Pisa
Pisa
ARCHDIOCESE OF PISA (PISÆ)
Archdiocese in Tuscany, central Italy. The city is situated on the Arno, six miles from the sea, on a fertile plain, while the neighbouring mountains yield marble, alabaster, copper, and other mineral products; mineral waters abound in the province. The famous duomo, or cathedral, begun (1063) by Buschetto and consecrated by Gelasius II (1118), is a basilica in the shape of a Latin cross, with five naves, the columns of which are of oriental granite. The upper portion of the façade is formed by five rows of columns, one above the other; the bas-reliefs of the four bronze doors were executed by Domenico Partegiani and Augusto Serrano, after the designs of Giambologna and others. The cupola was painted by Orazio Riminaldi and Michele Cinganelli; the altars are all of Luna marble. Among the notable objects in this cathedral are the octagonal pulpit, the urn of St. Ranieri, and the lamp of Possenti da Pietrasanta, under which Galileo studied the isochronism of the pendulum. In front of the duomo is the baptistery, a round structure, with a cupola surmounted by a statue of St. John the Baptist; it was erected in 1152. Beside the duomo is the celebrated leaning campanile. The camposanto (begun in 1278, completed in 1464) is a real museum of painting and of medieval sculpture; its architect was Giovanni Pisano, by whom also are six statues placed over one of the entrances. The frescoes are by Giotto, Orcagna, Benozzo Gozzoli, Spinello Aretino, Simone Memmi, and Pietro Laurati. It contains the tomb of the Emperor Henry VII. Other churches are Santa Maria della Spina (1230; 1323); San Nicola, dating from about 1000; the church of the Knights of S. Stefano (1555), a work of Vasari; S. Francesco (thirteenth century); S. Caterina (1253), which belongs to the seminary and contains the mausoleums of Bishop Saltarelli and of Gherardo Compagni; S. Anna has two canvasses by Ghirlandajo; S. Michele (1018); S. Frediano (ninth century); S. Sepolcro (1150); S. Paolo (805?) called the old duomo; S. Pietro in Grado, which dates from the fifth century, and was restored in the ninth. The episcopal residence, of the twelfth century, has important archives. Other buildings of interest are the Loggia dei mercanti, by Bountalenti, and the university (1105-1343), with which were united several colleges, as the Puteano, Ferdinando, Vittoriano, and Ricci. Outside the city are the Certosa di Calci, the Bagni di Pisa, ancient baths which were restored by Countess Matilda, and the Villa Reale di S. Rossore.
Pisa is the ancient Pisæ, in antiquity held to be a colony of Pisæ in Elis. Later, it probably belonged to the Etruscans, though often troubled by the Ligurians. The people devoted themselves to commerce and to piracy. From 225 B.C., they were in amicable relations with the Romans, who used the port of Pisæ in the Punic War, and against the Ligurians, in 193. By the Julian law, if not earlier, the town obtained Roman citizenship. Little mention is made of it in the Gothic War. In 553 it submitted to Narses, of its own accord; after the Lombard invasion, it seems to have enjoyed a certain independence, and it was not until the eighth century that Pisa had a Lombard dux, while, in the ninth century, it alternated with Lucca as the seat of the Marquis of Tuscany. The war between Pisa and Lucca (1003) was the first war between two Italian cities. In 1005, the town was sacked by the Saracens, under the famous Musetto (Mugheid al Ameri), who, in turn, was vanquished by the Pisans and Genoese, in Sardinia. In 1029, the Pisans blockaded Carthage; and in 1050, Musetto having again come to Sardinia, they defeated him with the assistance of Genoa and of the Marquis of Lunigiana; but the division of the conquered island became a source of dissension between the allied cities, and the discord was increased when Urban II invested the Pisans with the suzerainty of Corsica, whose petty lords (1077) had declared their wish to be fiefs only of the Holy See. In 1126, Genoa opened hostilities by an assault on Porto Pisano, and only through the intervention of Innocent II (1133) was peace re-established. Meanwhile, the Pisans, who for centuries had had stations in Calabria and in Sicily, had extended their commerce to Africa and to Spain, and also to the Levant. The Pisans obtained great concessions in Palestine and in the principality of Antioch by lending their ships for the transportation of crusaders in 1099, and thereafter people of all nations were to be found in their city. In 1063 they had made an attempt against Palermo, and in 1114 led by the consul, Azzo Marignani, conquered the Balearic Islands. Pisa supported the emperors at an early date, and Henry IV, in 1084, confirmed its statutes and its maritime rights. With its fleet, it supported the expedition of Lothair II to Calabria, destroying in 1137 the maritime cities of Ravello, La Scala, la Fratta, and above all, Amalfi, which then lost its commercial standing. The Pisans also gave their assistance to Henry IV in the conquest of Sicily, and as reward lost the advantages that they had then enjoyed.
The reprisals of Innocent III in Sardinia led the Pisans to espouse the cause of Otto IV and that of Frederick II, and Pisa became the head and refuge of the Ghibellines of Tuscany, and, accordingly, a fierce enemy of Florence. The victory of Montaperti (1260) marks the culmination of Pisan power. Commercial jealousy, political hatred, and the fact that Pisa accorded protection to certain petty lords of Corsica, who were in rebellion against Genoa, brought about another war, in which one hundred and seven Genoese ships defeated one hundred and three ships of the Pisans, at La Meloria, the former taking ten thousand prisoners. All would have been lost, if Ugolino della Gherardesca, capitano del popolo and podestà, had not providently taken charge of the Government. But as he had protected the Guelphs, Archbishop Ruggieri degli Ubaldini took up arms against him, and shut him up (1288) in the tower of the Gualdini, where with his sons he starved to death (Inferno, XXXIII, 13). At the peace of 1290, Pisa was compelled to resign its rights over Corsica and the possession of Sassari in Sardinia. The Pisans hoped to retrieve themselves by inviting Henry VII to establish himself in their city, offering him two million florins for his war against Florence, and their fleet for the conquest of Naples; but his death in 1313 put an end to these hopes. Thereupon they elected (1314) Uguccione della Fagiuola of Lucca as their lord; but they rid themselves of him in the same year. At the approach of Louis the Bavarian, they besought that prince not to enter Pisa; but Castruccio degli Antelminelli incited Louis to besiege the city, with the result that Pisa surrendered in 1327, and paid a large sum of money to the victor. In 1329 Louis resided there again, with the antipope, Pietro di Corvara. Internal dissensions and the competition of Genoa and Barcelona brought about the decay of Pisan commerce. To remedy financial evils, the duties on merchandise were increased, which, however, produced a greater loss, for Florence abandoned the port of Pisa. In 1400 Galeazzo Visconti bought Pisa from Gherardo Appiani, lord of the city. In 1405, Gabriele M. Visconti having stipulated the sale of Pisa to the Florentines, the Pisans made a supreme effort to oppose that humiliation; the town, however, was taken and its principal citizens exiled. The expedition of Charles VIII restored its independence (1494-1509); but the city was unable to rise again to its former prosperity. Under Cosimo de’ Medici, there were better times, especially for the university.
Among the natives of Pisa were: B. Pellegrino (seventh century); B. Chiara (d. in 1419), and B. Pietro, founder of the Hermits of St. Jerome (d. in 1435); B. Giordano da Pisa, O. P., (d. in 1311); and Gregory X. Connected with the church of San Pietro in Grado there is a legend according to which St. Peter landed at Pisa, and left there his disciple St. Pierinus. The first known bishop was Gaudentius, present at the Council of Rome (313). Other bishops were St. Senior (410), who consecrated St. Patrick; Joannes (493); one, name unknown, who took part in the schism of the Three Chapters (556); Alexander (648); Maurianus (680); one, name unknown, taken prisoner by Charlemagne at the siege of Pavia (774); Oppizo (1039), the founder of the Camaldolite convent of S. Michele; Landulfus (1077), sent by Gregory VII as legate to Corsica; Gerardus (1080), an able controversialist against the Greeks; Diabertus (1085), the first archbishop, to whom Urban II gave the sees of Corsica as suffragans in 1099, the first Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; Pietro Moriconi (1105). In 1121, on account of the jealousy of Genoa, the bishops of Corsica were made immediately dependent upon the Holy See, but Honorius II (1126) restored the former status of Pisa as their metropolitan; in 1133, however, Innocent II divided them between Pisa and Genoa, which was then made an archdiocese. Thereafter, Pisa received for suffragans also Populonia and two sees in Sardinia. Other bishops were: Cardinal Uberto Lanfranchi (1132), who often served as pontifical legate; Cardinal Villano Gaetani (1145), compelled to flee from the city on account of his fidelity to Alexander III (1167); Lotario Rosari (1208), also Patriarch of Jerusalem (1216); Federico Visconti (1254), who held provincial synods in 1258, 1260, and 1262; Oddone della Sala (1312) had litigations with the republic, and later became Patriarch of Alexandria; Simone Saltorelli; Giovanni Scarlatti (1348), who had been legate to Armenia and to the emperor at Constantinople; Lotto Gambacorta (1381), compelled to flee after the death of his brother Pietro, tyrant of Pisa (1392); Alamanno Adinari (1406), a cardinal who had an important part in the conciliabulum of Pisa and in the Council of Constance; Cardinal Francesco Salviati Riario (1475), hung at Florence in connexion with the conspiracy of the Pazzi; in 1479 he was succeeded by his nephew, Rafaele Riario, who narrowly escaped being a victim of the same conspiracy; Cesare Riario (1499); Cardinal Scipione Rebita (1556); Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (1560), a son of Cosimo; Cardinal Angelo Niccolini (1564); Cardinal Antonio Pozzi (1582), founder of the Puteano college, and author of works on canon and on civil law: Giulio de’ Medici (1620), served on missions for the duke, founded the seminary, introduced wise reforms, and evinced great charity during the pest of 1629; Cardinal Scipione Pannocchieschi (1636); Cardinal Cosimo Corsi (1853-70). Important councils have been in 1135, against Anacletus II and the heretic Enrico, leader of the Petrobrusiani in 1409, which increased the schism by the deposition of Gregory XII and of Benedict XIII, and by the election of Alexander V; in 1511, brought about by a few schismatic cardinals and French bishops at the instigation of Louis XII against Julius II.
Leghorn, Pescia, Pontremoli, and Volterra are the suffragans of Pisa; the archdiocese has 136 parishes; 190,000 inhabitants; 10 religious houses of men, and 29 of women; 6 educational establishments for boys, and 13 for girls; 1 Catholic daily paper.
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CAPPELLETTI, Le Chiese d’Italia, XVI; TRONCI, Annuali Pisani (Pisa, 1868-71); DAL BORGO, Dissertazioni sulla storia pisana (Pisa, 1761-68); CHIRONE EPIDAURICO, Navigazione e commercio pisano (Pisa, 1797); FEDELI, I documenti pontificii riguardanti l’Università di Pisa (Pisa, 1908); SUPINO, Pisa in Italia Artistica, XVI (Bergamo, 1905).
U. BENIGNI Transcribed by Gerald Rossi
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Pisa
a city of Northern Italy, the recent capital of Tuscany, with a population of about 22,000, is noted in ecclesiastical history as the seat of several important Church councils.
I. The first council here (Concilium Pisanum) was convoked by pope Innocent II in 1134, who presided at the head of a large assembly of the bishops of France, Germany, and Italy. St. Bernard assisted at their deliberations. By this body the excommunication of the anti-pope Anacletus was renewed, together with his abettors. Several canons were published.
1. Directs that priests shall be separated from their wives, and nuns from their pretended husbands; and both parties put to penance.
6. Forbids, under pain of excommunication, to violate the sanctuary of a church or churchyard. See Labbe, Concil. 10, 989.
II. But far more important was the council convened here March 25, 1409. Its object was the conciliation of the pope and anti-pope, and the ending of so dangerous a schism as then existed. It was proposed to judge between the two competitors for the papacy, and elect one of them to the throne, or set both aside and choose a third party. The council was called under the protection of king Charles VI of France, and was attended by the cardinals of both rivals to the papal chair-Benedict XIII (q.v.) and Gregory XII (q.v.). Benedict, by the advice of several bishops, sent seven legates to the council; but Gregory, on the other hand, refused to appear either in person or by deputy, although summoned in due form. The assembly was one of the most august and numerous ever seen in the Church: there were present 22 cardinals; the Latin patriarchs of Alexandria (Simon), Antioch (Wenceslaus), Jerusalem (Hugo), and Grade (Francis Lando); 12 archbishops were present in person, and 14 by their proctors; 80 bishops, and the proctors of 102 absent; 87 abbots, and the proctors of 200 others; besides priors; generals of orders; the grand-master of Rhodes with 16 commanders; the prior-general of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher; the deputy of the grand-master and Knights of the Teutonic Order; the deputies of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Florence, Cracow Vienna, Prague, and many others; more than 300 doctors in theology; and ambassadors from the kings of England, France, Portugal, Bohemia, Sicily, Poland, and Cyprus; from the dukes of Burgundy, Brabant, etc.
The following was the action of each session of this council:
Session
1. The order of precedency to be observed by the members of the council was laid down.
Sess.
2. After the usual prayer and sermon, the archbishop of Pisa read the decree of Gregory X upon the procession o f the Holy Spirit, to which the Greeks had agreed in the Council of Lyons, A.D. 1274, and the canon of Toledo relating to the proper order of ecclesiastical councils. After this the necessary officers were appointed, the letter of convocation read, and the two rival popes summoned at the gates of the church; no one, however, appearing for them.
Sess.
3. A fresh citation was made, and no one having appeared, the two popes, Pedro of Luna and Angelo Corrario, were declared contumacious by a sentence which was affixed to the church door.
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4. Bishop Ulric, the ambassador of Robert, king of the Romans, addressed the assembly, endeavoring to frustrate the object of the council.
Sess.
5. The two contending parties were again declared contumacious, and the promoter of the council produced against them thirty-seven articles, containing the whole history of the schism, and showing the badness of their cause. Although the facts contained in this accusation were sufficiently notorious, commissioners were appointed to prove their truth.
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6. The bishop of Salisbury showed that it was necessary for the cause that there should be a general, and not merely a partial, withdrawal from the obedience of the popes, and declared that he had authority from the king of England to follow out the scheme for unity, and to consent to whatever the council should determine.
Sess.
7. The difficulties started by the ambassador of the king of the Romans were answered.
Sess.
8. The bishops of Salisbury and Evreux showed that the union of the two colleges of cardinals could not be effected while those of the party of Benedict continued to obey him, and that the withdrawal from obedience must be universal. Whereupon the council declared the union of the two colleges to be lawful, and the council itself duly convoked; and a decree was passed to the effect that each one might and ought to’ withdraw from the obedience both of Gregory and Benedict; since both of them had by their artifices eluded the solemn cession of office which they had promised upon oath to make.
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9. Was employed in the reading of the decree of the preceding session.
Sess.
10. The two contending parties were again cited at the door of the church, in order that they might hear the testimony of the witnesses. -Then thirty-seven articles, containing their deposition, were read; and it was; noted down by how many witnesses each article was proved.
Sess.
11. The reading of the depositions was continued.
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ess.
12. A decree was published declaring the council to be ecumenical, and all contained in the preceding depositions to be true, public, and notorious.
Sess.
13. One of the deputies from the University of Paris showed that Pedro of Luna was a heretic and schismatic, and that he had forfeited the papacy; and this he declared to be the opinion of the French universities. The bishop of Navarre also declared that all the doctors in the council, to the number of three hundred, agreed in this view. S
ess.
14. A declaration was made that the council represented the Roman Catholic Church that the cognizance of the matter before it of right belonged to it, as being the highest authority on earth; also an act of general withdrawal from the obedience of the two contending parties was drawn up,
Sess.
15. The definitive sentence was pronounced in the presence of the whole council and of the people who were permitted to enter. The sentence was to the effect that the holy ecumenical synod, representing the Catholic Church, to which it appertained to take cognizance of and to decide the question, after having examined everything which had been done concerning the union of the Church, declared Pedro of Luna, called Benedict XIII, and Angelo Corrario, called Gregory XII, to be both of them schismatical, abettors of schism, heretics, and guilty of perjury; that they had given offence to the whole Church by their obstinacy, that they had forfeited every dignity, and were, ipso facto, separated from the Church. It forbade all the faithful, under pain of excommunication, to recognize them or support their cause. It annulled all that they had done against the promoters of unity, and declared the last promotion of cardinals made by them to be null and void.
Sess.
16. A paper was read, in which the cardinals present all promised that, in the event of any one of them being elected to the papal chair, he would continue the present council, until the Church should be reformed in its head and in its members; and if one of those then absent or any other not belonging to the college of cardinals, were elected, that they would compel him to make the same promise before publishing his election. Afterwards the council ratified the sentence against Angelo and Pedro.
Sess.
17. Certain preliminaries concerning the election were settled.
Sess.
18. A solemn procession was made to implore of the Almighty the grace necessary to guide their election.
Sess.
19. The cardinals, to the number of twenty-four, entered into conclave under the guard of the grand-master of Rhodes, and at the end of ten days’ confinement, they unanimously elected Peter of Candia, cardinal of Milan, of the order of Franciscan friars, a man seventy years of age, who took the name of Alexander V. As soon as he was elected, John Gerson, chancellor of the University of Paris, delivered a discourse, exhorting him to the faithful discharge of his duty, etc.
Sess.
20. The new pope presided and delivered a discourse. The decree of his election was then read, and on the following Sunday he was crowned.
Sess.
21. A decree was read on the part of the pope, approving and ratifying all the dispensations of marriage, and those relating to the penitentiary, which had been granted by Benedict or Gregory.
Sess.
22. A decree was published on the part of the pope and council, confirming all collations, provisions, translations, etc., made canonically by the two rival popes.
Sess.
23. A decree was read, ordering metropolitans to convoke provincial councils, and the generals of orders to hold chapters, having presidents of the pope’s appointment. Finally, Alexander ratified all that the cardinals had done since May 3, 1408, and especially what had passed at Pisa. With regard to Church reform, as many of the prelates had left the council, the pope declared that the subject should be deferred until the following council, which he appointed to be held in 1412; then he dismissed the assembly, giving plenary indulgence to all who had assisted at it, and to all who had adhered to it.
See Hardouin, Acta, 7, 1929 sq.; 8:1 sq.; Mansi, Concil. 26, 1131 sq.; 27, 1-522; Labbe, Concil. 11, 2114; Lenfant, Hist. du Cone. de Pisa (Amsterd. 1724, 4to); Wessenberg, Die Allgemeinen Concil. des 15 u. 16 Jahrh. 2, 48 sq.; Hefele, Conciliengesch. vol. 5. For the imbecile conduct of papal affairs under the newly chosen candidate we refer the reader to the art. SEE ALEXANDER V, and the history of his successor, John XXIII (s.v.). In this place we may simply add that the schism, instead of being closed, continued, with three popes in the room of two. The effort also to reduce the rank of the pope to a constitutional instead of an absolute monarch, by giving to the councils of the Church the supreme tribunal, to which the pope himself is subordinate and amenable, failed. SEE INFALLIBILITY; SEE PAPAL SUPREMACY.
III. Another council was convened at Pisa in 1511, at the instigation of the emperors Maximilian and Louis XII of France, who having just cause of complaint against pope Julius II (q.v.), persuaded the cardinals of St. Croix, Narbonne, and Cosenzi to convoke a council, whose object was set forth to be the reform of the Church in its head and in its members, and to punish various notorious crimes which for a long time had scandalized the whole Church. It was further stated that there was urgent need of such councils, that Julius had not only neglected to convoke one, but had done all in his power to hinder it; and, finally, the pope was in respectful terms cited to appear at the council. Besides this, in answer to the complaint made against them by Julius, they published an apology for their conduct, in which they justified the convocation of the Council of Pisa: first, by a decree passed in the thirty-ninth session of the council; secondly, by the pope’s own vow, according to which he had promised to hold a council; thirdly, by the oath of the cardinals, and by the necessity of avoiding so great scandal. They further showed that the canons, which vest the power of convoking such councils in the pope, are to be understood as speaking of the ordinary state of things, but that cause may arise in which councils may be called and assembled by others than the sovereign pontiff. The pope, in order to parry the blow, convoked a rival council to Rome, and cited the three above-mentioned cardinals to appear there within a certain time, under pain of deprivation. The Council of Pisa, however, proceeded, and was opened Nov. 1, 1511. Four cardinals attended, and the proctors of three who were absent, also fourteen French bishops and two archbishops, together with a few abbots and doctors; deputies from the universities of France, and the ambassadors of Louis XII. The following is an account of each session’s transactions:
Sess.
1. Cardinal St. Croix presided. The convocation of the Council of Pisa, having for its object the reformation of the Church, was pronounced to be just and lawful, and all that had been or might be done to its prejudice declared null and void.
Sess.
2. All that related to the order of the assembly was settled; the canon of Toledo read, and officers appointed. A decree was made to the effect that the present council could not be dissolved until the reformation of the Church should have been effected. The decrees of the Council of Constance, relating to the authority of ecumenical councils, were renewed.
Sess.
3. At this time, the pope having entered into a league with Ferdinand and the Venetians, began to attack the state of Florence, and the fathers judged it expedient to transfer the council to Milan; which accordingly was done; and on Jan. 4, 1512, the fourth session was held at Milan.
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ess.
4. The assembly was more numerous, the cardinals of St. Severin and St. Angelo joined themselves to the others. The proctor-general of the Order of Premonstrants made a long discourse upon the disorders which ravaged the Church; then certain decrees were read, by which thirty days were given to the pope, within which time to determine himself to reform abuses in the Church, or else to assemble an ecumenical council, or to unite with that already assembled.
Sess.
5. The decree of the Council of Constance was renewed against those who troubled and maltreated persons coming to the council.
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ess.
6. A deputy from the University of Paris delivered a discourse, after which the pope Julius was again cited in the usual form; and upon his non- appearance a demand was made that he should be declared contumacious. Several decrees were also published, among other subjects upon the exemplary life which ecclesiastics ought to lead; also upon the order to be observed in councils, with regard to sessions and congregations. The convocation of a council to Rome, made by Julius, was declared null and void.
Sess.
7. The promoters of the council required that Julius should be declared, through his contumacy, to have incurred, ipso facto, suspension from all administration of the pontifical office. Consequently he was called upon three times from the foot of the altar, and at the church door: the settlement of the question was then deferred till the next session.
Sess.
8. After mass, sung by the bishop of Maguelonue (now Montpellier), a decree was made suspending Julius, and the council, after reciting all that had been done in order to obtain his protection, exhorted all cardinals, bishops, princes, and people no longer to recognize Julius as pope, he having been declared contumacious, the author of schism, incorrigible and hardened, and having as such incurred the penalties denounced in the decrees of Constance and Basle.
Sess. 9. This was the last session of the council, for the French being obliged to abandon the Milanese, the bishops were compelled to quit Milan; they made an attempt to continue the council at Lyons, but without effect.
See Landon, Conc. 13, 1486; Dupin, Comp. Hist. 4, 4; Hefele. Conciliengesch.