Archbishop of Caesarea
Encyclopedia
The Archbishop of Caesarea was one of the major suffragans
Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...

 of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus...

 during the Crusades. The Bishop of Caesarea became metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

 of Palestine in the early 3rd century
Christianity in the 3rd century
The 3rd century of Christianity was largely the time of the Ante-Nicene Fathers who wrote after the Apostolic Fathers of the 1st and 2nd centuries but before the First Council of Nicaea in 325...

 but after the Council of Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...

 in 451 he was subordinate to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. His see was at Caesarea Maritima a port city in Palestine.

Early history

The diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 was an ancient one, established in one of the first Christian communities ever created
Early centers of Christianity
Early Christianity spread from Western Asia, throughout the Roman Empire, and beyond into East Africa and South Asia, reaching as far as India. At first, this development was closely connected to centers of Hebrew faith, in the Holy Land and the Jewish diaspora...

: it was due to the work of St Peter and St Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...

. Records of the community are dated as far back as the 2nd century
Christianity in the 2nd century
The 2nd century of Christianity was largely the time of the Apostolic Fathers who were the students of the apostles of Jesus, though there is some overlap as John the Apostle may have survived into the 2nd century and the early Apostolic Father Clement of Rome is said to have died at the end of the...

. According to the Apostolic Constitutions
Apostolic Constitutions
The Apostolic Constitutions is a Christian collection of eight treatises which belongs to genre of the Church Orders. The work can be dated from 375 to 380 AD. The provenience is usually regarded as Syria, probably Antioch...

 (7.46), the first Bishop of Caesarea was Zacchaeus the Publican
Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus , according to chapter 19 of the gospel of Luke, was a superintendent of customs; a chief tax-gatherer at Jericho...

. Caesarea Maritima was the capital of Roman Iudaea province
Iudaea Province
Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...

 and after the Bar Kokhba revolt it was the metropolis of the diocese of Palaestina Prima. Until the establishment of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, it was subject to the Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

. The most notable Bishop of Caesarea was Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...

, also known as Eusebius Pamphili. The notable theological library established by Pamphilus of Caesarea
Pamphilus of Caesarea
Saint Pamphilus , was a presbyter of Caesarea and chief among Catholic Biblical scholars of his generation...

 remained in existence until the Arabs invaded Palestine in the 7th century
Christianity in the 7th century
Christianity in the 7th century, the Western and Eastern areas of Christianity began to take on distinctive shapes. Whereas in the East the Church maintained its structure and character and evolved more slowly, in the West the Bishops of Rome were forced to adapt more quickly and flexibly to...

.

The diocese suffered a troubled history following the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 7th century
Christianity in the 7th century
Christianity in the 7th century, the Western and Eastern areas of Christianity began to take on distinctive shapes. Whereas in the East the Church maintained its structure and character and evolved more slowly, in the West the Bishops of Rome were forced to adapt more quickly and flexibly to...

. The city was raided by the Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

 in the early 7th century and following the conquest of the Holy Land by the Islamic armies in the 7th century, the diocese and city suffered tremendously and steadily declined in size and importance. Nonetheless, it remained overwhelmingly Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

, and in the absence of imperial oversight, its independence increased and the archbishop became the effective ruler of the area. By the 9th century there was a substantial colony of Frankish settlers established by Emperor Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 to facilitate Latin pilgrimages
Christian pilgrimage
Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the ministry of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome and established by Helena, the mother of...

. However, by the 10th century
Christianity in the 10th century
-Pre-scholastic Theology:With the division and decline of the Carolingian Empire, notable theological activity was preserved in some of the Cathedral schools that had begun to rise to prominence under it – for instance at Auxerre in the 9th century or Chartres in the 11th...

 as periodic Islamic persecution continued and the aura of Byzantine Imperial authority made a resurgence, the diocese fell under the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....

 for protection and supervision and increasingly fell under Byzantine authority.

Following the schism between Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 in 1054, the community was an Greek Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 diocese, with only a marginal Roman Catholic community.

Period of the Crusades

During the crusader period, the community became a Catholic community and remained as one until the Mamluks destroyed it.

When Caesarea was captured by the crusaders from the Muslims in 1101, the Frankish community vastly increased in size and a Latin archbishop was established. Under the crusaders, the diocese increased over time to having ten suffragan bishops, including the bishop of Sebastea
Sebastea
Sebastea is the Latin name of two ancient cities:*Sebastia, Nablus, West Bank*Sivas, Turkey...

. During the remainder of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus...

 often served first as archbishop of Caesarea, or of Tyre
Archbishop of Tyre
The Archbishop of Tyre was one of the major suffragans of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Crusades and was established to serve the Roman Catholic members of the diocese....

.

There was a legend that the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...

 had been discovered in Caesarea; the ancient chalice found there in 1101 was later taken to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Bishops of Caesarea

  • Zacchaeus
    Zacchaeus
    Zacchaeus , according to chapter 19 of the gospel of Luke, was a superintendent of customs; a chief tax-gatherer at Jericho...

     was the first bishop, according to the Apostolic Constitutions
    Apostolic Constitutions
    The Apostolic Constitutions is a Christian collection of eight treatises which belongs to genre of the Church Orders. The work can be dated from 375 to 380 AD. The provenience is usually regarded as Syria, probably Antioch...

     7.46, followed by Cornelius (possibly Cornelius the Centurion) and Theophilus
  • Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
    Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
    Saint Theophilus was bishop of Caesarea Palaestina. He is known for his opposition to the Quartodecimans. He is commemorated on 5 March.-External links:**...

    , according to Church History (Eusebius)
    Church History (Eusebius)
    The Church History of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea was a 4th-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century. It was written in Koine Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts...

     V.22 during the 10th year of Commodus
    Commodus
    Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...

     (c.189)
  • Theoktistos (216–258)
  • Domnus (Church History VII.14)
  • Theotecnus
    Theotecnus
    Theotecnus was bishop of Caesarea Maritima in the late 3rd century.-References:* Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History by Christian Frederic Crusé. New York: Swords, Stanford & Co., 1833....

     (Church History VII.14)
  • Agapius
    Agapius of Caesarea
    Agapius of Caesarea was bishop of Caesarea Maritima from 303 to c. 312. He may have baptized and trained Eusebius, who was to become his successor....

     (???–306)
  • Eusebius (ca. 313–339/340)
  • Acacius
    Acacius of Caesarea
    Acacius of Caesarea in Greek Ἀκάκιος Mονόφθαλμος was a Christian bishop, the pupil and successor in the Palestinian see of Caesarea of Eusebius AD 340, whose life he wrote. He is remembered chiefly for his bitter opposition to St. Cyril of Jerusalem and for the part he was afterwards enabled to...

     340–366
  • Gelasius of Caesarea
    Gelasius of Caesarea
    Gelasius of Caesarea was bishop of Caesarea Maritima from 367 to 373 and from 379 to his death. He was also an author, though none of his work survives.Gelasius participated in the First Council of Constantinople in 381...

     367-372, 380-395
    • Euzoius 373-379
  • John the Khozibite (6th century)
  • Anastasius (11th century)

Archbishops of Caesarea

  • Baldwin (1101–1107)
  • Ehremar
    Ehremar
    Ehremar or Ebramar or Evremar was Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1102 to 1105 or 1107, and then Archbishop of Caesarea.Ehremar was a priest from Thérouanne in France who in old age went east with the First Crusade...

     (1108–1123 or later)
  • Gaudentius (c. 1140)
  • Baldwin II (?–1156?)
  • Harvey (1157–1173)
  • Heraclius
    Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem
    Heraclius or Eraclius , was archbishop of Caesarea and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Heraclius was from the Gévaudan in Auvergne, France. Like his later rival William of Tyre he studied law at the University of Bologna: his contemporaries and friends included Stephen of Tournai and Gratian...

     (1173–1180)
  • Monachus (1181–1194)
  • Peter (c. 1207)
  • Peter II (c. 1230)
  • Lociaumes (1244–1266)

unknown
  • Christophe de Cheffontaines (1578–1595)
  • Sigismund Albicus
    Sigismund Albicus
    Sigismund Albicus was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague and a Moravian.Albicus was born at Uničov, Moravia and entered the University of Prague when quite young, taking his degree in medicine in 1387....

  • Celio Piccolomini (1656–1665?)
  • Federico Baldeschi Colonna (1665–1675?)
  • Savo Millini (1675–1683)
  • Giacomo Cantelmi (1683–1690)
  • Lorenzo Casoni (1690–1711?)
  • Giorgio Spinola (1711–1721?)
  • Prospero Marefoschi (1721–1732)
  • vacant
  • Ignazio Michele Crivelli (1739–1764?)
  • Luigi Valenti Gonzaga (1764–1808?)


  • unknown
    • Antonio Agliardi (titular, 1884–1896)
    • Giuseppe Maria Graniello (1892–1893)
    • vacant
    • Pietro Gasparri
      Pietro Gasparri
      Pietro Gasparri was a Roman Catholic archbishop, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and signatory of the Lateran Pacts.- Biography :...

       (1898–1907)
    • vacant
    • Benedetto Aloisi Masella
      Benedetto Aloisi Masella
      Benedetto Aloisi Masella was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Discipline of the Sacraments from 1954 to 1968, and as Chamberlain of the Roman Church from 1958 until his death...

       (1919–1920?)
    • Luigi Maglione (1920–1935)
    • Luigi Traglia (1936–1960)
    • Dino Staffa
      Dino Staffa
      Dino Staffa was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura from 1967 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1967.-Early life and ordination:...

       (1960–1967)
    • vacant

    The Theological Library at Caesarea

    St Pamphilus of Caesarea
    Pamphilus of Caesarea
    Saint Pamphilus , was a presbyter of Caesarea and chief among Catholic Biblical scholars of his generation...

     devoted his life to searching out and obtaining ancient texts which he collected in the famous library that Jerome
    Jerome
    Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...

     was later to use, and established a school for theological study. In the scriptorium
    Scriptorium
    Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...

    , a necessary adjunct to all libraries of antiquity
    Ancient history
    Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...

    , he oversaw the production of accurate edited copies of Scripture. Testimonies to his zeal and care in this work are to be found in the colophon
    Colophon (publishing)
    In publishing, a colophon is either:* A brief description of publication or production notes relevant to the edition, in modern books usually located at the reverse of the title page, but can also sometimes be located at the end of the book, or...

    s of biblical manuscripts. Jerome's "De Viris Illustribus
    De viris illustribus
    De viris illustribus, meaning "On Illustrious / Famous Men", represents a trope of ancient Roman exemplary literature that was revived during the Italian Renaissance and inspired the assembly or commissioning of series of portraits of outstanding men— and sometimes, by the sixteenth century, of...

    "
    (75) says that Pamphilus "transcribed the greater part of the works of Origen of Alexandria with his own hand," and that "these are still preserved in the library of Cæsarea."

    Among other priceless lost treasures in the library, was the Gospel according to the Hebrews. Jerome knew of this copy of the so-called "Hebrew" or Aramaic text of the Gospel of Matthew and Eusebius refers to the catalogue of the library that he appended to his life of Pamphilus. A passage from the lost life, quoted by Jerome, describes how Pamphilus supplied poor scholars with the necessaries of life, and, not merely lent, but gave them copies of the Scriptures, of which he kept a large supply. He likewise bestowed copies on women devoted to study. The great treasure of the library at Caesarea was Origen's own copy of the "Hexapla
    Hexapla
    Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...

    ,"
    probably the only complete copy ever made. It was consulted by Jerome. St Pamphilus was martyred in February, 309.

    The collections of the library suffered during the persecutions under the Emperor Diocletian
    Diocletian
    Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244  – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

    , but were repaired subsequently by bishops of Caesarea. It was noted in the 6th century, but Henry Barclay Swete
    Henry Barclay Swete
    Henry Barclay Swete was an English Biblical scholar. He became Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge in 1890. He is known for his 1906 commentary on the Book of Revelation, and other works of exegesis....

     was of the opinion that it probably did not long survive the capture of Caesarea by the Saracens in 638, though a modern historian would attribute more destruction to its previous capture by the Sassanid Persians.

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