Roman Catholic Diocese of Cremona

Cremona is in Lombardy, Italy, on the left bank of the River Po. It was built by the Cenomanni Gauls, but later became a Roman colony and a frontier fortress.

About 600 Cremona, until then a part of the Byzantine Emperor, was captured by the Lombard king, Agilulf. Under the Emperor Otto I and his successors, its bishops acquired temporal sovereignty, but in 900 the people expelled Bishop Olderico and adopted a republican form of government.

The Emperor Henry IV (1056–1106), however, confirmed Bishop Landulf in all imperial grants made to his predecessors. On the other hand Emperor Henry V (1106–25) restored to the people their communal rights. Thenceforth Cremona became a citadel of Ghibellinism and was greatly favoured by Frederic Barbarossa and Emperor Frederick II, though for the same reason frequently at war with the neighbouring cities. In later medieval times it had many lords or "tyrants", the Pallavicini, the Bovara, the Cavalcabo, the Visconti, the Sforza, until it became part of the Duchy of Milan (1328). In 1702 it was taken by imperial troops, and in 1796 and 1800 fell into the hands of the French.

The people of Cremona venerate St. Sabinus as their first missionary and first bishop; he is said to have lived in the 1st century of our era. Among the better-known early bishops are St. Syrinus (c. 340), a valiant apologist of the Faith against the Arians, and St. Silvinus (733); the latter is held in great veneration. Liudprand of Cremona was sent (946) as ambassador to Constantinople by the Emperor Otto II, and is the most famous historical writer of the 10th century.

Other important bishops were Gualtiero (1096), in whose time the cathedral was begun; Sicardo (1185), author of a chronicle; Cacciaconte da Somma (1261), under whom was erected the belfry of the cathedral; Niccolo Sfondrati (1560), later Pope Gregory XIV; his nephew Paolo (1607); also the zealous and charitable Omobono di Offredi (1791).

• Stephen I (320–342)
• Sirino I (342–380)
• Auderio (381–391)
• Conrad
• Vincenzo (407–?)
• St. Sirino II (422–451)
• John I (451–?)
• Eustasius, Eustachio (491– c. 513)
• Crisogono (513–537)
• Felix (537–562)
• Creato (563 – c. 584)
• Sisto (584 – c. 609)
• Desiderius I (609–610)
• Anselm (610–?)
• Eusebius (c. 637–?)
• Bernard (670–?)
• Desiderius II (679–?)
• Zeno, OSB (703–?)
• Silvino (733–?)
• Stephen II (776–?)
• Walfred (816–818)
• Atto (818–823)
• Siniperto degli Addobati (823–?)
• Pancoardo (840–851)
• Benedict (c. 851 – c. 878)
• Lando (c. 878–?)
• John II (c. 915–924, c.f. Gesta Berengarii imperatoris)
• Darimbert (931–960)[4]
• Liudprand (962–970/972)
• Olderico (973–1004)
• Landolf (1007–1030)
• Ubald (1031–1067)
• Arnolf (1069–1091, supporter of antipope Clement III)
• Oberto (1086–1087/97)
• Ugo (c. 1105–1112/19, supporter of antipope Clement III)
• Uberto (1119–1162)
• Presbitero (1162/1163–1167)
• Emanuele, O.Cist. (1 May 1167 – 27 February 1168)
• Offredo degli Offredi (1168–1185)
• Sicardo (1185–1215)
• Omobono de Madalberti (c. 1215–1248)
  • Giovanni Buono de Geroldi (1248–1249) (bishop-elect)
• Bernerio (1249 – c. 1260)
• Cacciaconte da Somma (1261–1288)
• Ponzio Ponzoni (1288–1290)
• Bonizone (c. 1290– c. 1296)
• Rainerio de Casoli (1296–1311)
• Egidiolo Bonseri (1311–1317)
• Egidio Madalberti (1318–1327)
• Ugolino di San Marco, OP (1327–1349)
  • Dondino (1328–1331) (anti-bishofp)
• Ugolino Ardengheri (1349–1361)
• Pietro Capello (1361–1383)
• Marco Porri (1383–1386) (also bishop of Cenada)
• Giorgio Torti (1386–1389)
• Tommaso Visconti (1390)
• Francesco Lante, O.F.M. (1390–1401, also bishop of Bergamo)
• Pietro Grassi (1401–1402, also Bishop of Pavia)
• Francesco Lante (1402–1405)
• Bartolomeo Capra (1405–1411)
• Costanzo Fondulo (1412–1423)
• Venturino de Marni, OSB (1423–1457)
• Bernardo Rossi (1458–1466, also bishop of Novara)
• Giovanni Stefano Botticelli (1466–1472)
• Jacopo-Antonio dalla Torre (1476–1486)
• Ascanio Maria Sforza (1486–1505)
• Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere (1505–1507 Resigned)
• Gerolamo Trevisan, O.Cist. (1507–1523)
• Pietro de Accolti de Aretio (1523/4, resigned)
• Benedetto de Accolti (1523–1549, also Archbishop of Ravenna)
• Francesco Sfondrati (1549–1550)
• Federico Cesi (1551–1560 Resigned)
• Niccolò Sfondrati (1560–1590 Elected, Pope Gregory XIV)
• Cesare Speciano (Speciani) (1591–1607)
• Paolo Emilio Sfondrati (1607–1610 Resigned)
• Giambattista Brivio (1610–1621)
• Pietro Campori (1621–1643)
• Francesco Visconti (1643–1670 Resigned)
• Pietro Isimbardi, O. Carm. (1670–1675)
• Agostino Isimbardi, O.S.B. (1676–1681 Died)
• Lodovico Septala (1682–1697)
• Alessandro Croce (1697–1704)
• Carlo Ottaviano Guasco (1704–1717)
• Alessandro Maria Litta (1718–1749 Resigned)
• Ignazio Maria Fraganeschi (1749–1790)
• Omobono Offredi (1791–1829)
• Carlo Emmanuelle Sardagna de Hohenstein (1831–1837 Resigned)
• Bartolomeo Casati (1839–1844)
• Bartolomeo Carlo Romilli (1846–1847 Confirmed, Archbishop of Milan)
• Antonio Novasconi (1850–1867)
• Geremia Bonomelli (1871–1914)
• Giovanni Cazzani (1914–1952)
• Danio Bolognini (1952–1972)
• Giuseppe Amari (1973–1978 Appointed, Bishop of Verona)
• Fiorino Tagliaferri (1978–1983 Resigned)
• Enrico Assi (1983–1992)
• Giulio Nicolini (1993–2001)
• Dante Lafranconi (2001–2015 Retired)
• Antonio Napolioni (2015–)

• List of bishops of Cremona (in Italian)
• Timeline of Cremona

• Dragoni, Antonio (1840). Sulla storia ecclesiastica Cremonese nei primi tre secoli del Cristianesimo Discorsi o disquisizioni critiche (in Italian). Cremona: Giuseppe Feraboli.
• Sanclemente, Enrico (1814). Series critico-chronologica episcoporum Cremonensium (in Italian). Cremona: J. Feraboli.

• Source

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.