Diocese of Pavia

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(PAPIA)

Located inLombardy, NorthernItaly. It is situated in a fertile plain; the city is connected withMilan by the Naviglio canal. It was once famous for the manufacture oforgans. Of its manymedieval towers, which gave to it the name of "city of the hundred towers", few remain; a covered bridgedating from the fourteenth century is worthy of note. Thecathedral was built by Rocchi andOmodeo (1488) on the site of the churches of San Stefano and Santa Maria del Popolo; it containspaintings by Crespi, Gatti, and others; a beautiful silverreliquary of the Holy Thorns, and a carvedpulpit by Zanella; the altar of St. Syrus, in thecrypt, is by Orseolo. TheChurch of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro is the formercathedral, restored in the twelfth century; it receives its present name from the golden background of itsmosaics; the body ofSt. Augustine is preserved in this church; King Luitprand brought it here fromSardinia and concealed it. It was rediscovered in 1695 in a casket of lead and silver, within a marble enclosure; there were lengthy proceedings for its identification; the marbletomb is an exquisite production of the fourteenth century, ordered by the prior Bonifacio, of thefamily of the marquesses Bottigello; it is adorned with 50bas-reliefs and 95 statuettes.Boethius is also buried there. Other churches are: Santa Maria del Carmine (1376), a Gothic structure, contains beautifulpaintings; San Francesco (1260), also Gothic; Santa Maria di Canepanova (1492), planned byBramante, an octagonal building with acupola and beautiful frescoes contains the mausoleum of the Duke of Brunswick; San Teodoro, Lombard period, under its altar are St. Theodore'srelics; San Michele Maggiore (seventh century), where the kings werecrowned, the most notable monument of Lombard architecture, contains a crucifix of the eighth century; San Marino, built byKing Astolfo, and restored in 1481; Sts. Primo and Feliciano; Santa Maria in Bethlem, a Lombard structure San Salvatore (seventh century), containstombs of several Lombard kings; San Lanfranco (1237), contains thetomb of itspatron saint, made by order of Cardinal Pallavicino in 1498. Outside the city is the famous Certosa, founded by Gian Galeazzo Visconti; itsfaçade (1491) reflects the Lombard style, but with a marvellous variety of ornament andsculpture; it is divided into threenaves by Gothic pillars; thebaldachina of the altars of the sidechapels are all of costlymosaics; thepaintings are mostly byBorgognone, although there are some byPerugino,Mantegna,Pordenone, and others; the choir stalls are of inlaid work; thetomb of Gian Galeazzo and the figures taken from thetombs of Lodovico il Moro and of his wife are the most beautiful productions of Lombardsculpture.

Among the secular buildings are: the Castello Visconteo (1360), despoiled by Louis XII, who carried away itslibrary; theuniversity, which grew out of the grammarschools and theschools of Roman and of Lombard law, enlarged byMaria Theresa andJoseph II, with several colleges connected with it, viz. the Ghislieri college (St. Pius V), the Borromeo college (St. Charles), the Gandini college (St. Augustine), and others; and the Museo Civico has a picture gallery, alibrary, and a collection of copper engravings.

Pavia is the ancientTicinum, founded by the Lievi and Marici, two Ligurian peoples; at a date not well determined it came under Roman power, and was given to the Papia tribe, whence the name ofPapia, which, however, does not occur before the time of Paulus Diaconus. In 271,Emperor Aurelian inflicted there a decisive defeat upon the Alamanni; the city was destroyed by Alaric (452); Odoacer, however, transformed it into a stronghold, and stationed there his Heruli and Rugii;Theodoric built a royal palace at Pavia, also an amphitheatre, thermæ etc. Throughout the Gothic War, the city was held by theGoths, although they were defeated in a battle near there in 538. Pavia resisted Alboin, King of the Lombards, for three years, and then became the capital of the Lombard Kingdom, and when it was taken from the Lombards byCharlemagne (battles of Pavia of 754, 755, and 774), it remained the capital of theKingdom of Italy, where the diets of that realm were held. In the tenth century, the Hungarians brought devastation upon the city on several occasions, especially in 924.

Theschools of Pavia were famous in the time ofCharlemagne, who took from there the grammarian Petrus Pisanus; in 825 a palatineschool was established in themonastery of San Agostino, under the Irishman Dungal. In 901Berengarius besieged Louis of Provence in Pavia. When EmperorSt. Henry II, after defeating Arduin ofIvrea in 1004, wascrowned King ofItaly at Pavia, the citizens rose against him, and set fire to the town. At his death they destroyed the imperial palace, and resisted Conrad the Salian for two years. The republican Government of the city began at this time, but the period of continualwars against neighbouring cities continued:Milan (1061, 1100),Piacenza, Tortona (1109); Pavia, however, was almost always in alliance withCremona. On the other hand, it gave assistance toMilan in 1110 againstEmperor Henry V, and also in thewar ofComo, in 1127; but from the beginning of the reign ofBarbarossa, it became strongly imperialist, while the emperors were prodigal in bestowingrights and privileges upon the city, e.g. allowing it to elect its own consuls. Thecoins of Pavia were in great demand, while its agriculture and its industries flourished. The city was able in war-time to arm 15,000 infantry and 8000 mounted troops. Pavia remainedGhibelline even underFrederick II (1227), and in 1241 its forces defeated thePontifical Crusaders under Gregorio da Montelongo. In the second half of the thirteenth century contentions for the lordship of the city arose between the Langosco and the Beccariafamilies; and this made it possible for Matteo Visconti (1315) to occupy the town, for which, however, the marquesses of Montferrat also contended, until Galeazzo II Visconti in 1359 suppressed the brief popular government that was established by the Augustinian preacher, Jacopo Bussolari (1356-59). From that time on, Pavia belonged to the Duchy ofMilan; the Sforzas, however, gave it a Government of its own. In 1499 Louis XII took the city, and thereafter severely punished an insurrection of the town against him. In 1524 Pavia was again besieged unsuccessfully by the French; and, in the following year, the battle that decided the Spanish domination ofMilan was fought there, for the taking of Pavia by Lautrec in 1527 had no important consequence. The town underwent another siege by the French in 1655. It was taken by the Austrians in 1706, and again by the French in 1733 and in 1745; the latter, however, wereobliged to leave it to the Austrians in 1746 and Pavia followed the fortunes ofLombardy. In 1786,Joseph II established there one of the so-called "general seminaries", suppressed in 1791.

Pavia is the birthplace of: the historianLiutprand,Bishop ofCremona; St. Bernardo Balbi, a collector ofdecretals; thepainter Andreino d'Edesia, a contemporary ofGiotto; the canon Zanella, inventor of the bassoon. The Gospel was brought to this city by St. Syrus, according to legend a disciple of St. Peter; but according to themartyrology of Ado, on the authority of an Aquileianmartyrology, he was sent by St. Hermagoras, firstBishop ofAquileia. Admitting that Eventius, present at the Council ofAquileia in 381, was the sixthBishop of Pavia, it may well be that thisdiocese dates from the second half of the third century; among its otherbishops were Ursicinus (before 397); St. Crispinus (432);St. Epiphanius (466), a providential blessing toItaly in the time of Ricimer, Odoacer, andTheodoric; St. Maximus (496); Ennodius (511), a famous orator and poet, decorated by St. Hormisdas with thepallium.

After the Lombard occupation, there was also anArianbishop at Pavia; he had the church of San Eusebio ascathedral; the last one of these was St. Anastasius, whobecame aCatholic and solebishop of thesee. After him were: St. Damianus, Biscossia (680), author of a letter against theMonothelites; Armentarius (seventh century) who contended with theArchbishop ofMilan regardingmetropolitanjurisdiction; St. Petrus (726), a relative of King Aripert, and therefore exiled in his youth by Grimoald; St. Theodorus (745), exiled for unknown reasons, returned only after the victories ofCharlemagne; Waldo (791), formerlyAbbot ofReichenau; St. Joannes (801); Joannes II (874), to whomJohn VIII gave thepallium, thereafter given to his successors; Joannes III (884), obtained the use of the cross and of the white horse; Pietro Canepanova (978), chancellor ofOtto II, becamePope John XIV; Gulielmo (1073), followed theantipopeGuibert, and was deposed; Guido Pipari (1100), more of a warrior than aprelate; Pietro Toscano (1148), aCistercian, friend ofSt. Bernard and of St. Thomas à Becket, expelled byBarbarossa, who held theConciliabulum of Pavia againstAlexander III in 1159; St. Lanfranc (1180) and St. Bernardo Balbi (1198), famous jurists and canonists; St. Fulco Scotti (1216); Guido de Langosco (1296), also a canonist; Isnardo Tocconi, O.P., administrator of thediocese from 1311 to 1320 andimprisoned as a suspect ofheresy, but acquitted; Gulielmo Centuaria (1386), O. Min., noted for hisapostolic zeal; Francesco Piccopasio (1427), took a great part in the Council of Basle; Giovanni Castiglioni (1454), becamecardinal, and served on several occasions as pontificallegate; Cardinal Jacopo Ammannati (1460), distinguished himself in the defence of the Marches againstSigismondo Malatesta also a protector of belles-lettres; Cardinal Ascanio Sforza (1479); Cardinal Francesco Alidosio (1505), killed atRavenna in 1511; Gian M. del Monte (1520), becamePope Julius III; Ippolito de Rubeis (1564), restored thecathedral, founded theseminary, and introduced the reforms of theCouncil of Trent; he had disputes withSt. Charles Borromeo in regard tometropolitanrights, and later becamecardinal;St. Alessandro Sauli (1591-93); Jacopo Antonio Morigia (1701); Luigi Tosi (1822), who gave to Mgr Dupuch,Archbishop ofCarthage, the forearm ofSt. Augustine; Pietro M. Ferré (1859), for two years prevented by the new Government from taking possession of hisdiocese; Lucido M. Parrochi (1871-77), became acardinal andVicar Apostolic ofRome.

The councils of Pavia were held in the following years: 850, 855, 876, 879, 889, 997, 998, 1018, 1046, 1114, 1128, 1423, which last was transferred later toPisa.

Thediocese is a suffragan ofMilan; it has 82parishes, 110,300 inhabitants, 4religious houses of men, and 19 ofwomen, 2educational establishments for boys, 4 for girls, and 1 tri-weekly publication.

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