SABINIANUS
291
SABRAN
(Mentana). When these sees were united, the diocese
was called Sabina because it included that part of
Sabina which at the time of the Lombard invasion
remained united to the Roman territory (Sabina
Romana), while the remainder became part of the
Duchy of Spoleto. Cures was the ancient capital of
the Sabines, which territory lay between the Tiber,
the Anio, and the Apennines (Gran Sasso e Maiella).
Nomentum is frequently mentioned in ancient Roman
history. After Charlemagne, Sabina was ruled by a
count; later its territory was divided between some
barons and the Abbot of Farfa; the Senate of Rome
exercised feudal jurisdiction over its territory, e. g.
Magliano. During the persecutions Nomentum had
two cemeteries, one at St. Restitutus, a third century
martyr, at the sixteenth mile on the Via Nomentana,
belonging to Justa, a pious matron, and one at Sts.
Primus and Felicianus, martyrs under Diocletian, at
the fourteenth and fifteenth miles. Bishop Stephanus,
a contemporary of St. Restitutus, is mentioned in the
Acts of the martyr. Ursus is the first known Bishop
of Nomentum (415). Others are known from Grati-
anus (593) till St. Gregory the Great united the Sees
of Cures and Nomentum. Tiberius (465) was the
first Bishop of Cures, "called also bishops of Sabina
or of St. Anthimus, as that martyr's basilica, adjoining
the bishop's residence, was all that remained of the
town in the fifth century". It was destroyed in 870,
and the city fell into decay. The last Bishop of
Nomentum was Joannes, who assisted at the Council
of Rome (964). The small town of Mentana arose
around the castle of the Crescenzi and came into the
hands of the Orsini. Here Garibaldi was defeated by
the pontifical and French tnjops (1S67).
In 984 Nomentum was united fo the See of Forum Novum, called also Vicosabinas, situated on the Via Sal- aria, having bishops from the fifth century, e. g. Paulus (465). The dignity of " hebdomadary " bishop of the Lateran basilica was then conferred on the Bishop of Nomentum, the closest to Rome; later the Bishop of Sabina became a cardinal-bishop. The following deserve mention : Joannes (1044), afterwards Antipope Sylvester III; Gregory, legate to Emperor Henry IV in 1078; Cintius (1106) planned the imprisonment of Paschal II; Conrad (1153), later Anasta.sius IV; Con- rad of Wittelsbach (1163), legate in the Holy Land and Germany; John (1202), legate; Peter (1216), legate against the Albigenscs and in Syria; Gaufredo Castighoni (1237), later Celcsfine IV; Guglielmo (1244), Bishop of IModena and apostle of Livonia and Lithuania; Guido Gros (1261), later Clement IV; Egidio Albornoz (1355); Guillaume d'Aigrefeuille (1768). During the Western Schism, the Avignon popes also creat(>d cardinal-bishops of Sabina: the transference of Giordano Orsini (1427) to the See of Ostia (1439) was the first example of the oplatio still existing in regard to suburbicarian sees; Bessarione (1443); Amadeus of Savoy (1449-51), previously Antipope P'elix V; Isidore (1452), former metropolitan of Kieff ; John Torquemada (1464). Forum Novum, having recovered from its destruction in the Gothic war, was again destroyed in 876 by the Saracens and remained deserted for fifty-eight years. The basilica, at first dedicated to S. Valentine, was later restored under the title of S. Maria al Vescovio, but remained unimportant.
During the Avignon period only a few inhabitants remained, so Cardinal Oliviero Caraffa (1479) induced Alexander VI (1495) to transfer the episcopal resi- dence to Magliano, erecting the collegiate church of that city into the cathedral. Magliano (Manlianum) overlooks the valley of the Tiber, on which river the inhabitants formerly carried on an extensive trade with Rome. Sixtus V caused the Ponte Felice to be constructed. The jealousy of the other Sabina cities caused Leo X to restore the title of cathedral to the church of Vescovio. Cardinal Paleotti established a
convent for Reformed Friars Minor, later replaced by
the Order of Mercy. In 1733 Clement XII suppressed
the chapter. In the subterranean crypt of the church
are many traces of frescoes which have been brought
to light through the munificence of the present cardi-
nal-bishop, among whose predecessors may be men-
tioned: Alessandro Farnese (1523), later Paul III;
Lorenzo Campeggio (1537); G. P. Caraffa (1546),
later Paul IV; Giovanni Morone (1561); Cristoforo
Madruzzi (1562); Gio. Antonio Serbelloni (1578);
Gabr. Paleotto (1591), a reformer of discipline and
founder of the seminary; Pietro Aldobrandini (1620);
Scipio Borghese (1629), who procured an auxiliary;
Francesco Barberini (1645); Blessed Nicolo Albergati
(1677) ; Pietro Ottoboni (1681), later Alexander VIII;
Carlo Pio of Savoy (1683); Paluzio Altieri (1689);
Ippolito Vincenti Carreri (1805), who died in exile in
Paris; Lorenzo Litta (1814); Venerable Carlo Ode-
scalchi (1833); Luigi Lambruschini (1842). In 1841
the territory now forming the Diocese of Poggio
Mirteto was separated from Sabina. The Diocese of
Sabina contains 35 parishes with 55,000 inhabitants,
56 secular and 32 regular priests, 4 houses of reli-
gious, and 13 monks.
Cajpelletti, Le chiese d'ltalia, I; Tomassetti and Bia- 8IOTTI, La diocesi di Sabina (Rome, 1909).
U. Benigni.
Sabinianus, Pope.— The date of his birth is un- known, but he was consecrated pope probably 13 Sept., 604, and died 22 Feb., 606. The son of Bonus, he wag born at Blera (Bieda) near Viterbo. In 593 he was sent by St. Gregory I as apocrisiarius or Apostolic nuncio to Constantinople; but in some respects his admin- istration of the office did not come up to Gregory's ex7)ectations. He was not astute enough for the rulers of Byzantium. He returned to Rome in 597, and was chosen to succeed Gregory soon after the death of that great pontiff; but as the imperial confirmation of his election did not arrive for some months, he was not consecrated till September. The difficulties of his pontificate were caused by fear of the Lom- bards and by famine. When the Lombard danger had passed, Sabinianus opened the granaries of the Church, and sold corn to the people at one solidus (twelve shillings) for thirty pecks. Because ho was unable or unwilling to allow the pcopl(> to have the corn for little or nothing, there grew up in later times a number of idle legends in which his predecessor was represented punishing him for avarice. He is reputed to have restored to the secular clergy posts which St. Gregory had filled with monks. He was buried in St. Peter's.
Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, I (Paris, 1886), 315; Epp. Grcnorii I, ed. Ewald (Berlin, 1891); Mann, Lines of the Popes in the early Middle Ages, I, 251 sq.
Horace K. Mann.
Sabran, Louis de, Jesuit; b. in Paris, 1 March, 1652; d. at Rome, 22 Jan., 1732. His father, after- wards a marquis, was attached to the P'rencli (>mbassy in London during the Commonwealth, and piously visited the martyrs Corby and Duckett (q. v.) before their deaths. He married an English lady (a Go- ring?), and Louis was sent to the English college of St. Omer, and entered among the English Jesuits. Distinguished for many talents, he became one of the royal chaplains to King James II, in 1685, preached with great diligence and was engaged in controversy with William Sherlock, dean of St. Paul's, and Edward Gee. On the outbreak of the Revolution in 1688 he was first sent to Portsmouth with the infant Prince of Wales, and then became involved in many adventures. He was repeateiily seized by the mob and maltreated, but as often escaped, and finally managed to slip over to France. He was subsequently appointed visitor of the Nea- politan Jesuits, and represented his province at Rome in the congregation of 1693, when the case of Father
