Genoa

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ARCHDIOCESE OF GENOA (JANUENSIS)

Archdiocese in Liguria, NorthernItaly. The city is situated on the gulf of the same name, extends along the lowest ridges of the Ligurian Apennines, which sweep around the gulf, between the mouths of the Polcevera and the Bisagno, and is protected from the inroads of these waters by the Punta della Lanterna and the Punta del Carignano. The bay forms a natural harbour secured against storms by the promontory of Portofino, which acts as a breakwater. Two piers (the smaller one begun in 1133) werenecessary to break the force of the tide during storms. Its favourable position has made Genoa the largest trade centre on the Mediterranean. It is also a naval fortress with a chain of defences about ten miles in length.

In 205 B.C., Mago the Carthaginian landed there with a large army, and sacked the town for its sympathy withRome, the rest of Liguria supporting the Carthaginians. From the end of the Second Punic War, Genoa belonged toRome. After the Lombard invasion, it remained subject to Byzantium, like nearly all the maritime towns ofItaly. In A.D. 641 King Rotari, in his expedition along the coast of Liguria, sacked Genoa, and carried off immense booty. It was later incorporated in the Lombard kingdom, probably underCharlemagne, becoming part of the March of Obertenga. In 935, it was surprised and sacked by theSaracens, but the Genoese fleet followed up the enemy and defeated them near the island of Asinara. In 1008, theSaracens came for the third time. Meanwhile the trade and enterprise of Genoa had steadily increased, and now rivalled that ofPisa, in those early times its friendly neighbour. In 1016, they drove theArab chief Mogalied fromSardinia. In 1052, the town organized itself into a commune, and was governed by consuls and a podestà (mayor); in 1258, however, the control was divided between the podestà and a "captain of the people", a condition which lasted till 1310. From 1339 to 1797, except when the rule was in the hands of foreigners, the city was governed by doges chosen from the principalfamilies, at first for life, but after 1528 for periods of two years.

In 1087, the Genoese andPisans captured Almadia and Subeila inAfrica. In theFirst Crusade their fleet transported the crusading armies to the Holy Land, secured many ports inSyria and Palestine for theChristians, and, in return for their services, they were granted important commercial privileges among theChristian principalities of the East. Together with thePisans they aidedInnocent II to put down theschism of Anacletus, and, as a reward, thepope divided between the two municipalities the islands ofSardinia andCorsica, retaining, however, his own overlordship. In 1147, they took Almeria and Tortosa, inSpain, from theMoors. The threatening attitude of Genoa forcedFrederick Barbarossa to recognize all its liberties and possessions; hence, until the reign ofFrederick II, it remained friendly to the imperial cause, and even assisted in the attack onSicily. In 1240, however, the Genoese refused to do homage toFrederick II, and, in 1241, they lent their fleet to transport the northernprelates to the council convened byGregory IX, but were pursued and defeated between the islands of Il Giglio and Monte Cristo by thePisans, the allies of the emperor. In 1244,Innocent IV took refuge in Genoa. The commercial favour shown by the Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204-60) towards theVenetians enabled the latter to defeat the Genoese at St-Jean d'Acre and on the high seas, in 1257 and 1258 respectively. In 1261, the Genoese took their revenge by assisting Michael Palæologus to reconquer Constantinople, and obtained from him Smyrna and Pera, and the monopoly of trade in the Black Sea. They developed markets rapidly on the shores of this sea, the principal one being Caffa, and carried on a brisk trade, exporting mainly wine, oil, woollens, and silks, and importing skins, furs, corn, Persian stuffs, etc. For the government of these colonies, a general consulate of the empire of Gazaria was established.

A bitterwar now began between the rival cities of Genoa andPisa. From 1262 to 1267, five naval battles (Settepozzi,Durazzo,Trapani,Tyre, and St-Jean d'Acre) were fought, in which Genoa was generally the loser. St. Louis IX ofFrance sought to establish peace on a firm footing (Cremona, 1270); but a revolt inCorsica, stirred up by thePisans, soon led to anotherwar (1282-1284), which ended in the utter defeat of thePisans near the island of Meloria. Soon the old rivalry withVenice was renewed, and the scene of the conflict shifted to the East. At Laiazzo, on the coast ofArmenia, the Genoese were victorious (1294); theVenetians retaliated by destroying the Genoese quarter of Galato (1296), but in 1298 Lamba Doria (founder of the Doriafamily, famous in the annals of Genoa) totally destroyed theVenetian fleet at Curzola. Both rivals being now weakened, Henry VII (1311) easily obtained from the Genoese theright to govern them for twenty years, and a promise of help againstNaples. A little later, Robert of Anjou (1318-1335) was called in by theGuelphs in opposition to the Visconti ofMilan, favoured by theGhibellines. When theVenetians, together with the Greeks and the Catalonians, wished, in 1342, to occupy the island of Scio as an outpost against theTurks, the Genoese, profiting by a quarrel among the allies, forestalled them. This, amongst other causes, led to a fresh outbreak ofwar in 1350. In the Bosphorus (1352), a fierce but indecisive battle was fought; while atAlghero inSardinia (1353) the Genoese were defeated by theVenetians and their allies. Genoa then chose Giovanni Visconti,Archbishop ofMilan, as its ruler of "Signore". In 1354, Paganino Doria routed theVenetian forces in the Adriatic and at Porto Longone in the Morea (Greece). Driven out of the Black Sea, theVenetians took Beirut by way of compensation, and Genoa seizedCyprus (1373). When the Greek Emperor, John V, gave theVenetians the island ofTenedos, the Genoese, fearing lest the former should thereby have access to the Black Sea, espoused the cause of Andronicus; in this way broke out the conflict known as the War ofChioggia. The Genoese, defeated at Anzio (1378), were victorious at Pola (1379) and blockadedVenice, but wereobliged to surrender when the blockade was broken by Vettor Pisani. The great rivals were now exhausted.

During the fifteenth century, Genoa constantly called on outsiders to rule her, but as constantly rebelled against their rule (1396-1409,France; 1409-1413, Teodoro II Paleologo di Monferrato; 1422-1435, Filippo Maria Visconti; 1458-1461,France; 1464-1478, 1487-1499, the Sforza ofMilan; 1499-1512, 1515-1522,France). Meanwhile her colonies in the East were slipping away (Pera, 1453; Caffa, 1475). In 1431, at Portofino, the fleet in the service of Visconti was defeated by theVenetian and Florentine allies. Genoa was involved in the conflict betweenFrancis I andCharles V, and in 1522 was sacked by theSpaniards. In 1527, the Spanish were expelled by the celebrated Andrea Doria with French aid, and in the year following Andrea succeeded in ridding himself of his French allies. The "Signoria" was offered him, but he prudently refused the title, though in reality he exercised its powers. This brought about the Fieschi Plot (1546), whichproved abortive owing to the death of its leader. Noteworthy events in the subsequent history of Genoa are the attempts ofCorsica to shake off Genoese authority (1553; 1737, King Theodore), its annexation byFrance in 1768, and the two conspiracies for the annexation of Genoa bySavoy (Vachero, 1628; Della Torre, 1672). In 1684,Louis XIV, without any just cause, had the town bombarded. A hundred years later (1797) the French set up there a democratic republic. In 1800, Masséna sustained a famous siege and blockade on the part of the Austrians and English. In 1805, the duchy was annexed toFrance, but in 1814 was provisionally, and in 1815 definitely, annexed to theKingdom of Sardinia.

Genoa owes to the magnificence of its architecture its title of "La Superba" (the Proud). Among its best-known churches are: San Lorenzo, rebuilt in the twelfth century, the lower part of thefaçadedating from 1100, the remainder from 1523. The spandrils over the door are decorated withbas-reliefs of various periods. Thecupola dates from 1567. There arepaintings byBarrocci,Ferrari,Cambiaso, andsculptures by Montorsoli,Sansovino, Guglielmo della Porta and others. Near by is the little church of St. John the Baptist, formerly thebaptistery of the city. The church of Saints Andrew and Ambrose (600) haspaintings byGuido Reni andRubens. Santissima Annunziata has beautiful Composite columns, and a famous Last Supper by Procaccino. In the church ofSt. Catherine of Genoa (with thesaint's room adjoining) may be seen her body preserved in a silver urn. The church of Saints Cosmas and Damian antedates the year 1000; that of St. Donatus,consecrated in 1189, is built of old Roman materials.St. Philip Neri dates from 1694; the Gesù Maria from 1487. The latter haspaintings by Paggi,Cambiaso, and Salimbeni. St. George's has two bronze doors, a part of the booty ofAlmeria (1148). The altar of St. John's was erected after the victory at Pola. On thefaçade of St. Mark's (1173) is a marble lion captured from theVenetians at Pola. Other churches are: Santa Maria in Castello (columns of oriental granite); Santa Maria del Carmine (rich tabernacle); San Siro (thecathedral till 985); San Stefano, which existed in 493, and has apainting byGiulio Romano. San Matteo, containing the war-trophies of the Dorias, was founded in 1125 by Martino Doria, and restored by Andrea Doria from plans by Fra Giovanni Angelo Mortorsoli; on thefaçade is the sarcophagus of Lamba Doria, the victor at Curzola; under thehigh altar is thetomb of Andrea Doria by Montorsoli, and several inscriptions recall the triumphs of this noblefamily of seamen and rulers. Santa Maria in Carignano (sixteenth century), one of the handsomest churches in the world, is in the form of a Greek cross; itscupola is the work ofGaleazzo Alessi ofPerugia. The Campo Santo, or public cemetery, is also greatly admired for its beautiful statuary. Among Genoa's public edifices are the Albergo dei Poveri, or home for the poor (1655), with a church attached; the Loggia dei Banchi, or exchange, built byGaleazzo Alessi. The Palazzo Ducale (1291) iscrowned with a row of stuccostatues of the various princes and kings defeated by the Genoese; its spacious halls were adorned by famous artists. The Palazzo S. Giorgio (1260), restored in 1368, has manystatues of the doges of the fifteenth century. Worthy of notice also are theuniversity, founded in 1471 by Bartolomeo Bianco, the Palazzo Reale, and the Municipio or Town Hall. Genoa has many famous private palaces, e.g. the Adorno, withpaintings byRubens,Guido Reni,Titian, andGiulio Romano. the Doria, with a representation of St. George and the Dragon over the doorway. Besides theuniversity, there is a merchant-marineschool, aCatholic high school, an academy offine arts and other institutions of a similar nature.

The line ofbishops is usually dated from St. Solomon or Salonius, said to have beenmartyred in 269. Otherbishops are mentioned in the third and fourth centuries, the first known with anycertainty being Diogenes, a member of the Council ofAquileia in 381. Blessed Jacobus a Voragine, author of the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend) andBishop of Genoa (1292-1298), tells us that till the tenth century he found no mention of aBishop of Genoa, thus proving that in his time nothing was known of the legendarymartyredbishops. The St. Syrus I assigned to the beginning of the fourth century may therefore be a double of St. Syrus II (1139-1163). When the Lombards capturedMilan (568), itsbishop, Laurentius, and many of hisclergy took refuge in Genoa; five otherMilanesebishops took up their residence there. It was this same Laurentius who dedicated thechurch of St. Ambrose built for theMilanese refugees. About 617, Bishop Appellinus became involved in theschism of Agrestius. In 634, Bishop Asteriusordained St. Byrsinus, who was to be one of the apostles of Northumbria.

Councils were held at Genoa in 773 (?), 1216, and 1292.Innocent IV andAdrian V were natives of the city. It was originally a suffragan ofMilan, but, in 1133,Innocent II made it ametropolitansee. Its firstarchbishop was the St. Syrus mentioned above. Its suffragansees areAlbenga,Bobbio, Brugnate and Luni-Saranza,Chiavari,Savona and Noli,Tortona,Ventimiglia. In has 200parishes and 470,000souls (161,000 in the city); there are 33religious houses for men in the city, and 19 throughout thediocese; also 62convents forwomen in the city, and 82 throughout the diocese. The archdiocese supports 2Catholic daily newspapers, 3 weekly papers, and 13 other periodicals.

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