AREZZO, Diocese of. - It is still today the most extensive in Tuscany, extending over 3,250 sq km of territory, which includes the upper Arno valley (Casentino), the upper Valdarno as far as S. Giovanni Valdarno and the Val di Chiana, and it borders on the dioceses of Fiesole, Sarsina, Borgo S. Sepolcro, Città di Castello, Cortona, Montepulciano, Chiusi and Pienza, Montalcino and Siena. The diocese of A. numbers 215,000 Catholics out of 220,000 inhabitants; 750 churches, 336 parishes, 355 diocesan priests and 95 regulars. It is a see immediately subject to the Supreme Pontiff. The bishop has the archiepiscopal insignia (pallium and double cross), by concession of Clement XII, made in perpetuity to Bishop Giovanni Antonio Guadagni (1724-32), later cardinal, his nephew. He also holds the title of count of Cesa.
Its patron is St. Donatus (v.) bishop, whose feast falls on 7 August.
A. is a very ancient city. It was one of the most powerful Etruscan lucumonies; first an adversary, then loyal to the standard of Rome. Given its location on the Via Cassia, between Cortona and Florence, it also became an important military station. Bronze sculpture flourished there and above all an exquisitely gentle figurative art, whose products, known under the name of Arretine vases, were much celebrated for elegance and perfect decorative sense and had a very wide diffusion. After the fall of the empire and the transient vicissitudes of the 6th century, A. underwent Lombard domination, then that of the Franks, formed part of the march of Tuscany and finally came under the dominion of its bishop-counts (cf. G. Schwartz, Die Besetzung der Bistümer Reichstaliens unter den Sächsischen und Salischen Kaisern mit den Listen der Bischöfe 951-1122, Leipzig 1913, pp. 199-203). In 1098 the commune arose, which was soon dominated and agitated by the struggles among the powerful Ghibelline families of the Ubertini, the Guidi and the Tarlati of Pietramala, who gave the diocese three famous bishops: Guglielmino Ubertini (1248-80), under whom the Aretines defeated the Sienese in the battle of Pieve al Toppo (1288. Cf. Dante, Inf., XIII, 121), but were then disastrously defeated the following year by the Florentines, in the famous battle of Campaldino, in which Dante also took part (Purg., V, 92), and in which the bishop himself perished; Ildebrando Guidi (1289-
1305) and Guido Tarlati (1306-27), who raised the fortunes of the city, bringing it to its greatest splendor. Soon, however, A. had to submit to Florence (1336); it tried to rebel, but without success; and from the second half of the 14th century onward it entered definitively into the orbit of the powerful Florentine republic, following its political vicissitudes.
Christianity must have penetrated A. at a relatively early period, given its location along one of the great consular roads; its systematic conversion, however, is to be ascribed to the 4th century. The series of bishops, too, preserved in a parchment of the 11th century (U. Pasqui, Documenti per la storia della città di Arezzo, IV, p. 259), begins with St. Satyrus, of the first half of the 4th century. The territory of the diocese, in the 14th-16th centuries, was considerably reduced for the benefit of new dioceses, namely Cortona under John XXII (1325), Pienza and Montalcino under Pius II (1462), Borgo S. Sepolcro under Leo X (1520) and Montepulciano under Pius IV (1561). With regard to territory, a long dispute is famous, begun in the early Middle Ages and lasting several centuries, between A. and Siena, over the jurisdiction of 18 pievi of the Sienese contado (cf. E. Besta, Il diritto romano nella contesa tra i vescovi di Siena e di Arezzo, in Archivio storico italiano, 5th series, 37 [1906], p. 61 ff.).
ILLUSTRIOUS FIGURES
A. was the birthplace of many illustrious figures, some of the very first rank. We recall the principal ones: Maecenas (d. 8 B.C.), friend of Augustus and patron of Virgil and Horace; Fra Guittone of A. (d. 1294), poet; Margaritone (13th century), painter; Francesco Petrarca (d. 1274); Spinello Aretino (d. 1410), painter, the most distinguished master, together with Angelo Gaddi, of the Florentine school of the late fourteenth century; Leonardo Bruni (d. 1444), humanist, man of letters and historiographer; Angelo Gambiglioni (d. 1451), jurist; Francesco Accolti (d. 1483), philosopher, jurist, poet, musician; Andrea Contucci (d. 1529), called il Sansovino, from his birthplace Monte S. Savino near A., sculptor; Pietro Aretino (d. 1556), well-known satirical poet; Giorgio Vasari (d. 1574), painter, architect and writer; Andrea Cisalpino (d. 1603), philosopher, physician and physiologist, to whom the discovery of the circulation of the blood is attributed; Alessandro del Borro (d. 1656), famous captain; Francesco Redi (d. 1698), physician and poet; Pietro Benvenuti (d. 1844), painter; Vittorio Fossombroni (d. 1844), mathematician, economist and statesman; Antonio Guadagnoli (d. 1858), poet
IL GENESI DI M. PIETRO ARETINO
CON LA VISIONE DI NOE NE
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playful; Gianfrancesco Gamurrini (d. 1923), historian and archaeologist, to whom is owed, among other things, the discovery of the Peregrinatio Aetheriae; Giulio Salvadori, of Monte S. Savino near A., critic and poet, d. 1928 in repute of sanctity and for whom the process for beatification is being prepared.
Among the most distinguished ecclesiastical figures must be remembered: Guido Monaco, reformer of ecclesiastical chant; Grazia Aretino (d. after 1243), archdeacon, canonist; Fra' Benedetto Sinigardi (d. 1292), companion and friend of St. Francis, missionary in Greece; Blessed Rainerio de Marianis, Friar Minor, (d. 1304) to whose Franciscans Pius VII granted the office and the Mass; Bernardo Dovizi (v.) of Bibbiena, called Cardinal Bibbiena (d. 1520), great friend of Leo X and protector of Raphael; Pietro Accolti (d. 1532), cardinal, canonist; Pope Julius III (v.), b. in Rome of a family originally from Monte S. Savino near A.; Blessed Paolo Burali (v.), bishop of Piacenza, then cardinal (d. 1570), beatified by Clement XIV in 1772; Francesco Pitigiani (d. 1616), Scotist theologian; the servant of God Bartolomeo (v.) of Salutio, orator, mystic and poet (d. 1617); St. Margherita Redi (d. 1770), great-niece of the poet Francesco Redi, canonized in 1934; the priest Giuseppe Borghi of Bibbiena (d. 1847), a man of letters known above all for his sacred hymns.
In the annals of the Church of Arezzo must also be remembered the death of Blessed Pope Gregory X (v.), which occurred in A., wherefore he was buried in the cathedral. In A. there also took place the election of his successor, Blessed Innocent V (v.), a Dominican.
ABBEYS AND MONASTERIES
The diocese of A. had and still has many religious houses and most celebrated sanctuaries. It suffices to recall the sacred hermitage and the monastery of Camaldoli (v.), cradle of the Camaldolese hermit monks, founded by St. Romuald (v.), around the year 1012; the monastery and sanctuary of La Verna (v.), where St. Francis received the stigmata (1224); the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore (v.), cradle of the Olivetan Benedictine monks, founded by Blessed Bernard Tolomei (v.), with the approval of the bishop of A. Guido Tarlati (1319), that territory then belonging to the diocese of A., later passing to the diocese of Pienza (1462); the sanctuary of S. Maria del Sasso near Bibbiena (Dominican), whose church is recorded as early as 1204; the sanctuary of S. Maria delle Vertighe (Franciscan), with its church rebuilt in the early 1500s. Among the most celebrated abbeys and monasteries of the diocese, now vanished, one may recall the monastery of Arezzo, called first of S. Benedetto, then of SS. Flora and Lucilla, founded around the year 770, whose buildings still exist (cloister attributed to Sangallo, refectory and church with paintings by Vasari); the monastery of Arezzo of S. Maria in Gradibus, of the Camaldolese, existing before 1050; the monastery of S. Gennaro at Capolona, of the Benedictines, founded in the 10th century; the monastery of S. Salvatore di Selvamonda in Casentino, near the Zenna stream, founded around 1000, first of nuns, then of Benedictine monks: from this abbey, later passed to the Camaldolese, depended the priory known under the name of Badia a Tega, near Ortignano in Casentino; the monastery or abbey of the Most Holy Trinity of the Alps, also called Fonte Benedetta, founded at the end of the 10th century above Faltona in Casentino; the monastery of S. Fedele di Strumi, near Poppi in Casentino, founded at the end of the 10th century, later passed to the Vallombrosans and of which Callistus III, antipope at the time of Alexander III (1159-1181), was abbot; the monastery of S. Maria di Prataglia, today Badia Prataglia, founded by the bishop of A. Elemperto (986-1010); the monastery of S. Bartolomeo di Anghiari founded by the Camaldolese in the early years of the 12th century; the monastery of S. Maria d'Agnano in Val d'Ambra, which already existed at the end of the 11th century, first of Benedictine monks, then Camaldolese; the monastery of S. Pietro a Ruoti, that is the famous abbey at Ruoti, founded around 1100, likewise first of Benedictines and then of Camaldolese; the monastery of S. Salvatore di Berardenga, that is the abbey of Berardenga in Fontebuona, founded in the year 967; the monastery of S. Quirico delle Rose, also called a Nasciano, near the Pozzo in Val di Chiana, founded by the Camaldolese in the second half of the 11th century; the monastery of S. Maria di Farneta in Val di Chiana, existing from the early 11th century, today in the territory of the diocese of Cortona; the monastery of S. Maria in Rofena, in Val d'Ombrone, existing in the 11th century; the monastery of S. Maria in Sicille near Petroio, today in the diocese of Pienza, inhabited first by the Benedictines, then by the Camaldolese and passed to the Olivetans in 1443.
INSTITUTES OF CULTURE, LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES
Leaving aside the studium generale, which is discussed separately, among the institutes of culture existing today mention should be made of the Accademia Petrarca di lettere, arti e scienze, founded in 1810, with a half-yearly publication of Atti e Memorie. The libraries and archives of Arezzo are: the library of the Fraternità dei Laici with 79,000 volumes, 160 incunabula and 534 manuscripts; the library of the Accademia Petrarca, with 11,000 volumes and 6 incunabula; the Vasariana library with the Vasari archive attached; the library of the episcopal seminary and of the Collegio Piano, with 16,000 volumes, 50 incunabula and 800 manuscripts; and attached to it the archive of the Fraternità dei Chierici di Murello. Of the greatest importance is the episcopal archive, to which is joined that of the cathedral chapter, one of the foremost ecclesiastical archives in Italy, both for antiquity and for the richness of its papers.
A. also possesses a Museum founded in 1822, with good Etruscan material and many moulds and fragments of Aretine vases; as well as a municipal Picture Gallery, which arose following the suppression of the religious corporations of 1810, with many paintings coming from the suppressed monasteries and especially rich in works by Aretine painters.
MONUMENTS
The principal monuments of A. consist of its churches, among which we may mention: the imposing cathedral, in Romanesque-Gothic style, with three naves, containing many valuable works of art, built on the highest point of the city in the 13th-14th century, replacing the old cathedral of the 11th century, which stood outside the walls; joined to it is the imposing chapel of the Madonna del Conforto, a much-venerated sanctuary; S. Maria della Pieve, with artistic portals, a famous crypt and a characteristic bell tower, the most conspicuous Romanesque monument of the city (13th century); the church of S. Francesco (14th century), with the famous frescoes of Piero della Francesca; the church of S. Domenico (13th century), on a design by Niccolò Pisano, according to Vasari; the church of the Santissima Annunziata, begun by Bartolomeo della Gatta (1491) and completed by Antonio da Sangallo; the church of Badia, retouched by Vasari toward the middle of the 16th century, with an adjoining 15th-century cloister by Giuliano da Maiano; the church of S. Maria in Gradi, begun in 1592 by Bartolomeo Ammannati; the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, on the outskirts of the city, begun in 1449 by Domenico di Giovanni, called il Fattore, and to which was added, toward the end of the same century, an airy portico in pure Renaissance style, admirable for its lightness and grace, attributed to Benedetto da Maiano.
Bibliography9 works
Ferdinando Antonelli
THE UNIVERSITY
In A. a school of law flourished from the early 13th century, whose origin is not known with certainty. It seems to have been due to an emigration of masters and students from Bologna in 1215, as may be inferred from a passage of Roffredo of Benevento, who states that he had moved from Bologna to Arezzo and had held a school of law there (Proem. in Quaest. Sabbat.). Denifle shows that Roffredo remained in A. for three years.
The Studium immediately acquired renown, and to the teaching of law it added that of arts and medicine, medicine, as is evident from the statutes, drawn up in 1255 by the college of professors under the direction of Martino da Fano. Very brief statutes, among the oldest known: they are of great importance, among other things, for the mention they make of the « repetitores » (an intermediate figure between professors and students), who seem to be an institution characteristic of the Aretine Studium. Published by Lorenzo Guazzesi (Opere, II), they were reproduced by Savigny in his Storia del Diritto Romano (III, Turin 1857, pp. 263-64). In 1338, following the interdict of Benedict XII against Bologna, other Bolognese professors of canon and civil law moved to A., and there received a salary of 200 gold florins (cf. Annali di A., in Muratori, Rerum ital. scriptores, XXIV, Milan 1738, p. 878).
Having declined because of the civil wars, the schools of A. were renewed by the emperor Charles IV, who, by a diploma of 5 May 1355, raised them to the dignity of Studium Generale, « iuxta imperialia privilegia, quae propter civilium guerrarum discrimina dicuntur deperdita ». This studium was then confirmed by the Pope, by a bull whose text has unfortunately been lost. The existence of this bull, however, is attested by a degree diploma of 1373, from which it appears that chancellor of the university was the bishop, who based his right on pontifical documents: « auctoritate apostolica concessa Ecclesiae et Episcopo Aretino ».
Subsequently, the studium declined again, but in 1456 Frederick III restored it, confirming its ancient privileges and granting new ones, such as that of conferring academic degrees, no longer through the bishop, but through the gonfaloniere of the city. This, however, did not suffice to revive the languishing University. When A. passed into the power of the Florentines, they, solicitous for the glories of the University of Pisa, which they had renewed, no longer concerned themselves with that of Arezzo, which therefore died out in 1470. — See Pl. CXXXIII.
Bibliography7 works
Igino Cecchetti