When Count Roger I restored the see of Catania in 1092 he gave the city to its bishop, and the bishop is still the lord of this port under Etna, with a Benedictine cathedral chapter and the shrine of St Agatha.
It is a suffragan see of Monreale. Who holds it on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; in 1208 the chancellor Walter of Palear will take it for himself.
Who holds it
- Title
- Bishop of Catania, lord of the city
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No bishop for these years could be named from the sources consulted. The see was restored on 9 March 1092 and made a suffragan of Monreale on 5 February 1183 (GCatholic). The chancellor Walter of Palear will become bishop of Catania in 1208 (en.wikipedia).
What it holds
- Catania: lordship of the city held by the bishop since Count Roger I's restoration of the see [medium]
- Estates and villages on the lower slopes of Etna [thin]
How it was acquired
The see was restored in 1092 (GCatholic) by Count Roger I, who gave the city to the bishop [medium]; Monreale became its metropolitan in 1183 (GCatholic).
How things stand that morning
A bishop's city; the bishop not pinned [thin].
Wealth
The port; the grain of the Catania plain; pilgrims to St Agatha.
Threats
- The regency war in eastern Sicily: Markward will be beaten at Randazzo, on Etna's northern side, in 1200 (Federiciana)
Advocates and rivals
The citizens; the royal government; the archbishop of Monreale as metropolitan; the chancellor Walter of Palear, who will hold the see from 1208.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The see's dates are documented; the bishop of 1200 and the extent of his lordship are not, in the sources consulted.
On the map: Only the city is drawn; the bishop's rural estates around Etna are not pinned.
Primary sources for Sicily
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
- Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
- Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
- Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
- The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online
7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.
Sources and studies
- Archdiocese of Catania: history (GCatholic)
- Walter of Palearia (en.wikipedia)
- Marcovaldo di Annweiler (Treccani, Enciclopedia Federiciana)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.