The Italian Catholic diocese of Bertinoro existed from 1360 to 1986. In that year it was united into the diocese of Forlì-Bertinoro.[1]
Bertinoro is in Romagna, in the province of Forli. According to legend, about the year 303 St. Illuminata, a virgin of Ravenna, took refuge here, but was martyred.
Up to 1360 Bertinoro was subject to the Bishop of Forlimpopoli; in that year, however, Cardinal Albornoz being commander of the troops of Pope Gregory IX, Forlimpopoli was destroyed, when Albornoz took the city by force, obliged the inhabitants to abandon it, and razed it to the ground. The episcopal see was then transferred to Bertinoro, and the bishop, Roberto dei Resinelli, an Augustinian, took with him relics of St. Rufillus. In 1377 Roberto was succeeded by Bishop Teobaldo, who received from Pope Urban VI the civil authority over Bertinoro and Cesena, and fought against the bodies of mercenaries recruited by the Antipope Clement VII, by whom he was made prisoner.
Bishop Ventura degli Abati was highly praised by Pope Martin V for his learning and piety. Tommaso Caselli, a Dominican (1544), was an able theologian; Gianandrea Caligari (1580), formerly nuncio to Poland, restored the Cathedral of Santa Caterina. Giovanni della Robbia (1624), a Dominican, established at Forlimpopoli the Accademia degli Infiammati.
In 1803 Pope Pius VII suppressed the diocese of Bertinoro; it was re-established in 1817. From 1824 to 1859 it was united to the diocese of Sarsina.[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.