REGGIO EMILIA, DIOCESE OF. — It extends over 1,982 sq. km. and has 349,000 Catholics out of a total population of 349,500; 450 churches, 256 parishes, 393 diocesan priests and 63 regular clergy; it has 3 seminaries, 7 male religious communities and 14 female ones. It borders the dioceses of Guastalla, Carpi, Modena, Apuania, Pontremoli and Parma, and is a suffragan of Modena. The patrons of the diocese are, in the first place, St. Prosper, bishop of Reggio between the 4th and 5th centuries, and, equally principal, the martyrs Cristiano and Daria, whose relics were translated to Reggio in 947. The co-patron is St. Venerius.
I. HISTORY
The foundation of the city is attributed by some to the Ligurians or the Etruscans, by others to the Gallic Boii or the Romans. The Forum Lepidi Regii has the same origin as other similar cities, founded *ab imis* or Romanized along the route of the road constructed by the Roman consul M. Aemilius Lepidus in 187 BC. After the fall of the Roman Empire (476), Reggio suffered the domination of Odoacer and the Goths; under the Lombards it became the seat of a duchy (569–90); it returned to the Eastern Empire in 590 and again to the Lombards in 599 (599–773), until it was subjected by Charlemagne, who, in 781, confirmed the rights of the bishop and determined the boundaries of the diocese.When and by whose agency Christianity penetrated into the Reggio area is unknown. The oldest Christian monument in Reggio is the inscription of Mavarta, dated 487 or 510 (CIL, XI, no. 1019). The catalogues of Reggio’s bishops, in their ancient part, are not to be trusted (cf. A. Mercati [V. BIBLICA.], p. 11). Taking as the first certain date for the presence of a bishop in Reggio the year 451, it may be considered that Reggio was erected as a bishopric in the second half of the 4th century (A. Mercati [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 10–12), if not already in the first half of that century (cf. Lanzoni, p. 443). In its formation, Reggio too found itself subject to the metropolitan see of Milan. In the second half of the 5th century, according to a letter of 29 May 482 from Pope Simplicius to John, archbishop of Ravenna, Reggio was a suffragan of Ravenna. On 22 August 1583, Gregory XIII elevated Bologna to metropolitan status and subjected Reggio to it; in 1855, Reggio passed under the metropolitan see of Modena, then erected.
The boundaries of the diocese, originally determined by Charlemagne in 781 and later by Otto I in his diploma of 2 April 962, underwent several changes and were notably reduced through the erection or in favour of other dioceses (A. Cerlini, *I confini carolingi della diocesi di Reggio*, in *Studi di storia, di letteratura e d’arte in onore di N. Campanini*, Reggio Emilia 1921, pp. 235–42).
The bishop of Reggio exercised comital powers over the city thanks to grants from Otto I and Conrad II (1027); but the city soon became a commune and in 1137 seven consuls are recorded; it adhered to the Lombard League in 1168 and took part in the Peace of Constance in 1183. Disputes soon began with the surrounding cities and internal strife, in which the great families played a large part and which led to foreign domination. In 1499 Reggio passed under the Este family, who held it until 1706, except for the years 1512–23 when it was under the direct rule of the Holy See. After the Revolution, the Este family held Reggio from 1814 to 1859.
Among the most notable ecclesiastical figures from Reggio are St. Albert of the Avogadri, a native of Gualtrolum (d. 1214), Latin patriarch of Jerusalem; Cardinal Pighini of Arceto (d. 1533), papal legate at the Council of Trent; Cardinal Domenico Toschi of Castellarano (1620), jurist and author of legal conclusions; and Cardinal Giacomo Corradi (d. 1666). Among artists, illustrious men and scientists: BOMARZO (v.), Ariosto (v.), ACCORSO DA REGGIO (v.), Bartolomeo Spani (d. 1539), Prospero Spani-Sogari (d. 1584), Guido Panciroli (d. 1599), Antonio Vallisneri (d. 1777), Lazzaro Spallanzani (d. 1799), Carlo Zucchi (d. 1863), Giovanni (d. 1875) and Antonio Fontanesi (d. 1882), Angelo Secchi (d. 1878), the palaeoethnologist Gaetano Chierici (d. 1886), Alfonso (d. 1873) and Gaetano Chierici (d. 1920), painters.
II. CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
About 1040, through the agency of Sichelmus, a *studium* was also opened in Reggio. To this school, like that of Parma under Drogo, students came from many parts of Italy and from abroad. In this school, instruction was given in the direct comprehension of masterpieces of rhetoric (v. the bibliography under SICHELMUS). The evolution from a school run by ecclesiastics to a lay school, always under the bishop’s supervision, seems to have been slow, and it appears that the Commune took upon itself the burden of paying the masters. In the teaching, there succeeded one another masters or doctors who suggest a strong local juridical tradition. It suffices to recall Giuliano da Sesso, Accursius the judge, Bernardo Talenti, Guido da Suzzara, Giovanni del Bondeno, Guido da Baiso and Pangratino, who taught there simultaneously. Through the wide influence of nearby Bologna and its school, the Reggio chapter and ecclesiastical school too became a university institution, based on a *universitas scholarum*, with its corresponding college of doctors. Despite interruptions, more or less brief, due first to the Commune’s financial difficulties, then to its decline, and later to other circumstances, the *Studium Regiense* survived and had recently been housed in the lower and less ancient part of the Palazzo Busetti; but in 1772 Duke Francis III of Modena, having reorganized the University of Modena, suppressed it in favour of that institution.The principal library of Reggio is the civic one, instituted in 1796, which possesses: 161,925 volumes, 450 incunabula, 324 Aldine editions and over 400 manuscripts, among which are numerous humanistic codices, Ariosto editions, the almost totality of L. Spallanzani’s manuscripts and the very precious Ferrarini codex. Among other libraries are to be mentioned: the Chapter Library, with the Chapter Archive, containing documents on the Church and the Reggio diocese; and the Urban Seminary, with incunabula and manuscripts.
Reggio also has the civic museum, or rather several museums, gathered in the “L. Spallanzani” Museum of Natural History; the Fontanesi Gallery, with works by Bartolomeo and Giacomo Maineri, Correggio fragments, canvases by A. Tiarini and Reggio painters A. Fontanesi, A. Chierici, Luca da Reggio and others; the “G. Chierici” Museum of Palaeoethnology; a Numismatic Cabinet, with Greek, Roman and medieval coins; the Museum of Ancient Reggio Industrial Art, especially of the silk industry introduced to Reggio in 1502; and the Gallery, now civic, formed by Luigi Parmeggiani in a modern palace of 15th-century French Gothic style, with a portal in 16th-century Hispano-Moresque architecture brought from Valencia, and containing paintings by Spanish “primitives,” a work by El Greco, Italian and Flemish pictures, Gothic sculptures, French furniture, fabrics, lace, arms, costumes, silverware, musical instruments, eggs and objects in bronze and crystal.
### III. MONUMENTS
Very few are the ancient cloisters of the Grazie and Corpus Domini within the city (A. Fulloni [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 23-24, 27-28). The largest and oldest church is the Cathedral, founded around the year 857, completely rebuilt in the second half of the 13th century; a Romanesque building with a façade vividly painted in every part, as attested by fragments still visible, though defaced in the 16th century; the chapels, especially that of the Holy Sacrament, contain works by B. and P. Spani, to whom also belongs the great statue of the Madonna, in embossed copper, on the façade side of the octagonal tiburium above the façade, and the marble statues of Adam and Eve, above the main door. Following the Cathedral is the basilica of S. Prospero (the façade by G. B. Cattani, between 1748-53), a work by L. Corti of Viano and Matteo Fiorentino, in the first half of the 16th century, on the site of the primitive basilica (narrower). To this basilica was attached a Benedictine monastery, destroyed in 1351 or 1356. The unfinished octagonal stone tower, beside the façade, also dates from the first half of the 16th century. Also worthy of mention are: the sanctuary of the Madonna della Ghiaia, in late Renaissance style, with frescoes and canvases by Guercino, A. Tiarini, L. Spada, Luca da Reggio and others; the church of SS. Peter and Prospero, rebuilt by the Benedictines, to a design by Giulio della Torre, in the years 1586-89; the church of S. Girolamo, a work by G. Vigarani; the church of S. Agostino, rebuilt by the same in the years 1561-66, replacing the one built in Lombard style in the first half of the 15th century, a work by A. Casotti, of which the octagonal apse and the conical brick tower remain; the churches of S. Giorgio and the oratory of Christ, the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, with frescoes by T. Sandrini, S. Badalocchio, P. Guidotti and a *Pietà* attributed to G. Mazzoni.
Among the most important sacred monuments in the province are: the church of S. Maria di Castello at Toano, with three naves, of Romanesque architecture from the Matilda period (damaged in the Second World War and completely restored and reconsecrated on 15 August 1951), and the Matilda church, also with three naves, of S. Maria near the Seminary of Marola, which was consecrated by Bishop Alberio in 1151; as well as the Matilda oratory of Beleo di Gombio, 10 km from Cesina. — See pl. XXXIII.
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for origins: M. Corradi-Cervi, *Municipium Forum Lepidi Regii*, in *Emilia romana*, I, Florence 1941, pp. 41-71;
for history: C. Tacoli, *Alcune memorie istoriche più rimarcabili della città di R. di Lombardia*, Reggio Emilia 1742, pp. 254-496; id., *Dalcune memorie storiche della città di R. di L.*, Parma 1748; id., *Delle memorie storiche di R. di L.*, Carpi 1765; G. Tiraboschi, *Memorie storiche modenesi*, I-V, Modena 1793-95; U. Bassi, *R. E. alla fine del secolo XVIII*, Reggio Emilia 1895; A. Balletti, *Storia di R. nell’Emilia*, ibid. 1925; G. Saccani, *Alcune osservazioni e Nuove osservazioni sulla storia di R. del prof. A. Bolletti*, ibid. 1926.
For the history of the diocese: E. Cottafavi, *I Seminari della diocesi di R. nell’Emilia*, Reggio Emilia 1900; G. Saccani, *I vescovi di R. E.—Cronostasi*, 2nd ed., ibid. 1902; Lanzoni, pp. 442-44; A. Mercati, *Saggi di storia e letteratura*, I, Rome 1951, pp. 9-16 and passim.
For the University and Academies: G. Tiraboschi, *Biblioteca modenese*, I, Modena 1781, pp. 30-32; N. Campanini, *L’insegnamento pubblico a R. durante il medioevo*, Reggio Emilia 1927, pp. 230-43, 273-76, 302-306; L. Tondelli, *Lo Studio di Sichelmo a R. nel sec. XI*, in *Studi e documenti della R. Deputazione di storia patria per l’Emilia e la Romagna*, 1 (1937), pp. 25-33; U. Gualazzini, *Ricerche sulle scuole preuniversitarie del medioevo*, Milan 1943, pp. 50-62, 265-72, 367-701.
For illustrious men: G. Tiraboschi, *Notizie di pittori, scultori, incisori e architetti nati negli Stati del serenissimo signor duca di Modena*, Modena 1786; F. Malaguzzi-Valeri, *Notizie di artisti regionali (1300-1600)*, Reggio Emilia 1892.
For monuments: F. Malaguzzi-Valeri, *La pittura reggiana nel ’400*, in *Rassegna d’arte*, 1903, pp. 145-52; G. Ferrari, *La Cattedrale di R. Em.*, ibid., 1904, pp. 165-67; L. Magnani, *Pr. Spani, detto il Clemente*, in *Cronache d’arte*, 4 (1927), pp. 50-80, 146-68, 231-55; G. Piccinini, *Guida di R. d’Emilia e provincia*, 2nd ed., Reggio Emilia 1931; A. Fulloni, *La Galleria Parmeggiani di R. E.*, in *Le vie d’Italia*, 1932, p. 337 ff.; N. Mercati, *Prescrizioni pel culto divino nella diocesi di R. E. del vescovo card. M. Cervini*, Reggio Emilia 1933; A. Fulloni, *R. E.*, Bergamo 1934; F. S. Gatta, *Liber grossus antiquus Comunis Regii*, Reggio Emilia 1944; N. Campanini, *Canossa*, 3rd ed., ibid. 1951.
**REGGIO EMILIA – DIOCESE OF**
The silver busts of SS. Chrysanthus and Daria, by B. Ipani (c. 1538) – Reggio Emilia, Cathedral.
**REGGIO EMILIA – « REGINA CAELI »**
In the Province of R., 3 (1927), pp. 230-43, 273-76, 302-306; L. Tondelli, *Lo Studio di Sichelmo a R. nel sec. XI*, in *Studi e documenti della R. Deputazione di storia patria per l’Emilia e la Romagna*, 1 (1937), pp. 25-33; U. Gualazzini, *Ricerche sulle scuole preuniversitarie del medioevo*, Milan 1943, pp. 50-62, 265-72, 367-701. For illustrious men: G. Tiraboschi, *Notizie di pittori, scultori, incisori e architetti nati negli Stati del serenissimo signor duca di Modena*, Modena 1786; F. Malaguzzi-Valeri, *Notizie di artisti regionali (1300-1600)*, Reggio Emilia 1892. For monuments: F. Malaguzzi-Valeri, *La pittura reggiana nel ’400*, in *Rassegna d’arte*, 1903, pp. 145-52; G. Ferrari, *La Cattedrale di R. Em.*, ibid., 1904, pp. 165-67; L. Magnani, *Pr. Spani, detto il Clemente*, in *Cronache d’arte*, 4 (1927), pp. 50-80, 146-68, 231-55; G. Piccinini, *Guida di R. d’Emilia e provincia*, 2nd ed., Reggio Emilia 1931; A. Fulloni, *La Galleria Parmeggiani di R. E.*, in *Le vie d’Italia*, 1932, p. 337 ff.; N. Mercati, *Prescrizioni pel culto divino nella diocesi di R. E. del vescovo card. M. Cervini*, Reggio Emilia 1933; A. Fulloni, *R. E.*, Bergamo 1934; F. S. Gatta, *Liber grossus antiquus Comunis Regii*, Reggio Emilia 1944; N. Campanini, *Canossa*, 3rd ed., ibid. 1951.