The Archdiocese of Pisa () is a Latin Church metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Pisa, Italy. It was founded in the 4th century and elevated to the dignity of an archdiocese on 21 April 1092 by Pope Urban II. The seat of the bishop is the cathedral of the Assumption in the Piazza del Duomo.
The archbishop of Pisa presides over the Ecclesiastical Province of Pisa, which includes the dioceses of Livorno, Massa Carrara-Pontremoli, Pescia, and Volterra.
Since 2008 the archbishop of Pisa has been Giovanni Paolo Benotto.
History
In a letter of 1 September 1077, Pope Gregory VII wrote to the bishops, clergy, civil leaders, and people of Corsica, acknowledging his responsibility for oversight of their well-being as part of the lands of S. Peter, but admitting that he was unable to do so personally and effectively. He had therefore appointed Bishop-elect Landulfus of Pisa to be his legate in Corsica. On 30 November 1078, Pope Gregory confirmed all the privileges that belonged to the Church of Pisa, as well as the legateship of Corsica. He granted the bishop half of all the papal income from the island, as well as all of the judicial income (de placitis). On 28 June 1091, Pope Urban II, at the request of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, Bishop Dagobert, and the nobility of Pisa, returned the legateship of the island of Corsica to Bishop Dagobert, on the condition of an annual payment of 50 pounds (Luccan) to the papal treasury.
On 21 April 1092, Pope Urban issued the bull "Cum Universis", in which he created the metropolitanate of Pisa, promoting the bishop to the rank of archbishop, and assigning the bishoprics of Corsica as his suffragans. This he did at the request of Countess Matilda of Tuscany and in consideration of the considerable merits of Bishop Dagibert in remaining faithful to the Roman church in the face of the schism against Pope Gregory VII. Pope Gelasius II, who was staying in Pisa from 2 September to 2 October 1118, confirmed the arrangements in a bull of 26 September 1118. After the death of Pope Gelasius at Cluny on 29 January 1119, Archbishop Petrus and Cardinal Petrus della Gherardesca dei Conti di Donoratico, a native of Pisa and papal legate, crossed to Corsica to receive to obtain the oaths of fealty of the bishops of Corsica.
Pope Gelasius' bull was an unpleasant shock for Genoa, who coveted the island of Corsica, and a war broke out in 1119 between the two naval powers. The Genoese sent out a fleet of 28 galleys, but in a battle at Porto Venere the Pisans were victorious, as they were at a second battle at the mouth of the Arno River. The war lasted a total of fourteen years. On 16 May 1120, the new pope, Calixtus II, who had been elected at Cluny in France and had just returned to Italy, issued a bull confirming the privileges of Urban II and Gelasius II.
But on 3 January 1121, Pope Calixtus wrote to the bishops of Corsica that the privilege of consecrating bishops for Corsica, which had been granted to the archbishops of Pisa, was withdrawn, and that in the future only the pope would have the right to consecrate bishops for Corsica and to receive their oaths of submission. The Genoese were not mollified by his action. They resorted to bribery to obtain what they had not obtained by military force. A document, written in Rome and dated 16 June 1121, reveals that negotiations had been taking place, with the agreement and authorization of Pope Calixtus, between the Genoese agents, Caffaro and Barisone, and a committee of three cardinals and a bishop on the question of Corsica. The Genoese had agreed to give money to the Pope and other members of the Curia by 10 November. The Pope was to receive 1,600 silver marks; cardinals and bishops 300 marks; priests and clerics 50 ounces of gold; Cardinal Peter of Porto 303 ounces of gold; Petrus Leonis 100 silver marks, and his sons 55 marks; Leo Frangipane 40 marks; and additional payments to other nobles.
The opportune moment to satisfy the Genoans came when Calixtus II convened the First Lateran Council on 27 March 1123, to ratify the Concordat of Worms and end the schism instigated by the Emperor Henry V. The Pope appointed a committee, consisting of 24 bishops and other prelates, led by Archbishop Gualterius of Ravenna (a personal enemy of the Archbishop of Pisa), to examine and render a judgment on the claims of the Church of Pisa over Corsica. On 6 April, the last day of the Council, the claims of Pisa were rejected by the Fathers, after the damning report of Archbishop Gualterius.
