FERRARA, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - In Emilia; it lies entirely within the province of the same name, which also contains the whole diocese of Comacchio and a considerable part of the archdioceses of Bologna and Ravenna. The province has an area of 2,622 sq km with about 500,000 inhabitants, while the archdiocese extends over 1,218 sq km and has 219,986 inhabitants, of whom 217,090 are Catholics (1948).
The city within the walls is made up of two zones: to the south the oldest part, to the north the new part, with a regular plan, conceived by Duke Ercole d'Este (1471-1505) and carried out by Biagio Rossetti; the center consists of the Cathedral, the castle and the archiepiscopal and municipal palaces. Outside the walls the city has developed greatly to the south and to the northwest, giving rise to numerous industries. The surrounding countryside is rich in agricultural products. The Po facilitates inland navigation, as in antiquity, by means of the river line that connects Venice with Milan and, before long, with Switzerland.
The archdiocese is divided into 99 ecclesiastical jurisdictions (parishes and curacies) with 147 diocesan priests, 11 male communities with 56 fathers and 15 lay brothers, 55 female communities with over 650 religious (1950). It is immediately subject to the Holy See.
The patron is St. George (feast on 24 April).
HISTORY
F., whose etymology is uncertain but certainly medieval, has obscure origins that are traced back to the Roman period, as archaeological remains demonstrate.
Situated at the fork of the Po di Volano with the Po di Primaro, on the road that from Ravenna, following the course of the Po upstream, passed through Ostiglia and reached the Brenner, it was important for the dominion of the surrounding lands and marshes.
While precise information is lacking for Roman F., there is information about Voghenza or "Vicus Aventinus" at about 13 km. from the city. Numerous pagan sarcophagi were found there. The first documents (774) record the passage of the duchy of F. from the power of the Lombards to that of the popes, who governed it through vicars, among whom the marquises of Canossa may be mentioned.
Then, under the communal regime, the Ghibelline families Torrelli-Salinguerra and the Guelph Marcheselli-Adelardi dominated it alternately. By spontaneous dedication F. subjected itself to the marquises of Este (13th century), who, as vicars of the Apostolic See, governed it until 1597. The splendor to which it rose in this period made it one of the most lavish and cultured courts of Italy. The Este built the castle there (1385), founded the university there (1391), soon introduced printing (1471), enlarged the city, surrounding it with solid walls, erected villas in the surrounding countryside, and had ties of kinship with popes and rulers of the time. They were lords of the duchies of Modena and Reggio, of the county of Rovigo and of the Garfagnana. When the direct branch of the Este family died out (1597), the duchy of F. was governed always by cardinal legates, among whom Cardinal Caraffa (1778-1786) and Cardinal Odescalchi, later Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689), distinguished themselves. From 1796 to 1815 it followed the fortunes of Italy and with the Treaty of Vienna returned to the popes, from whom it was again taken in 1859 and annexed to the Kingdom of Italy on 18 March 1860.
The first evangelizers of F. came in all probability from Ravenna, to which the city remained subject spiritually and temporally until the 8th century.
(lat. Vecchi and Giacomo)
The erection of the diocese may date back to the end of the 4th century or to the 5th century with its seat at Voghenza: St. Peter Chrysologus consecrated a bishop Marcellinus around 430, but it is not known whether he was bishop of Voghenza. The catalogue of bishops presents some gaps in the first centuries; the most notable bishops were St. Maurelius, martyred during the iconoclast struggle, supported by the archbishop of Ravenna Maurus, to whom the diocese was subject; after 680 the original seat was moved further north, to F., in order to escape the dominion of the archbishops of Ravenna; there are then remembered: Bl. Alberto Pandoni (d. 1274), bishop during the beginning of the house of Este; Bl. Giovanni Tavelli da Tossignano (d. 1446), precursor of the Tridentine reform, whose reports of pastoral visitations are preserved, unpublished; Giovanni Fontana (d. 1611), formerly a collaborator of St. Charles and executor of the decrees of the Council of Trent; Prince Cardinal Ruffo (1727-37), builder of the archiepiscopal palace and of the new seminary and first archbishop of F.; the Ven. Bonaventura Barberini (d. 1743); the Servant of God Cardinal Carlo Odescalchi, archbishop of F. (1823-1826), then cardinal vicar of Rome (1838), finally a Jesuit (d. 1841).
The diocese was a suffragan of Ravenna, then through the donation of Charlemagne (774) passed directly under the Holy See, despite the claims of the archbishops of Ravenna; in the end the decision of Rome prevailed, which cut short every question, elevating the see to an archbishopric (1735). Urban III died there in 1185, and it was the seat of the Conclave from which Pope Gregory VIII emerged (1185) and of the XVII Ecumenical Council (1438-1439) for the union of the Eastern Churches, bringing on that occasion a large contribution to the development of humanistic culture. Owing to the premature death of Alexander VI the erection to metropolitan see was suspended, a rank it obtained only with Napoleon, having as suffragans the dioceses of Comacchio, Mantua, Rovigo and Verona. Now it is only an archiepiscopal-metropolitan see without suffragans and forms part of the "Flaminia" province (Romagna). The diocese had its own Sacramentary (Ritual), suppressed following the edition of the typical one of Paul V (1619). Rituals and Ordines have handed down some particularities of notable importance, among them the Lenten stations brought back into force by the current archbishop (1942). For the Council of F., v. FIRENZE, CONCILIO di.
Among the illustrious personages, especially in the Este period, are to be cited: Girolamo Savonarola (v.), the Este cardinals, builders of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli and patrons of Ariosto and Tasso; C. Calcagnini, encyclopedist of the 16th century; Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (d. in
1644), apostolic nuncio in Flanders and in France. And again: Daniello Bartoli, historian of the Society of Jesus; Alfonso Muzzarelli, author of the pious practice of the "month of May"; Cardinal C. Bentivoglio, founder of the Ariostea Library (1740); the archaeologist Bellini who founded the Archaeological Museum with his own collection (1738), now rich in medals and coins of the Ferrara mint (1200-1748); Guarini and Scalabrini, authors of valuable works on the churches of F.; finally Antonelli, a student of local memories.
The major ecclesiastical institute, until a few years ago (1932), was the theological faculty, transferred from the local university to the archiepiscopal seminary; at present this gathers for teaching the best elements of the diocesan clergy.
The aforementioned Ariostea Library, founded by Cardinal Bentivoglio, was enriched with manuscripts of Ariosto, Tasso, etc., with 120,000 volumes, 1500 incunabula, illuminated codices. However, the best-stocked ecclesiastical library, although not up to date, is that of the Seminary with over 20,000 volumes and several incunabula. Precious illuminated codices of the Ferrara School (1477-1535) are held by the Cathedral (24), while those of the Certosa (26) were transferred to the Schifanoia Museum.
Rich in parchments (10th century), in medieval cadastres (13th century) and in statutes (12th century) are the archives of the Archiepiscopal Curia, of the Metropolitan Chapter and of the residual ecclesiastical bodies.
Along with the other liberal arts, music also flourished. From the Provençal troubadours to the masters of the court chapel, from the ducal Academies to those of the cloistered convents (S. Vito, S. Antonio, S. Silvestro), from the renowned theaters to the collections of precious instruments, from Luzzasco and Monteverdi to Frescobaldi who, with Pasqualini, was organist of the Cappella Giulia of the Vatican Basilica. Mention is also made of maestro Ravegnani, one of the pioneers of Gregorian chant, and of maestro Magri, organist of the sanctuary of Oropa.
MONUMENTS
The plutei of the primitive ambo of Voghenza are preserved, with the inscription: « De donis dei, et sec Marie et sci Stefani temporibus dom. Georgio ven. eps hunc pergamum fecit ind. 11 » of the year 539, a dating confirmed by B. Berenson, against the interpretations of L. A. Muratori, of Robault de Fleury and of A. Friasi. A sarcophagus lid of 548 with the inscription: « In ne dni temporibus dni matricini vb episca servus tuus serviens tibi fecit ind. XI ».
Mention is also made of the inscription of a church of 586 built by Bishop Victor « ut pestes inguinaria non pertranseat fines nostros ».
Three little-known sarcophagi of the 5th-6th century, three Byzantine baptismal fonts, and other small finds brought to light during the restorations of the archpriest's church of Voghenza (1046), while they bear witness to the vitality of Christianity in the first centuries, give hope for further discoveries.
Among the oldest churches the Cathedral (1135-1260) remains the most characteristic building of the city. The masterpieces it preserves range from the Byzantine baptismal font to the Romanesque sculptures of the « porta dei mesi », from the illuminated choir books to the canvases of Tura, Francia, Garofalo, Guercino and to the tapestries of the Dossesque school (1551-53).
ABBEYS AND MONASTERIES
Although outside Ferrarese territory, the thousand-year-old abbey of Pomposa is linked to the diocese of F. through the filial church of St. Benedict, with 3 naves and 3 Renaissance cloisters, built in the city at the end of the 15th century, heir to its historic and artistic splendor.
Other abbeys of notable historic and artistic value, now secularized or reduced, are: the thousand-year-old abbey of St. Bartholomew with a Byzantine apse; that of St. George outside the walls, ancient cathedral from the 7th to the 11th century and formerly the seat of the abbot general of the Olivetans; the Lateran abbey of St. John of the 16th century, seat of the Knights of Malta from 1826 to 1834; finally the great Charterhouse of the 15th century, which for over a century has held the remains of the citizens of Ferrara.
THE SANCTUARIES
Among the sanctuaries, the most famous are: that of the Madonna delle Grazie in the Metropolitan church itself; that of the Miraculous Blood spurted from the Host at the hamlet of the Sacre Specie on 28 March 1171, and still visible in the basilica of S. Maria in Vado; that of the Crucifix of S. Luca, a Byzantine work that appeared in the waters of the Po in 1128; that of the b. Beatrice II d'Este (d. 1264), whose relics are preserved in the monastery of S. Antonio, which contains a rich body of Ferrarese painting from the 13th to the 17th century; that of St. Maurelius (d. 657), whose remains are kept in a chased silver casket of the 15th century; that of the Corpus Domini, founded and sanctified by the presence of St. Catherine Vigri, who had her visions there and wrote her ascetic works there; that of the b. Giovanni Tavulli da Tosignano (d. 1446). In the diocese there exist the sanctuaries of the Madonna della Pioppa and of the Poggetto, which for centuries have enjoyed great veneration.
In the architectural field three "types" of Ferrarese churches may be noted: the first is peculiar to the Gothic churches of the 14th and 15th centuries, whose notable traces are preserved almost exclusively in the façades, namely: a single nave, a simple façade with a cusp, acroteria, a central portal surmounted by a rose window and flanked by two windows; every architectural element is decorated with graceful terracottas, a characteristic of pre-Renaissance Ferrarese decorative art. The second type, more varied than the first, developed in the 16th century through the work of Rossetti; it has grandiose basilicas with three naves, a transept and sumptuous decoration, the façade with volutes and acroteria, in two orders of which the lower reflects the interior style. The third type, that of the churches of the countryside, may be grouped around Foschini (18th century); the interiors with a single nave show the influence of the Baroque period, but meet the requirements of worship.
The figurative arts were much cultivated from their very origin. The Cathedral is enriched by a body of sculpture ranging from the 12th century, with the sculptures of Niccolò and of Antelami (13th century) on the façade, to the masterpieces of Baroncelli, Paris, which form the group of the Crucifixion, to the terracottas of the Lombardi, to the holy-water stoups of the Vaccà and to the decorative statues of Ferrari.
To this varied complex of the Cathedral are added the works scattered through the churches of the city: the Pietà in terracotta by Mazzoni (15th century), the funeral monument of Barbara of Austria at the Gesù (16th century) and the tombs scattered here and there, among them the famous ones of the Este at the Corpus Domini (16th century) and of the Villa at S. Francesco.
In the museum of the Cathedral, besides the aforementioned allegorical sculptures of the months, are preserved the Madonna of the Pomegranate by Jacopo della Quercia and a statuette held to be a St. Ambrose, by the same author. In the other churches, although stripped during the suppressions of the last century, excellent canvases are still preserved by Tura, Francia, Ca-
(phot. Alinari)
FERRARA, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Madonna of the Pomegranate, Sculpture by Jacopo della Quercia (1408) - Museum of the Cathedral.
rofalo, Dossi, Guercino and other authors of the Ferrarese school of the 15th-18th centuries.
Music is represented by the unicum of the Duomo depicting a head of the Blessed Virgin, belonging to the decoration of the triumphal arch of the Cathedral and in which was preserved one of the earliest specimens of our vernacular poetry: « Li mille cento trenta cenque nato - fo questo templo a San Giorgio donato - da Ghelmo ciptadin per so amore - e mea fo l'opra Nicolao Scolpiore ».
Illumination flourished from the 12th century, in which the monk Giovanni Aldighieri (1195), an ancestor of Dante who from F. drew his grandmother and his "name", figures as an accomplished illuminator; it rose to its greatest splendour with the illuminators of the Bible of Borso and of the aforementioned choir books of the Cathedral and of the Cortesa.