RAVENNA
666
RAVENNA
Sardica (343), the epoch of St. Apollinaris may be
established as belonging to the beginning of the third
century, or possibly to the last decades of the second
century, when the Church, under Commodus, en-
joyed a measure of peace that was propitious to the
development of hierarchical organization. Ravenna
accordingly became a centre of Christianization for
EmiUa. The only martyr among its bishops was
St. Apollinaris, whose martyrdom occurred, pos-
sibly, under Septimius Severus.
Other martyrs were St. Ursicinus, SS. Fusca and Maura, St. Vitahs (not the St. Vitalis of Rome), etc. Among the bishops, besides those already named, mention should be made of Joannes Angeloptes (430-33), so called because he had the gift of seeing his guardian angel; he obtained through Galla Placidia the title and the rights of metropolitan of the fourteen cities of Emilia and Flaminia. The arch- bishops, as in the past, continued to be confirmed and to be consecrated by the pope: St. Peter Chrysologus (433-49), formerly Deacon of Imola, was so con- firmed and consecrated. For the rest, the presence of the imperial court, and later, of that of the exarch, aroused in the minds of the archbishops a great sense of their dignity and a certain spirit of independence in regard to Rome; while the popes on the other hand were disposed to cede no measure of their rights, as was shown in the case of Simplicius, who threatened Joannes III with the forfeiture of the right to con- secrate his suffragans; in the case of Felix IV, in regard to the questions that arose between Bishop Ecclesius (521-34) and his clergy; and in the case of St. Gregory the Great, who was compelled to repress the excess of pomp of Archbishop Joannes V (575- 595) and that of his clergy, and who, on account of those conditions, at the death of Joannes, caused the election of Mariniano (606), who had been a com- panion of the pope at the monastery of Sant' Andrea. The better to insure the subordination of the arch- bishops, the latter were forced to sign at the time of their consecration a declaration to that end {in- dicida el cautioner), in which were written the chief duties and rights of those prelates. In connexion with this declaration, there arose differences of in- terpretation between Pope Vitahanus and Arch- bishop Maurus (648-71), which led to the schism, Maurus having sought and obtained the privilege of autonomy from the Emperor Constans II, who was a Monothelite, and therefore ready to humiliate the pope; even on his deathbed, Maurus exhorted his clergy not to subject themselves to the yoke of Rome; and accordingly Reparatus (671-77) did not go to Rome for his consecration.
It is uncertain whether Reparatus or Theodorus (677-88), who also was consecrated by his suffragans, re-estabUshed the union vrith Rome. Theodorus adhered to the Roman Council of Agatho (680); for the rest, he was hated by his clergy for having suppressed many abuses among them. There fol- lowed St. Damianus (688-705); St. Felix (705-23), who at first also had aspirations to independence; but when Justinian II, having recovered the throne, sent a fleet to punish Ravenna for its complicity in his dethronement, as he beUeved, the archbishop was taken to Constantinople, blinded, and sent to Pontus, whence he was recalled by Philippicus Bardanes (712). Of the constancy of Ravenna against Iconoclasm, mention has already been made above. Sergius (748-69) also had differences with the popes. Georgius (835-46) went to France in search of a grant of autonomy, but was imprisoned by the troops of Charles and Louis II, at war at that time with Lothair (835), and with difficulty was able to return to his country. Matters again became acute under Archbishop Joannes X (850-78), who, moreover, had displeaserl the clergy and people of his own see and his suffragan bishops by his overbear-
ing acts, consecrating bishops against the pleasure
of the people and the clergy, imposing heavy expenses
upon his suffragans in the visits that he made every
other year, preventing his suffragans from com-
municating directly with Rome, etc. Accordingly,
he was cited to appear at Rome by Nicholas I; but
Joannes having refused to obey the summons, the
pope went in person to Ravenna, where he became
convinced of the general aversion to the archbishop,
who, being then deprived of the protection of the
emperor, was compelled to appear before the council
(861), which reprimanded him. Later, however, he
again intrigued against Nicholas, with the Bishops
of Trier and Cologne. He was the founder of the
Benedictine monastery of Isola Palazziola.
Romanus (878-88) also was disaffected to the Holy See; Joannes XII (905) became Pope John X. Petrus
VI (927-71) was obliged to protect the property of the Church in two synods; Gerbertus (998-99) became Pope Sylvester ll; under Leo II (999-1001) the Ravennese grammarian Vilgardus was condemned for heresy; Arnoldus (1014-19) was a brother of St. Henry II, who gave to the archbishops temporal sovereignty over Ravenna, Bologna, Imola, Faenza, and Cervia, without mentioning the sovereignty of the pope; of Archbishop Gebhardus (1027-44), St. Peter Damian says that he maintained himself unsullied in the general corruption of that day; Hunfredus (1046- 1051) had been chancellor of Henry III; under him there arose the question of precedence between the bishops of ^IiIan and Ravenna at the imperial court, which gave room to an altercation between the suites of those prelates at the coronation of Henry III. Hunfredus, like his successor, Enrico (1052-71), who had been vice-chancellor of Henry III, was of the imperial party, and opposed to the pope; Enrico favoured the cause of the antipope Cadalous. Gui- bertus, who was chancellor of Henry I V, caused him- self to be elected antipope, in opposition to Gregory
VII (1080), by whom he had been excommunicated since 1076. At the beginning of the twelfth century the Blessed Petrus Onesti founded the Congregation of the Regular Canons of Santa Maria in Portu. Anselmus (1155-58), formerly Bishop of Havelberg, is famous for his legations to Constantinople, and for his polemical works against the Greeks. Guido da Biandrate (1158-69) favoured the schism of Barba- rossa, who was his protector. In the time of Gherardo (1170-90), there arose the question between the monks of Classe and those of San Mart ino in regard to the body of St. Apollinaris, which, the monks of San Martino claimed, had been transferred to their church for its safety against the incursions of the Saracens.
Filippo Fontana (1251-70) preached the crusade against Ezzelino. After his death the see remained vacant for four years, until Gregory X appointed to it Bonifacio Fieschi (1274-94). St. Rinaldo Conco- reggi (1303-21) restored Christian life, and held six provincial synods. Rinaldo da Polenta was killed by his own brother, Ostasio (1322), who then usurped the Lordship of Ravenna. Fortuniero Vaselli (1342- 1347) made a crusade against the Ordelaffi of Fori! and the Manfredi of Faenza, and concluded a peace between Venice and Genoa. Pileo de Prata (1370-87), a man of stern doctrines, was made a cardinal by Urban VI, and sent as legate to Germany and Hunga,ry, which countries he held in obedience to the Holy See. Cosmo Migliorati (1387) became in 1400 Pope Inno- cent VII, and named as his successor at Ravenna his nephew, Giovanni Migliorati (1400-10), whom he made a cardinal. Roverella (1445-76), later a cardi- nal, was a man of great learning, who was sent on various occasions as legate to England and elsewhere. Pietro Accolti (1524-32) had been professor of canon law at Pisa, and secretary to Julius II. Benedetto Accolti (1532-49), a famous man of letters and his- torian, was imprisoned under Paul III for unknown
