MASSA MARITTIMA, Diocese of. – A 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, and includes the islands of Elba, Pianosa, and Montecristo.
Until the second half of the 18th century, the island of Capraia also belonged to the diocese. It has 110,000 inhabitants, of whom 109,800 are Catholics, distributed across 33 parishes, with 40 secular priests and 10 regular clergy; there are 155 active religious sisters. Under ecclesiastical authority are 5 orphanages, 2 elementary schools, and 30 kindergartens. There is a minor seminary. The territory of the diocese falls within the provincial jurisdictions of: Pisa, for the municipality of Monteverdi with two parishes; Grosseto, for the two municipalities of Massa Marittima and Follonica with four parishes; Livorno, for 14 municipalities with 27 parishes, of which 14 are on the island of Elba.
The diocese of Massa Marittima, initially directly dependent on the Holy See, was made a suffragan of Pisa by a papal bull of 22 April 1738 issued by Pope Innocent III and subsequently of Siena by a bull of Pius II dated 19 May 1495.
The bishops resided first at Populonia until the 9th century and then at Massa Marittima, where in the 12th and 13th centuries they enjoyed princely authority and title. The first bishop whose name is known is Asello, who in 501 subscribed to the acts of the Roman Council under Pope Symmachus.
The titular of the cathedral and patron saint of the city and diocese is St. Cerbonus (or Cerbone), bishop of Populonia, condemned by Totila to be torn apart by bears in 546–47 (St. Gregory, Dialogues, I, 15; II, 34–35; his life [BHL, 1728–29] is derived from that of St. Regulus, which dates to the 7th or 8th century [BHL 7102]). Also worthy of special mention are: St. Florentinus (d. 545); Paul, elected bishop of Populonia in 846 and sent as a papal legate first to Sardinia and then, with Formosus, to the Bulgarians; Albert II, bishop until 1230, who compiled the first mining code, *Ordinamenta super artem fossarum rameriae et argentariae civitatis Massae*; Antonio I da Riparia, bishop of Massa in 1364 and later sent by the pope to the Dauphiné to suppress the Waldensian heresy; John VII, bishop in 1391, a learned jurist entrusted with settling the dispute between King Vladislaus and the Teutonic Knights in Poland; Leonardo Dati, bishop in 1467, a distinguished 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 serve as the seminary; Alessandro II Petrucci, bishop in 1602, who restored the cathedral, built the episcopal palace from its foundations, and founded the Poor Clares monastery in Piombino; Giuseppe Maria Traversi (d. 1872), who, the first in Tuscany, established a mutual aid fund for rural workers. Among the saints and blessed born or living in the diocese are: St. Walfred, founder and first abbot of the monastery of Palazzuolo near Monteverdi, d. 764; St. Guy della Gherardesca, Count of Donoratico, who lived as a hermit in the woods near his castle, where he built a chapel dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, and died c. 1134. Above all, however, stands St. Bernardino degli Albizzeschi, known as St. Bernardino of Siena (v. 1380–1444). Among the blessed of various religious orders are the Franciscans Bl. Ambrose (d. 1239), Bl. James (d. 1366), Bl. Bernard (d. 1241), and the Augustinian Felix Tancredi, a disciple of St. Catherine of Siena and author of a short poem in verse on the childhood of Jesus.
The see of the diocese, Massa Marittima, is a characteristic medieval town, whose walls remain almost intact, and boasts notable monuments, such as the Romanesque cathedral, built in the 13th century in gratitude by the free commune of Massa to the prince-bishop who had renounced his feudal rights; among its works of art are the baptismal font, carved from local travertine in 1265 by the Masters of Como, and the marble reliquary for the relics of St. Cerbonus, a masterpiece by the Sienese Goro di Gregorio (1324). Other monuments include the communal palace and the praetorian palace from the 13th century. Besides Massa Marittima, the main centers of the diocese are Piombino, seat of a principality until the early 19th century and now the most populous city in the diocese, and Portoferraio on the island of Elba. The population, mainly engaged in agriculture, mining, and ironworking, has tripled since the last century, chiefly due to the reclamation of the Maremma and industrial development. – See pl. XXIV.