BIELLA, Diocese of. - A city in Piedmont, in the province of Vercelli, called in documents Buiella or Bugella. It was erected into a diocese by Clement XIV, at the request of Charles Emmanuel III, by the brief *Praecipua demandati nobis* of 1 June 1772, having been detached from the territory of the diocese of Vercelli. Suppressed by Pius VII, at the behest of Napoleon, on 1 June 1803, it was re-established by the same Pontiff by the brief *Beati Petri apostoli principis*.
The Church of St James, of the 13th century, partly rebuilt in the 16th, is notable. The archives are rich: the capitular (documents from the 11th century onwards), the municipal (partially catalogued, documents from 882 onwards), and the notarial, as well as private ones. The library of the Major Seminary, founded by Bishop Canaveri (1797–1803), is also open to the public. The Abbey of SS. Salvatore and Giacomo della Bessa, endowed by the Bishop of Vercelli, Rainerio, in 1809, was of some importance. Among the sanctuaries to be remembered are: Oropa (v.), Graglia (Madonna di Loreto), built in the 17th century, and St John the Baptist of Andorno. Particularly interesting is the "ricetto" of Candelo, a fortress-shelter (13th–14th centuries). At Cavaglià, towards the end of the 12th century, the abbot Giovanni Gersen is said to have been born, to whom some attribute the *De imitatione Christi* (v. MEDIAZIONE DI CRISTO).
BIBL.: Bullarii Romani continuatio, IV, Rome 1841, pp. 433–40; XII, 1846, pp. 23–27; XIV, 1849, pp. 344–58; G. T. Mullatera, *Le Memorie di B.*, Biella 1778; new ed. by E. Sella and M. Mosca, Turin 1902 (with a rich introduction on Biellese historiography); L. Bruzza, *Iscrizioni antiche Vercellesi*, Rome 1874, pp. 322–26, 345 (Christian inscriptions); A. Manno, *Bibliografia storica degli Stati della Monarchia di Savoia*, III, Turin 1891, pp. 124–43; L. Schiaparelli, *Origini del Comune di B.*, in *Memorie R. Accad. Scienze di Torino*, 2nd ser., 46 (1896), pp. 203–58; F. Gabotto, *B. e i Vescovi di Vercelli*, in *Archivio stor. ital.*, 5th ser., 17 (1896), pp. 279–340; 18 (1896), pp. 3–57 (to be used with caution in light of his article: *Intorno ai diplomi regi e imperiali per la chiesa di Vercelli*, ibid., 21 (1898), pp. 1–53, 255–96); id., *Gli Statuti di B.*, secondo il codice originale del 1245 (*Bibl. della Soc. St. subalpina*, 34), Pinerolo 1908; L. Barcellò–A. Tallone, *Le carte dell'archivio comunale di B.*, 3 vols. (same series, 103–105), Voghera 1927–30; *Il Biellese e le sue massime glorie*, Milan 1938 (23 articles by various authors; cf. those by G. Ferraris, E. Sella, and N. Gabrielli); *Acta Reginae Montis Oropae*, 2 vols., Biella 1945–48 (cartulary of Oropa, edited by G. Ferraris and other scholars; the first document dates to 1194 and several others concern the collegiate church of St Stephen). For art and castles: A. Roccavilla, *L'arte nel Biellese*, Biella 1905; A. Rosazza–F. Baronio, *Il battistero di B.*, Biella 1936; P. Torrione and F. Di Vigliano, *La Rocca di Zugaglia, nel sistema dei castelli biellesi*, 1914 (rich bibliography); N. Gabrielli, *Le Pitture romaniche* (*Repertorio delle cose d'arte del Piemonte*, 1), Turin 1944, pp. 9–10, and pl. VIII.
A. Pietro Frutaz
