The ecclesiastical history of Torres (Turris Lybissonis) goes back to the fourth century. In 304, the soldier Gavinus, Protus a priest, and the deacon Januarius are said to have suffered martyrdom there. A number of martyrs are mentioned in inscriptions found at Porto Torres; all of them are forgeries. Later Gavinus and Protus were reputed bishops, and said to have lived in the second and third centuries respectively. St. Gaudentius, who seems to have belonged to the beginning of the fourth century, is also venerated there. The first bishop whose date is known is Felix (484). In July 599,
Pope Gregory I wrote to Bishop Marinianus of Torres and five other bishops of Sardinia that they should not ignore their metropolitan, the bishop of Cagliari, and should not venture abroad without his permission. A bishop, whose name is unknown, often called "Novellus," caused a controversy between
Pope John V and the
Archbishop of Cagliari in 685. He had been consecrated by the archbishop of Cagliari, though the normal consecrator of bishops of Torres was the pope. Permission had once been granted to the archbishop in an emergency situation, and he evidently attempted to continue the practice as though it were his right. Pope John cancelled the privilege. Almost nothing is known concerning bishops of Torres for the next three centuries, till Simon (1065). His successor, Costantino de Crasta (1073), was an archbishop. At some point between 1092 and 1098, the papal legate of
Pope Urban II, Archbishop Daibertus of Pisa, held a synod of the bishops of Sardinia at Torres. His purpose was to convince Torquitor, the
iudex of Gallura, to return to obedience to the Church; on his refusal, the legate condemned and excommunicated him. Other archbishops: Blasius (1199), representative of Innocent III, on several occasions; Stefano, O.P. (1238), legate of Innocent IV in Sardinia and Corsica; Trogodario (about 1278) who erected the episcopal palace in Sassari, to which Teodosio (1292) added the Church of St. Andrea; after this the archbishops resided habitually at
Sassari.
Transfer to Sassari Archbishop Pietro Spano (1422–1448) was a restorer of discipline, for which purpose he held a provincial council in Sassari in 1441. During Spano's episcopate, on 3 April 1441, the episcopal seat was definitively transferred to Sassari by
Pope Eugenius IV. The name of the diocese, however, remained the same. The bishop intended to erect a seminary for the training of the clergy, but his death frustrated the plan.
Salvatore Salepusi (1553) was distinguished at the
Council of Trent. Alfonso de Sorca (1585), was highly esteemed by
Clement VIII. In 1503,
Pope Julius II united the Archdiocese of Sassari with the
diocese of Ploaghe (Plubium) and the diocese of the
Diocese of Sorres (Sorrensis), which had been united permanently with the suppressed diocese of Bosa by
Pope Eugenius IV in 1445. ==Bishops and archbishops of Torres==