verona dedicated his “De contemptu canonum”; Cadalous obtained his see through simony, and became the antipope Honorius II, while remaining Bishop of Parma; his successor, Everardo (1073), was a partisan of the antipope Clement III, in whose interest Everardo even resorted to arms, but was defeated by the Countess Matilda, near Sorbara (1084); he was succeeded by another schismatic, Wido (1085), in whose place was put (1091) St. Bernardodegli Uberti, Abbot of Vallombrosa and a cardinal. St. Bernardo, however, in 1104, was dragged violently from the altar, and driven from his see, to which he was not able to return peacefully until 1106; he resigned the temporal power held by the bishops of this diocese and, having opposed the coronation of Conrad (1127) was again obliged to flee from Parma, and died in 1133; Aicardo, a partisan of Barbarossa, and therefore deposed (1167); Obizzo Fieschi, an uncle of Innocent IV; Gratian (1224), professor of law at Bologna; Alberto Sanvitale (1243), and his brother Obizzo (1259), nephews of Innocent IV; Obizzo exerted himself greatly for the reform of morals, favoured the “Milizia di Gesù Cristo”, and exposed the sect of the Apostolici, founded by the Parmesan Gherardo Segarelli; Ugolino Rossi (1322) was obliged to flee from Parma, with his father Guglielmo, on account of the latter’s political reverses (1334); Gian Antonio da S. Giorgio (1500) a learned cardinal; Alessandro Farnese (1509), became Pope Paul III, he resigned the See of Parma in favour of his nephew, Cardinal Alessandro; Alessandro Sforza (1560), who distinguished himself at the Council of Trent; Ferrante Farnese, (1573) active in the cause of ecclesiastical reform; Camillo Marazzani (1711), who governed the diocese during forty-eight years; Adeodato Turchi (1788), a Capuchin who wrote beautiful pastorals and homilies; Cardinal Francesco Caselli (1804), a former superior of the Servites and a companion of Consalvi during the negotiation of the Concordat with Napoleon; at the national council of Paris in 1811, he defended the rights of the Holy See.
The diocese, a suffragan of Milan, and later of Ravenna and of Bologna (1582), depends immediately on the Holy See since 1815; it has 306 parishes, 232,913 inhabitants, 9 religious houses of men, 18 of women, 3 educational establishments for male students, 5 for girls, 1 bi-weekly periodical (Ol Giornale del popolo) and 2 monthly magazines (L’Eco; Lede e Civiltà).
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CAPPELLETTI, Le Chiese d’Italia, XV; ALLODI, Serie cronologica dei vescovi di Parma (2 vols., Parma, 1854-57); AFFÓ, Storia della città di Parma (4 vols., Parma, 1792-95), continued by PEZZANA (5 vols., 1837-59); SCARABELLI, Storia dei ducati di Parma, Piacenza, Guastala (2 vols., Guastala, 1858); BENASSI, Storia di Parma (4 vols., 1899); Archivo storico per le provincie parmensi (Parma, 1892-).
U. BENIGNI. Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Parma
a former duchy of Upper Italy, but now a part of the Italian kingdom, is bounded on the north by Lombardy and Venice, east by Modena, south by Genoa and Tuscany, and west by Piedmont, and contains in all 1278 English square miles, with a population (1889) of 285,790. The Apennines, which cross the southern division of the duchies, send off spurs northwards, and give to the northern part of the country the character of a plain, gently undulating, but sloping uniformly to the Po, which is the recipient of all the rivers of the country. The plain, which is very fertile, produces rich crops of grain (including rice), leguminous plants, fruits of all kinds, olives, and grapes; while marble, alabaster, salt, and petroleum are the chief mineral products. Next to agriculture, the production and manufacture of silk, the rearing of cattle and poultry, cheese-making, and the extraction of the mineral products afford the chief employment. Silk and cheese are the chief exports. The Roman Catholic religion was until its recent union with the kingdom the only one tolerated, though a few Jews are found here and there through the country. The condition of educations much improved of late, is still very defective.
History. Parma and Piacenza, which was a part of the recent duchy, belonged in the time of the Roman empire to Cisalpine Gaul, and after its fall came under the rule of the Lombards, to whose rule succeeded that of the kings of Italy and the German emperors. In the 12th and following centuries they joined the other territories of Northern Italy which were struggling for liberty and independence, and consequently became involved in the Guelph and Ghibelline contests. Weakened by these strifes, they fell under the domination of the powerful houses of Este, Visconti, and Sforza; but in 1499 they passed under the yoke of the French monarch, Louis XII, from’ whom they were soon recovered by the emperor Maximilian, and handed over to pope Leo X in 1513. They continued under the sovereignty of the popes till 1543, when they were alienated by pope Paul III, and with the surrounding territory were erected into a duchy for his natural son Pier- Luigi Farnese, the grandfather of Alessandro Farnese, the celebrated regent of the Low Countries. On the extinction of the male line of Farnese in 1731, by the death of the eighth duke, Antonio, his niece Elizabeth, the queen of Philip V of Spain, obtained the duchies for her son Don Carlos, who, however, exchanged them in 1735 with Austria for the throne of the Two Sicilies. In 1748 they were restored, along with Guastalla. to Spain, and became a duchy for the infante Don Philip, with a reversion to Austria in. case of the failure of his male descendants, or of any of them ascending the Spanish or Neapolitan throne.
Philip was succeeded in 1765 by his son Ferdinand, who was an able and enlightened ruler, and expelled the Jesuits in 1768. He died in 1802, and his dominions were immediately taken possession of by the French, and were incorporated with France, under the designation of the department of Taro, in 1805. In 1814, by the treaty of Paris, Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla were presented as a sovereign duchy to the ex-empress Maria Louisa, a proceeding strongly opposed by the king of Spain, who demanded them for his sister, Maria Louisa, the widow of Louis, king of Etruria, the’ son of duke Ferdinand. However, in 1817, it was settled that Maria Louisa of Austria should possess the duchies, and that on her death they should descend to Ferdinand Charles. duke of Lucca, the son of Maria Louisa of Spain, and the rightful heir and on failure of his heirs Parma should revert to Austria, and Piacenza to Sardinia. The empress governed very much after the Austrian fashion, but with gentleness, though liberal sentiments were looked upon by her with little favor. On her death in 1847 the duke of Lucca succeeded as Charles II, and certain exchanges of territory, previously settled by the great powers, took place with Tuscany and Modena the chief of which being the transfer of Guastalla to Modena in exchange for the districts of Villa Franca, Treschietto, Castevoli, and Melazzo, all in Massa-Carrara, resulting in a loss to Parma of about 77 English square miles of territory, and a gain of 193 English square miles. This transfer was not made without great discontent on the part of the inhabitants. The duke’s rule was severe and tyrannical, and on an address being presented to him with a view of obtaining a reform of certain abuses, and a more liberal political constitution, similar to what Tuscany had obtained (February, 1848) from its grand-duke, he threw himself into the arms of Austria, and consented to the occupation of his territory by Austrian troops. In March, 1848, a revolution broke out, and the duke was compelled to grant the popular demands, but he almost immediately retired from the country. Parma joined with Sardinia in the war of 1848-1849 against Austria, but on the triumph of the latter power was compelled to receive Charles III (his father, Charles II, having resigned his throne, March 1849) as its ruler.
The new duke recalled the constitution which his father had been compelled to grant, and punished with great severity the active agents of the revolutionary movements in his dominions. His arbitrary measures were effectively seconded by his chief minister, an Englishman named Ward, who shared the public obloquy with his master, After Charles III’s assassination in March 1854, his widow, Louise-Marie-Therese de Bourbon, daughter of the last duke of Berry, assumed the government for the behoof of her son Robert I, and made some attempts at political reform; but owing to the excited state of the people they were little effective, and she and her son were compelled to leave the country in 1859, on the outbreak of a new war between Sardinia and Austria. On March 18 of the following year the country was annexed to Sardinia, and now forms a part of the kingdom of Italy, constituting the two provinces of Parma (area 1251 English square miles, population 258,502) and Piacenza (area 965 English square miles, population 210,933), a few of the outlying districts, amounting to about 150 square miles, being incorporated with other provinces.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Parma (2)
the chief town of the province of the same name in Italy, and formerly the capital of the duchy of Parma, is situated on both sides of the river Parma, twelve miles south from the Po, seventy-five miles south-east from Milan, and about the same distance east-north-east from Genoa. It is reported to have been the seat of a Church council in 1187, presided over by pope Gregory VIII, but nothing is known of the synodal decisions. See Hefele, Conciliengesch. v. 649; also 4:791.