Treviso probably was Christianized from
Aquileia. The bishops of Treviso who participated, along with all of the other bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Aquileia, in the
schism of the Three Chapters were: Felix; Rusticus, present at the
pseudo-synodus Maranensis (589); and Felix II, who signed the petition to the Emperor Maurice (591). Through the intercession of the elder Bishop Felix, the first bishop for whom there is authentic evidence, the city of
Treviso was spared during the Lombard invasion of King Alboin (569) and became the seat of a duchy.
Charlemagne made the duchy a marquisate, extending from
Belluno to
Ceneda, and from the
Adige to the
Tagliamento. In 922 Treviso, which was under episcopal jurisdiction, was sacked by the
Hungarians. In 905 Bishop Adelbert received from
Berengar I of Italy the temporal jurisdiction of the city, which extended to Rozo (969–1001) and
Rolando who adhered to the schism of
Clement III. Bishop Tiso (1212–1245) suffered from the tyranny of
Ezzelino III da Romano, and
Alberto Ricco, O. M. (1255), was imprisoned for preaching against him. Other bishops were: •
Loto Gambacurta (1394), exiled by the Florentines from his
archbishopric of Pisa; •
Giovanni Benedetti, O. P. (1418), who reformed many convents of his order and concubinary priests; •
Ludovico Barbo (1437), Abbot of S. Giustina of Padua, and reformer of the Benedictine order; • Fra
Giovanni Dacri (1478), formerly
minister general of the Franciscans, who restored the cathedral and reorganized the revenues of the bishopric, leaving many pious foundations; •
Francesco Cornaro (1577), who founded a seminary, introduced the reforms of the Council of Trent, resigned his see, and was created cardinal; •
Bernardino Marini (1788–1817), a canon of the Lateran, present at the
Council of Paris, 1811, who united the abbey nullius of Novisa with the See of Treviso •
Giuseppe Giapelli, appointed by the Austrian Government, but not recognized by the Holy See, so that the diocese remained in turmoil until the death of the candidate. Bishop
Giovanni Antonio Farina (1850) conferred sacred orders on
Giuseppe Sarto, later
Pope Pius X.
Consolidation United with Treviso since 1440 is the ancient
Diocese of Asolo, the bishops of which are unknown from 587 (Agnellus) until 1049 (Ugo); and the
Diocese of Eraclea (diocese of Città Nova), a city founded in the times of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, as a refuge for the inhabitants of Opitergium (Oderzo), who with their bishop (
Magnus) had been exiled by the Lombards. Twenty-six bishops are known, from 814 until the union of the see with Treviso, 1440.
Reorganization of 1751 In 1751, pressured both by Austria and Venice, who were exasperated by the numerous discords in the patriarchate of Aquileia,
Pope Benedict XIV was compelled to intervene in the ecclesiastical and political disturbances. In the bull "Injuncta Nobis" of 6 July 1751, the patriarchate of Aquileia was completely suppressed, and in its place the Pope created two separate archdioceses, Udine and Goritza. The dioceses which had been suffragans of Aquileia and were under Venetian political control, Treviso among them, were assigned as suffragans of the new archdiocese of Udine.
Post-Napoleonic reorganization The violent expansionist military policies of the French Revolutionary Republic had brought confusion and dislocation to the Po Valley. Following the redistribution of European territories at the
Congress of Vienna, the Papacy faced the difficult task of restoring and restructuring the Church in various territories, according to the wishes of their rulers. Padua and Venice were under the control of Austria, and therefore a Concordat had to be negotiated with the government of the Emperor Francis. One of the requirements of the Austrian government was the elimination of several metropolitanates and the suppression of a number of bishoprics which were no longer viable due to the bad climate (malaria and cholera) and the impoverishment of the dioceses due to migration and industrialization; it was expected that this would be done to the benefit of the Patriarchate of Venice.
Pope Pius VII, therefore, issued the bull "De Salute Dominici Gregis" on 1 May 1818, embodying the conclusions of arduous negotiations. The metropolitan archbishopric of Udine was abolished and its bishop made suffragan to Venice. The dioceses of Caprularum (Caorle) and Torcella were suppressed and their territories assigned to the Patriarchate of Venice; Belluno and Feltre were united under a single bishop,
aeque personaliter, and assigned to Venice; Treviso became a suffragan of Venice. Bishop Grasser was particularly active in restoring the operation and good order of the diocesan seminary.
Chapter and cathedral In 1684, the cathedral Chapter was composed of three dignities and fifteen Canons; two of the Canons were designated the Theologus and the Penitentiarius. In 1750, there were three dignities and eighteen Canons. The dignities were: the Dean, the Archdeacon, and the Primicerius. In 1862, the clergy of the cathedral included: the Dean, the Archdeacon, the Primicerius, and eleven Canons, five of which were vacant. To the cathedral was annexed the baptistry of S. Giovanni Battista, which was also a parish church. It had been incorporated with the cathedral, and had come under the administration of the Canons in 1188. It was the only baptistry in the city of Treviso and its suburbs until 1809. ==Bishops of Treviso==