Roman Catholic Diocese of Iesi
The diocese of Iesi () is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the Marche, Italy. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo. The diocese itself prefers the spelling Jesi. History. Saint Septimius, supposedly martyred in 307, has been venerated as the first bishop of Jesi since the 15th century. Saint Florianus, who was cast into the Esino in the Diocletian persecution, is also venerated (perhaps he is confounded with Saint Florianus who was cast into the Enus or Anisus). Other bishops of antiquity were Calumniosus (c. 647) and Honestus. Their relics were discovered in  1623. The future emperor Frederick II was born in Jesi on 26 December 1194. His mother, Constance, Queen of Sicily, was on her way to join her husband, Henry VI, who had been crowned King of Sicily at Palermo on the previous day. At Jesi she was overcome by sudden labor pains, and, anticipating the birth of an heir, the people erected a pavilion for her in the town square, so that the birth might take place amid a large complement of witnesses. Fifteen cardinals and bishops witnessed the birth of the baby Frederick. On 30 May 1247, Pope Innocent  IV rejected the election of one of the Canons of the Cathedral Chapter, Armannus, as bishop of Jesi, on the grounds that the Canons were excommunicated due to their support of the Emperor Frederick II. One Canon, however, named Montanario, was loyal to the Holy See and had escaped to Ancona from Jesi; he notified the Pope that he elected the Franciscan Gualterio. Innocent ordered the Rector of the March of Ancona, Marcellino Aretino, and Bishop Philip of Fermo to investigate the election and consult with Canon Montanario, and provide the new bishop. The Franciscan Gualtiero, an Englishman, was appointed . He was a friend of John of Parma, general of the order and patron of the Franciscan Spirituals. Bishop Severinus in 1237 laid the foundations of the new cathedral; the old cathedral, dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, was outside the city, and in the eighteenth century had fallen into ruin. In its current form, the cathedral is the result of restorations and renovations carried out by Bishop Antonio Fonseca. The cathedral was and is administered by a Chapter, composed of a Prior and ten Canons. Up until the middle of the 15th century the Canons were required to live  in the "Canonica", unless individually dispensed. Pope Paul II (1464–1471) dispensed the Canons from this obligation. The best-known of the Canons was Marcello Cervini, who became Pope Marcellus II (1555). Gabriele del Monte (1554) introduced the reforms of the Council of Trent, which he had attended. His successors were Cardinal Camillo Borghese (1597), afterwards Pope Paul V; Cardinals Tiberio Cenci (1621) and Alderano Cybo (1656), noted for their benefactions; Bishop Antonio Fonseca (1724), who founded a hospital. Cardinal Caprara, afterwards Archbishop of Milan, who concluded the Concordat with Napoleon, was Bishop of Jesi (1800–02). He was succeeded by Antonio  Odescalchi, who was deported to Milan by the French in 1809, dying in exile in Cesano Boscone in 1812. On 15 August 1972, by the Bull "Qui apostolico officio", Pope Paul VI created the new ecclesiastical province of Ancona, and granted its archbishop the status of Metropolitan. The ecclesiastical province was assigned the suffragan dioceses of Jesi (Aesina) and Osimo (Auximana). Synods. A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was (1) to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; (2) to discuss and  ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; (3) to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. Bishop Marco Agrippa Dandini (1599–1603) held a diocesan synod in Jesi on 16 September 1600. Bishop Tiberio Cenci (1621–1653) held a synod on 10 May 1626, and, as Cardinal, another synod on 23 September 1649. Cardinal Alderano Cybo (1656–1671) held a diocesan synod in Jesi from 4 to 6 July 1658. Cardinal Pietro Matteo Petrucci held his first diocesan synod on 26—28 April 1683. He held his second diocesan  synod in Jesi on 21 March 1695. On 23 April 1708, Bishop Alessandro Fedele (1696–1715) held a diocesan synod, whose decisions were published in 1713. Bishop Antonio Fonseca held a diocesan synod in the Cathedral on 25 to 27 May 1727. The synodal decrees were published. He held a second diocesan synod on 26 and 27 September 1741, and its constitutions too were published. From 14 June to 16 June 1772, Bishop Ubaldo Baldassini, B. (1764–1786) held a diocesan synod, and published its synodal constitutions. Cardinal Carlo Luigi Morichini (1854–1871) presided over a diocesan synod on 15—17 November 1857. Bishop  Oscar Serfilippi (1978–2006) held a diocesan synod in Jesi on 24 January 1982.