MASSA MARITTIMA, DIOCESE of. — Diocese and city in Tuscany. A suffragan of the archdiocese of Siena, in the Tuscan region, it extends along the Tyrrhenian coast from Follonica to Forte di Bolgheri, reaching inland to the hills of Monteverdi, dominated by the ruined abbey of Palazzuolo, and the Cornate di Gerfalco; it also includes the islands of Elba, Pianosa, and Montecristo.
Until the second half of the eighteenth century, the island of Capraia was also part of II. It has 110,000 inhabitants, of whom 109,800 are Catholics, distributed among 33 parishes, with 40 secular priests and 10 religious priests; there are 155 women religious engaged in active ministry. Five orphanages, two elementary schools, and 30 nursery schools are under ecclesiastical authority. There is a minor seminary. The territory of the diocese lies within the provincial jurisdictions of Pisa, for the municipality of Monteverdi with two parishes; of Grosseto, for the two municipalities of M. M. and Follonica with four parishes; and of Livorno, for 14 municipalities with 27 parishes, 14 of them on the island of Elba.
The diocese of M. M., at first directly dependent upon the Holy See, was made a suffragan of Pisa by the bull of 22 April 1138 issued by Pope Innocent II, and subsequently of Siena by the bull of Pius II dated 1 May 1495.
The bishops resided in Populonia until the ninth century and thereafter in M. M., where during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries they enjoyed the authority and title of princes. The first whose name is known is Asello, who in 501 signed the acts of the Roman Council under Pope Symmachus.
The titular saint of the Cathedral and patron of the city and of the diocese is St. Cerbonius or Cerbone, bishop of Populonia, condemned by Totila to be torn apart by bears in 546–47 (St. Gregory, Dial., I, 15; II, 34–35; his life [BHL, 1728–29] depends upon that of St. Regulus, which dates from the seventh or eighth century [BHL 7102]). Also deserving of particular remembrance are: St. Fiorenzo (d. 545); Paolo, elected bishop of Populonia in 846 and sent as a papal legate first to Sardinia and then, together with Formosus, to the Bulgarians; Alberto II, bishop until 1230, who composed the first mining code, entitled Ordinamenta super artem fossarum ramariae et argentariae civitatis Massae; Antonio I da Riparia, bishop of Massa in 1364 and subsequently sent by the pope to the Dauphiné to suppress the Waldensian heresy; Giovanni VII, bishop in 1391, a learned jurist entrusted with settling in Poland the dispute between King Vladislaus and the Teutonic Knights; Leonardo Dati, bishop in 1467, an illustrious man of letters and poet; Ventura Bufalini, who took part in the final phase of the Council of Trent and, upon his return, began construction of a building to house the Seminary; Alessandro II Petrucci, bishop in 1602, who restored the Cathedral, built the episcopal residence from its foundations, and founded the convent of the Poor Clares of Piombino; Giuseppe Maria Traversi (d. 1872), who, the first in Tuscany, established a mutual-aid fund among rural workers. Among the saints and blesseds born or having lived in the diocese, the following should be remembered: St. Walfredo, founder and first abbot of the monastery of Palazzuolo near Monteverdi, who died in 764; St. Guido della Gherardesca, count of Donoratico, who lived as a hermit in the woods near his castle, where he built a chapel dedicated to St. Mary of the Assumption, and died around 1134. Foremost among all is St. Bernardino degli Albizzeschi, known as St. Bernardino da Siena (v. : 1380–1444). Among the blesseds of the various religious Orders, mention should be made of the Franciscans Bl. Ambrogio (d. 1239), Bl. Giacomo (d. 1366), and Bl. Bernardo (d. 1241), and the Augustinian Felice Tancredi, a disciple of St. Catherine of Siena and author of a short poem in verse on the childhood of Jesus.
The seat of the diocese, M. M., is a distinctive medieval town, preserving its walls almost intact and possessing notable monuments, such as the Romanesque Cathedral, built in the thirteenth century as a token of gratitude from the free Commune of Massa to the bishop-prince who had renounced his feudal rights. Among its works of art are the baptismal font, carved in local travertine in 1265 by the Comacine Masters, and the marble ark for the relics of St. Cerbone, a masterpiece by the Sienese Goro di Gregorio (1324). Other monuments include the Town Hall and the praetorian palace, dating from the thirteenth century. Besides M. M., the principal centres of the diocese are Piombino, seat of a principality until the beginning of the nineteenth century and now the most populous city in the diocese, and Portoferraio on the island of Elba. The population, engaged chiefly in agriculture, mining, and the iron and steel industry, has tripled since the last century, chiefly as a result of the draining and reclamation of the Maremma and of industrial development. — Vedi tav. XXIV.