Archdiocese of Perugia

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(PERUSINA)

Located in Umbria, CentralItaly. The city is situated on a hill on the right of the Tiber. The Gothiccathedral is of the fourteenth century, itsfaçade being yet unfinished; it containspaintings byBaroccio, Manni, andSignorelli; there is a marble sarcophagus in which are the remains ofUrban IV andMartin IV; in thechapel del Santo Anello is preserved an onyx ring, which is said to have been the marriage ring ofOur Lady, and which wasvenerated first at Chiusi, where it wasstolen, and then taken to Perugia in the fifteenth century; in the chapterlibrary is preserved a codex of theGospel of St. Luke, of the sixth century. Other churches are: San Pietro dei Cassinesi, the church of amonastery founded by St. Peter Vincioli about 1000; Sant' Ercolano, thehigh altar of which is made of an ancient sarcophagus; Sant' Angelo, a round building, dating from the sixth century; the Madonna della Luce, a graceful little temple byGaleazzo Alessio; San Francesco delPrato, now the seat of the "Accademia" offine arts. Theuniversity, founded in 1320, has three faculties, and contains a museum of Etruscan, Roman, andChristian antiquities, with manysculptures and inscriptions, among the latter, the "Tabulæ Perusinæ", discovered in 1822. The most notable ancient monuments of the town are the Porta Augusta; thetomb of the Volumnii, which was discovered in 1840 by Vermiglioli; and the Etruscan walls.

Perugia was among the most important cities of the Etruscans, with whom it took part in thewars againstRome in 310 and 295 , as also in the Samnite War. The Perugian War (41 ) is famous; the troops of Anthony were shut up here, where they were compelled to surrender. During the Gothic War, Perugia suffered various sieges, by theByzantines in 537 and in 552, and by theGoths in 546 and 548. The Lombards at the time of their first incursion had taken possession of the city, but in 592 it came again under the Byzantine power and was made the seat of adux. In 749 it was besieged by the Lombard King Rachis, who, however, was persuaded byPope Zacharias to raise the siege. Pepin gave the city to theHoly See. From the beginning of the eleventh century, Perugia was established as a free commune and was in struggles with the neighbouring cities of Umbria and ofTuscany (Chiusi, 1012; Cortona, 1049; Assisi, 1054; Todi, 1056; Foligno, 1080 and 1090); it was governed by consuls (from 5 to 16). for whom were substituted in 1303 thepriori delle arti; after 1174 there was apodestà, and later acapitano del popolo.

Perugia, friendly to Florence and faithful to theHoly See, was essentially aGuelph city, and in the thirteenth century thepopes established their residence here for a long time; four of them were elected here (Honorius III,Honorius IV,Celestine V, andClement V). On the other hand, continuing itswars with neighbouring cities (Spoleto, from 1324, was besieged for two years), Perugia extended its sovereignty over the greater portion of Umbria, and over a part ofTuscany. In 1375 it was among the first cities that revolted againstGregory IX at the instance of the Florentines. Meanwhile, there had been formed two parties: the Raspanti (the popular party) and the Beccarini (the party of the nobles), and between them they had made it possible for Biondo Michelotti to become lord of the city in 1390; he, however, was killed in 1393, and then Gian Galeazzo Visconti took possession of the town; but in 1403 it became subject toBoniface IX. Afterwards it fell into the power of Ladislao di Napoli; in 1416 the city was taken by Braccio da Montone, who was recognized as lord of Perugia byMartin V. At his death in 1424 the nobles came into power, but contention soon developed among them, and eventually the Baglioni made away with the Oddifamily. Finally, Gian Paolo Baglione became a tyrant of the city, making himself detested by his cruelty and dissolute habits. He was reduced to order in 1506 byJulius II; but fresh cruelties against his own relations led to his decapitation by order ofLeo X in 1520; Perugia then came once more into immediate dependency upon theHoly See.

In 1534 Rodolfo Baglione set fire to the Apostolic palace, and the vicelegate was slain; and no sooner had order been established after these events, than a rebellion broke out on account of the tax on salt, whichPaul III had increased in 1540; Perugia declared itself a "city of Christ", and confided its keys to the care of a crucifix. On 5 July, however, it was compelled to surrender to the troops of Pierluigi Farnese and lost its freedom.Paul III built a fortress to prevent further revolts of the Perugians, whileJulius III restored to them the greater part of their privileges. In the rebellion of 1848, the first act of the Perugians was to demolish the tower ofPaul III. In 1859 there was a provisional Government established, but the Pontifical troops soon took possession of the city, though they did not commit the acts of cruelty of which they have been accused. Finally in 1860 General de Sonnaz took possession of the town in the name of the King ofSardinia.

Blessed John of Perugia, one of the first companions of St. Francis, died in 1230. In themartyrologies are found the names of themartyrs Constantius (Constantinus, whom some believe to have been abishop), Florentius, and Felicissimus, who died at Perugia. UnderDecius one Decentius wasbishop, according to the tradition; but the firstbishop of whom there is any certainknowledge was St. Herculanus, killed by King Totila in 546; many admit there were twobishops andsaints of this name, of whom the first is said to have died either in one of the great persecutions or underJulian the Apostate (Cappelletti).

St. Herculanus was succeeded by Joannes, whoconsecratedPope Pelagius I (566); Aventius (591); Laurentius (649); Benenatus (679); St. Asclepiodorus (about 700), whoserelics were later taken to Metz; Conon (998) and Andreas (1033), who had various controversies with theabbots of San Pietro; Joannes (1105), whoconsecrated themonastery of Monte Corona; Vivianus, who was present at the council of 1179; Giovanni (1206), who gave aconvent to St. Francis; Salvio de' Salvi (1231), apious and learnedprelate, who restored Santo Stefano, the ancientcathedral; Francesco Poggi, O. Min. (1312), who built S. Domenico nuovo; Andrea Bontempi (1339), acardinal, andlegate general of Umbria; Andrea Giovanni Baglione (1434), who filled severalconvents with reformed religious; Dionisio Vannucci (1482), who erected the altar of thechapel del Sacro Anello; Giovanni Lopez (1492), acardinal who enjoyed influence underAlexander VI; Trilo Baglione (1501), deposed byAlexander VI for having taken up arms against Cæsar Borgia and restored to hissee byJulius II; Antonio Ferreri (1506), who suspected byJulius II died in the Castle of S. Angelo in 1508; Cardinal Agostino Spinola (1510), under whom the canons of thecathedral, who since the twelfth century had lived according to theRule of St. Augustine, were relieved of that rule; Jacopo Simonetti (1535), acardinal; Fulvio Corneo (1550), reformer of thediocese and founder of theseminary; Ippolito Corneo (1553), who established a house of reform, and amonastery for poor young men; Giulio Oradini (1562), who founded acollege for clerks; Napoleone Comitoli (1591), the founder of othercharitable institutions; M. Ant. Ausidei (1726), who embellished thecathedral; Alessandro M. Odoardi (1776), azealousprelate, who discovered the body of St. Costanzo; Camillo Campanelli (1804), who took theoath of allegiance toNapoleon; Carlo Filesio Cittadini (1818), who distinguished himself by his firmness andprudence against the Provisional Government of 1831, and by his generosity saved the city from pillage at that time; Gioacchino Pecci (1846), who becameLeo XIII, and who made Perugia an archdiocese without suffragans.

Thearchdiocese has 199parishes, with 100,900 inhabitants, 9religious houses of men, 21 ofwomen, and 1Catholic weekly publication.

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