FIDES
70
FIESOLE
and with such success that the heretic preachers were
seriously alarmed and set themselves to inflame the
people against him by representing that his mission
was political rather than religious and that he was pre-
paring the way for the subj ugation of the country by the
Austrians. During the Lent of 1622 he preached with
especial fervour. At Easter he returned to Feldkirch
to attend a chapter of the order and settle some afTairs
of his community. By this time the Congregation of
the Propaganda had been established in Rome, and
Fidelis was formally constituted by the Congregation,
superior of the mission in the Orisons. lie had, how-
ever, a presentiment that his labours would shortly be
brought to a close by a martyr's death. Preaching a
farewell sermon at Feldkirch he said as much. On
re-entering the country of the Orisons he was met
everywhere with the cry: "Death to the Capuchins!"
On 24 April, being then at Orusch, he made his confes-
sion and afterwards celebrated Mass and preached.
Then he set out for Sevis. On the way his companions
noticed that he was particularly cheerful. At Sevis he
entered the church and began to preach, but was in-
terrupted by a sudden tumult both within and with-
out the church. Several Austrian soldiers who were
guarding the doors of the church were killed and
Fidelis himself was struck. A Calvinist present offered
to lead him to a place of security. Fidelis thanked the
man but said his life was in the hands of Ood. Out-
side the church he was surrounded by a crowd led by
the preachers who ofTered to save his life if he would
apostatize. Fidelis replied: "I came to extirpate
heresy, not to embrace it", whereupon he was struck
down. He was the first martyr of the Congregation of
Propaganda. His body was afterwards taken to Feld-
kirch and buried in the church of his order, except his
head and left arm, which were placed in the cathedral
at Coire. He was beatified in 1729, and canonized in
1745. St. Fidelis is usually represented in art with a
crucifix and with a wound in the head; his emblem is
a bludgeon. His feast is kept on 24 April.
Da Cesinale, Storia delte Musiojii dei Cappuccini (Home, 1872), II; De Paris, Vie de Saint Fidele (Paris, 1745); Delia SCALA, Der hciligc Fidelia von Sigmaringen (Mainz, 1896).
Father Cuthbert. Fides Instrumentorum. See Protocol. Fiefs of the Holy See. See Holy See.
Fiesole, Diocese op (F.«snLANA), in the province of Tuscany, suffragan of Florence. The town is of Etruscan origin, as may be seen from the remains of its ancient walls. In pagan antiquity it was the seat of a famous school of augurs, and every year twelve young men were sent thither from Rome to study the art of divination. Sulla colonized it with veterans, who afterwards, under the leadership of Manlius, sup- ported the cause of Catiline. Near Fiesole the Van- dals and Suevi under Radagaisus were defeated (405) by hunger rather than by the troops of Stilicho. Dur- ing the Gothic War (536-53) the town was several times besieged. In 539 Justinus, the Byzantine gen- eral, captured it and razed its fortifications. In the early Middle Ages Fiesole was more powerful than Florence in the valley below, and many wars arose be- tween them. In 1010 and 1025 Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines, and its leading families obliged to take up their residence in Florence.
According to local legend the Gospel was first preached at Fiesole by St. Romulus, a disciple of St. Peter. The fact that the ancient cathedral (now the Abbazia Fiesolana) stands outside the city is a proof that the Christ ian origins of Fiesole date from the per- iod of the persecutions. The earliest mention of a Bishop of Fiesole is in a letter of Cielasius I (492-49(')). A little later, under Vigilius (537-55), a Bishop Rus- ticus is incntiiirii'd as papal legate at one of the Coun- cils of Constanliiiople. Tlie legendary St. Alexander is said by some to belong to the time of the Lombard
King Autari (end of the sixth century), but the Bol-
landists assign him to the reign of Lothair (middle of
the ninth century). A very famous bishop is St.
Donatus, an Irish monk, the friend and adviser of Em-
perors Louis the Pious and Lothair. He was elected
in 826 and is buried in the cathedral, where his epi-
taph, dictated by himself, may still be seen. He
founded the abbey of San Martino di Mensola; Bishop
Zanobi in 890 founded that of St. Michael at Passi-
gnano, which was afterwards given to the Vallombro-
san monks. Other bishops were Hildebrand of Lucca
(1220), exiled by the Florentines; St. Andrew Corsini
(1352), born in 1302 of a noble P'lorentine family, and
who, after a reckless youth, became a Carmelite monk,
studied at Paris, and as bishop was renowned as a
peacemaker between individuals and States. He died
6 January, 1373, and was canonized by Urban VIII.
Other famous bishops were the Dominican Fra Jacopo
Altovita (1390), noted for his zeal against schism; An-
tonio Aglio (1466), a learned humanist and author of a
collection of lives
of the saints; the
Augustinian Gugli-
elmo Bachio
(1470), a cele-
brated preacher,
and author of com-
mentaries on Aris-
totle and on the
"Sentences" of
Peter Lombard ;
Francesco Cataneo
Diaceto (1570), a
theologian at the
Council of Trent
and a prolific
writer; Lorenzo
dellaRobbia(1634),
who built the sem-
inary. Among the
glories of Fiesole
should be men-
tioned the painter
Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1424). But the greatest
name associated with the history of the city is that
of Blessed Giovanni Angelico, called da Fiesole
(1387-1455). His baptismal name was Guido,
but, entering the convent of the Reformed Domini-
cans at Fiesole, he took the name of Giovanni in
religion; that of Angelico was afterwards given to him
in allusion to the beauty and purity of his works.
The Cathedral of St. Romulus was built in 1028 by Bishop Jacopo Bavaro with materials taken from sev- eral older edifices; it contains notable sculptures by Mino da Fiesole. The old cathedral became a Bene- dictine abbey, and in course of time passed into the hands of the regular canons of Lateran. It once po.s- sessed a valuable library, long since dispersed. The abbey was closed in 1778. The diocese has 254 par- ishes and 155,800 souls. Within its limits there are 12 monasteries of men, including the famous Vallom- brosa, and 24 convents for women.
The principal holy places of Fiesole are: (1) the cathedral (II Duonw), containing the shrine of St. Romulus, martyr, according to legend the first Bishop of Fiesole, and that of his martyred companions, also the shrine of St. Donatus of Ireland; (2) the Badia or ancient cathedral at the foot of the hill on which Fiesole stands, supposed to cover the site of the mar- tyrdom of St. Romulus; (3) the room in the bishop's palace where St. Andrew Corsini lived and died; (4) the little church of the Primi-rana in the cathedral square, where the same saint was warned by ( )ur Lady of his approaching death; (5) the chun'h of S. Ales- sandro, with the shrine of St. Alexander, bishop and martyr; (6) the monastery of S. Francesco on the crest" of the hill, with the "cells of St. Bernardine of
Altar-Piece
E FOR Bishop Salutati
Fiesole, Cathedral of Fiesole
