ALBASPINA, NICHOLAS. – Ascetical writer of the Conventual Franciscans, born in France c. 1550, died after 1620. He was guardian of the convent in Toulouse and later Provincial of Aquitaine.
An erudite humanist and eloquent orator, he left various spiritual works, mostly in French, including commentaries on the Rule and the Franciscan constitutions. His interpretations reflect a certain inconsistency (*"aliquantum inconstancia in vini, modo ad laxiorem, modo ad stricciorem observantiam deflectens"* [Wadding]). Notable works include: *Fonte des Apostats, augmenté d'une réponse...* (4th ed., Toulouse 1606); *Traité de la vocation et fin des Religieux, et par spécial des Frères Mineurs* (Tulle 1615); *Commentarius de reformatione ad Pont. Paulum V* (Toulouse 1610, Paris 1618).
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ALBENGA, DIOCESE OF. – The ancient *Album Inquam* or *Albingaunum*, situated on the Gulf of Genoa (Riviera di Ponente). Capital of the Ligurian Ingauni, who, having allied themselves with Hannibal, were subdued by the Romans after several wars. Albenga became a Roman municipium, received privileges from the Senate, and was enriched with monuments, of which numerous remains still exist today, including the great ten-arched, semi-subterranean bridge on the Via Aurelia. It was the birthplace of the emperor Proculus.
Destroyed once by the Goths, it was rebuilt and embellished by Honorius, but suffered further sackings and destructions at the hands of the Saracens and Pisans, yet always managed to regain its freedom and was governed by its own laws and parliaments until 1805, though from 1250 it depended on the Republic of Genoa. Twenty-two ancient defensive towers still bear witness to its struggles. From the 15th to the 18th century, it endured sieges and occupations, beginning with that of the Milanese in 1436 and ending in 1814, when it was definitively reunited with the Sardinian State. In 1796, during the first Italian campaign, it served as the headquarters of Bonaparte.
It is part of the Province of Savona, established in 1927 with the suppressed districts of Albenga and Savona. It has considerable agricultural importance and a population of 5,179 inhabitants, rising to 12,000 in the commune.
The first bishop of whom certain record exists is Quinzio, who in 451 signed a synodal letter of Eusebius, Archbishop of Milan, addressed to Leo and concerning the condemnation of Nestorius and Eutyches. In 1159, the diocese of Albenga, a suffragan of Milan, was assigned to Genoa by Alexander III, but this took effect only in 1213 following a bull of Innocent III.
The Benedictines had numerous monasteries in the diocese, including S. Romolo, Taggia, Triora, and Villa Regia, and in Albenga two important abbeys: S. Maria and S. Martino di Gallinaria, as well as S. Pietro di Toirano, which passed to the Carthusians in 1317.
Albenga has a cathedral begun in the 8th century, with a Gothic-style bell tower from 1400 and an attached baptistery. A fine 13th-century church is S. Maria in Fontibus.
The diocese, whose patron is St. Michael the Archangel, has 132,500 inhabitants and comprises 170 parishes, 236 diocesan priests and 51 regular clergy, 17 male religious houses, and 58 female.
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THE BAPTISTERY. – From the Paleochristian period, Albenga preserves a most valuable monument: the baptistery, unanimously attributed to the 5th century. It has an octagonal plan with sides recessed into alternating round and square niches; each pilaster between the niches is adorned with a column, and the columns support arches that uphold the upper part of the structure.
Albenga – Baptistery, mosaic (5th century).