CESENA, diocese of. - In Emilia in the province of Forlì, a suffragane of Ravenna. The episcopal lists of Cesena prior to the 6th century rest on no solid historical foundations, and the first bishop of whom we have record is Natalis, from the second half of the 6th century, followed by Concordius in 603, both mentioned in a letter of St Gregory the Great and Marinianus, bishop of Ravenna (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 1919); probably dependent on Ravenna from that period, it certainly was so in 649 when it formed part of the exarchate.
Among the other prelates of Cesena of whom mention is made, we may recall Florus, present at the Roman Synod of 680 under Pope Agatho; St Maurus, protector of Cesena, who held the see in the 10th century and of whom St Peter Damian wrote a life; his successor, a nephew named Constantine; Bishop John II to whom St Peter Damian sent the treatise *De parentelae gradibus*; Gebizo, already a monk and abbot of the monastery of SS Boniface and Alexis *de Urbe*, legate of Gregory VII and created cardinal by him; Benno de’ Coelitis, d. 1149, also a cardinal, employed by Honorius II in various legations. Until the 11th century it formed part of the patrimony of the Holy See, then it was governed as a free commune. After the fall of the Swabians, Cesena again became part of the papal possessions, later passing under the rule of the Ordelaffi, expelled by Cardinal Albornoz in 1357. After the sackings suffered during the expedition of Robert of Geneva sent by Gregory XI to subdue the city, Cesena finally enjoyed a period of prosperity under the Malatesta who governed it for a century (1378–1466). To make the new fortress of Cesena more spacious, Galeotto Malatesta had the cathedral situated on the Garampo hill demolished in 1385, which his successor Andrea later rebuilt in its present location (1408–12). Cesena was once more under papal dominion at the time of the pontificate of Julius II, from whom it received municipal statutes by which the city was governed until the advent of the French Revolution. The diocese, small in territorial extent, was notably enlarged by Pius VI in 1777 with new parishes taken from the jurisdiction of Rimini.
Among the bishops who in comparatively recent times have distinguished the see of Cesena we may recall Pietro Francesco Orsini (1680–86), later Pope Benedict XIII; Cardinal G. C. Denhoff (1686–97); Cardinal Carlo Bellisomi (1795–1808), candidate for the tiara in the conclave of 1799; and Cardinal S. F. Castiglioni, later Pope Pius VIII.
Popes Pius VI and Pius VII were natives of Cesena.
Among the monasteries of the diocese, once famous was that of SS Laurence and Zeno, known since the time of Gregory the Great and governed by Benedictines until 1402; the monastery of Santa Maria del Monte or Monte di San Mauro, of very ancient though uncertain origin, likewise Benedictine, where Bishop St Maurus was interred in 946; confirmed in 1244 by Innocent IV to the bishop of Cervia, united by Nicholas V in 1453 to the Congregation of Santa Giustina of Padua, restored in 1814 and 1887.
The diocese covers 400 sq km, has 64 parishes, 126 diocesan priests, and 51 regular clergy, with 90,000 Catholics out of a total population of 97,000 (1948). — See Plate LXXXIII.
Mario Scaduto
CESI. — A Sabine-Umbrian family originating from the place of the same name, which began to rise to prominence in the 15th century and during the 16th century one of its branches united the marquisate of Monticelli (1572), the duchy of Acquasparta (1588) and the principality of Sant’Angelo and San Paolo (1613). Its fortunes in the Roman Curia began with Paolo Emilio, b. 1481, apostolic protonotary, created cardinal by Leo X in the great promotion of 1 Apr 1517. With him begins that series of personages who held cardinalates and bishoprics during the 16th and early 17th centuries. Indeed, Paolo Emilio was commendatory abbot of Todi from 1 June 1523, of Narni from 20 May 1525, which he transferred to Bartolomeo Cesi a few months later; of Orte from 7 Apr 1525, transferred to Pomponio Cesi in 1538; of Cervia in 1525, transferred to Ottavio Cesi in 1528, and even of Sion in Switzerland, which he held from 12 Nov 1522 until his death, which overtook him at the age of 56 in the Curia on 5 Aug 1537. He was also archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore. At the death of Cardinal Giovanni Antonio di San Giorgio (1511), he acquired his palace in Borgo Vecchio and completed it by turning the vineyard extending over the hill behind into a garden and creating an antiquarium of important antiquities gathered from discoveries made everywhere at that time (cf. A. Hülsen, *Römische Antikengärten des XVI. Jahrh.*, Heidelberg 1917; E. Martinori, op. cit. in bibliography, p. 47 ff.).
Federico, brother of Paolo Emilio, b. 1500; received the bishopric of Todi by renunciation of his brother on 11 June 1523 and held it until 1545; was created cardinal by Paul III on 19 Dec 1544; held Cremona in commendam from 18 Mar 1551 to 13 Mar 1560; died bishop of Porto on 28 Jan 1565 and was buried at Santa Maria Maggiore. He was considered rich, learned and of great experience; he built in Rome the church of Santa Caterina dei Funari.
Pier Donato
He was born on 7 May 1570 by Pius V. He was sent as legate to Bologna in 1580. He died in the Curia on 29 September 1586 and was buried at S. Maria della Vallicella.
Bartolomeo, born around 1565, held the office of general treasurer in the Curia, which led to his elevation to the cardinalate on 5 January 1596. He became Archbishop of Conza on 10 March 1608, but resigned in 1614; on 5 May 1621 he obtained the see of Tivoli, but died the same year on 18 October and was buried at S. Maria Maggiore.
General treasurer was also Pier Donato the younger, born around 1583, apostolic protonotary participant on 18 April 1615, later created cardinal by Urban VIII on 16 December 1641, camerlengo of the Sacred College on 9 January 1651, died in the Curia on 30 January 1656. A contemporary judged him thus: “in treasury matters he was tenacious, free in speech, of vigorous nature, intelligent in business, moderately lettered” (cf. Pastor, XIII, p. 716).
Despite the ill-will of his father, who squandered the ample patrimony and even alienated 102 pieces of antiquities from the family collection to Cardinal Ludovisi in 1622 (Pastor, XIII, p. 50), Federico remained steadfast in his love for literary and scientific studies and on 18 August 1603, together with Gian Francesco Stelluti, Anastasio de Fillia and Giovanni Eckio, he founded the Accademia dei Lincei, taking the name of Coelivagus Lyncæus. Only in 1607 did Giovanni Battista Porta become the fifth member added; Galileo Galilei was the sixth and was officially received on 25 April 1611 during his visit to Rome. Galilei himself informs us that “the Lincei are a company of scholars... and have as their aim the study of good letters and in particular of philosophy and other sciences connected to it; and moreover the most learned among them attend to writing and publishing their labours” (Edizione Nazionale delle opere di G. Galilei, V, p. 184). Cesi became a friend of Galilei and maintained relations with him in the following years concerning the discoveries he was making and the controversies they aroused. Particular protection and favour were shown by Cesi to Galilei during his stay in Rome in 1615–16, vindicating the freedom of scientific inquiry. When it came to publishing a reply to Father Grassi’s *Libra astronomica*, Cesi, together with his colleagues, invited Galilei to publish *Il Saggiatore* and promoted its printing, which duly appeared under the care of the Lincei themselves in 1623. Indeed, almost the entire Academy had embraced Galilei’s cause, though Cesi himself had only with difficulty converted to the Copernican system.
At Easter 1624 Galilei was a guest of Cesi at Acquasparta. He had moreover made the study of botany the field of his researches, in which he may be considered a true pioneer.
He had taken special care for the printing of Galilei’s *Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems* when he died on 1 August 1630, without having had male issue surviving from his two wives, Artemisia Colonna (married in 1614) and Isabella Salviati (married in 1616).
The Academy, whose membership had remained quite limited, entrusted to the care of its protector Cardinal Barberini, fell silent and soon ceased to exist.
Pio Paschini
CESLAO of Poland (of Silesia), Blessed. – Dominican, born in 1180 at Gross-Stein in Upper Silesia, died at Breslau on 15 July 1242. Later accounts say he was a companion of St Hyacinth, Bzovius makes him his brother, and both are said to have received the habit of the Preachers from St Dominic in Rome and then to have founded the convent at Friesach (Carinthia). After a stay in Cracow, Ceslas erected the convent of St Adalbert at Breslau. As prior of Breslau and as provincial of Poland he devoted himself to the Christianization of Silesia. The lifting of the siege of the castle of Breslau during the Mongol attack in 1241 is attributed to his prayers. His relics are in St Adalbert. His cult was approved by Clement XI in 1712. Feast in the Dominican Order on 17 July, in the archdiocese of Breslau on 20 July.
Angelo Walz
CESTAC, Louis-Édouard, Venerable. – Priest, born at Bayonne on 6 January 1801, died there on 27 March 1868. He devoted his whole life to the care of orphans and the re-education of fallen young women, remarkably aided by his sister Elisa. He founded two religious congregations: the Bernardines and the Servants of Mary. His cause of beatification was introduced on 8 April 1908.
Silverio Mattei
CESTARI, Giuseppe. – Priest, born in 1751 at Naples where he lived in a reputation of Jansenism, together with