Pisa

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

ARCHDIOCESE OF PISA (PISÆ)

Archdiocese inTuscany, centralItaly. 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 famousduomo, orcathedral, begun (1063) by Buschetto andconsecrated by Gelasius II (1118), is abasilica in the shape of a Latin cross, with fivenaves, the columns of which are of oriental granite. The upper portion of thefaçade is formed by five rows of columns, one above the other; thebas-reliefs of the four bronze doors were executed by Domenico Partegiani and Augusto Serrano, after the designs of Giambologna and others. Thecupola waspainted by Orazio Riminaldi and Michele Cinganelli; the altars are all of Luna marble. Among the notable objects in thiscathedral are the octagonalpulpit, the urn of St. Ranieri, and the lamp of Possenti da Pietrasanta, under whichGalileo studied the isochronism of the pendulum. In front of theduomo is thebaptistery, a round structure, with acupola surmounted by astatue ofSt. John the Baptist; it was erected in 1152. Beside theduomo is the celebrated leaning campanile. Thecamposanto (begun in 1278, completed in 1464) is a real museum ofpainting and ofmedievalsculpture; its architect was Giovanni Pisano, by whom also are sixstatues placed over one of the entrances. The frescoes are byGiotto,Orcagna,Benozzo Gozzoli, Spinello Aretino,Simone Memmi, and Pietro Laurati. It contains thetomb 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 ofVasari; S. Francesco (thirteenth century); S. Caterina (1253), which belongs to theseminary and contains the mausoleums of Bishop Saltarelli and of Gherardo Compagni; S. Anna has two canvasses byGhirlandajo; S. Michele (1018); S. Frediano (ninth century); S. Sepolcro (1150); S. Paolo (805?) called the oldduomo; 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 theuniversity (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 Lombarddux, while, in the ninth century, it alternated with Lucca as the seat of the Marquis ofTuscany. Thewar between Pisa and Lucca (1003) was the firstwar between two Italian cities. In 1005, the town was sacked by theSaracens, under the famous Musetto (Mugheid al Ameri), who, in turn, was vanquished by the Pisans andGenoese, inSardinia. In 1029, the Pisans blockaded Carthage; and in 1050, Musetto having again come toSardinia, they defeated him with the assistance ofGenoa 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 whenUrban II invested the Pisans with the suzerainty ofCorsica, whose petty lords (1077) had declared their wish to be fiefs only of theHoly See. In 1126,Genoa opened hostilities by an assault on Porto Pisano, and only through the intervention ofInnocent II (1133) was peace re-established. Meanwhile, the Pisans, who for centuries had had stations in Calabria and inSicily, had extended their commerce to Africa and toSpain, 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 ofcrusaders 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 earlydate, andHenry IV, in 1084, confirmed itsstatutes and its maritimerights. 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 toHenry IV in the conquest ofSicily, and as reward lost the advantages that they had then enjoyed.

The reprisals ofInnocent III inSardinia led the Pisans to espouse the cause ofOtto IV and that ofFrederick II, and Pisa became the head and refuge of theGhibellines ofTuscany, and, accordingly, a fierce enemy of Florence. The victory of Montaperti (1260) marks the culmination of Pisan power. Commercial jealousy, politicalhatred, and the fact that Pisa accorded protection to certain petty lords ofCorsica, who were in rebellion againstGenoa, brought about anotherwar, in which one hundred and sevenGenoese ships defeated one hundred and three ships of the Pisans, at La Meloria, the former taking ten thousandprisoners. All would have been lost, if Ugolino della Gherardesca,capitano del popolo andpodestà, had not providently taken charge of the Government. But as he had protected theGuelphs, 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 itsrights overCorsica and the possession ofSassari inSardinia. The Pisans hoped to retrieve themselves by inviting Henry VII to establish himself in their city, offering him two million florins for hiswar against Florence, and their fleet for the conquest ofNaples; but his death in 1313 put an end to these hopes. Thereupon they elected (1314) Uguccione della Fagiuola ofLucca as their lord; but they rid themselves of him in the same year. At the approach of Louis theBavarian, 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 theantipope, Pietro di Corvara. Internal dissensions and the competition ofGenoa and Barcelona brought about the decay of Pisan commerce. To remedy financial evils, theduties 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 theuniversity.

Among the natives of Pisa were: B. Pellegrino (seventh century); B. Chiara (d. in 1419), and B. Pietro, founder of theHermits ofSt. Jerome (d. in 1435); B. Giordano da Pisa, O. P., (d. in 1311); andGregory 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 knownbishop was Gaudentius, present at the Council ofRome (313). Otherbishops were St. Senior (410), whoconsecratedSt. Patrick; Joannes (493); one, name unknown, who took part in theschism of theThree Chapters (556); Alexander (648); Maurianus (680); one, name unknown, takenprisoner byCharlemagne at the siege of Pavia (774); Oppizo (1039), the founder of the Camaldoliteconvent of S. Michele; Landulfus (1077), sent byGregory VII aslegate toCorsica; Gerardus (1080), an able controversialist against the Greeks; Diabertus (1085), the firstarchbishop, to whomUrban II gave thesees ofCorsica as suffragans in 1099, the first LatinPatriarch ofJerusalem; Pietro Moriconi (1105). In 1121, on account of the jealousy ofGenoa, thebishops ofCorsica were made immediately dependent upon theHoly See, but Honorius II (1126) restored the former status of Pisa as theirmetropolitan; in 1133, however,Innocent II divided them between Pisa andGenoa, which was then made an archdiocese. Thereafter, Pisa received for suffragans also Populonia and two sees inSardinia. Otherbishops were: Cardinal Uberto Lanfranchi (1132), who often served as pontificallegate; Cardinal Villano Gaetani (1145), compelled to flee from the city on account of his fidelity toAlexander III (1167); Lotario Rosari (1208), alsoPatriarch ofJerusalem (1216); Federico Visconti (1254), who heldprovincial synods in 1258, 1260, and 1262; Oddone della Sala (1312) had litigations with the republic, and later becamePatriarch ofAlexandria; Simone Saltorelli;Giovanni Scarlatti (1348), who had beenlegate toArmenia 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), acardinal who had an important part in the conciliabulum of Pisa and in theCouncil 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 oncivil law: Giulio de' Medici (1620), served on missions for the duke, founded theseminary, 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, againstAnacletus II and theheretic Enrico, leader of thePetrobrusiani in 1409, which increased theschism by the deposition ofGregory XII and ofBenedict XIII, and by the election ofAlexander V; in 1511, brought about by a fewschismaticcardinals andFrenchbishops at the instigation of Louis XII againstJulius II.

Leghorn,Pescia, Pontremoli, andVolterra are the suffragans of Pisa; thearchdiocese has 136parishes; 190,000 inhabitants; 10religious houses of men, and 29 ofwomen; 6educational establishments for boys, and 13 for girls; 1Catholic daily paper.

CONTACT US |ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT