[2][3] Legend makes Albenga the scene of the martyrdom of Calocerus of Brescia (Calogero), an officer of the court of Hadrian, between the years 121 and 125.

In a letter of 26 September 1159 from his refuge in Terracina, Pope Alexander wrote to Archbishop Syrus of Genoa and his suffragans his own version of what had happened.

[9] The legate of Alexander III, Cardinal Iohannes de' Conti di Segni, was sent north to the Po Valley, where, on 27 February 1160, he excommunicated Ubertus of Milan.

Driven from Rome by Imperial troops immediately after his election, Alexander III sought refuge in Genoa on 21 January 1162, where he stayed until his departure for France on 25 April.

[11] During his stay in Genoa, Pope Alexander addressed the problem of Milan and Albenga, and a number of other dioceses in Liguria, Piedmont, and Lombardy.

The Pope then granted (concessit) to the archbishop of Genoa and his successors the monastery on the island of Gallinaria (just offshore Albenga), which had up to that point belonged directly to the Holy See.

[13] He also transferred the parishes of Porto Veneris and its neighborhood (a port of the Genoese fleet) from the diocese of Luni (which was under the control of the Emperor) to the archbishop of Genoa.

[17] Bishop Lanterius (Lauterius) is still listed as belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Milan at the III Lateran Council in March 1179.

Oberto was suspended from episcopal authority by the Visitors, and ordered to present himself at the Papal Court to explain his conduct, which he never did.

In fact, when the Archbishop of Vercelli appeared and explained the whole matter to the Pope, Bishop Oberto disappeared, and a diligent search was unable to locate him.

Pope Innocent then took counsel with his advisors, and Oberto was judged unworthy of the ministry of the altar (ministerio altaris indignum).

Then the Pope wrote a letter to Bisho-elect Sessa, ordering him and the Archbishop of Vercelli to use the powers granted to them when they were named Apostolic Visitors to depose Bishop Oberto.

Bishop Oberto, however, returned to the Papal Court, and engaged in a series of delaying tactics, offering one excuse after another, which were contrary to the information in the committee report, and promising that he would prove his statements at an appropriate time (opportuno tempore).

[22] On 8 July 1213, Innocent addressed a mandate to the Abbot of Tileto, to warn the Albengans and to get them, by ecclesiastical censures without right of appeal, to render obedience and reverence to the Archbishop of Genoa as their Metropolitan.

[28] The Chapter itself was already in existence by 1076, when Bishop Deodatus gave a mansio in Toirano to the monastery of S. Pietro in Varatella, with the consent of the three dignities and eleven priests and deacons.

[48] By the mid-17th century, the diocese was host to the following religious orders: the Dominicans at Albenga, Diano Marina, Pietra, and in Toirano; the Conventual Franciscans in Albenga; the Observant Franciscans in Albenga, Diano Castello, Dolcedo, Porto Maurizio, and Triora; the Reformed Franciscans in Alassio, Pietra, S. Remo and Maro; the Capuchins in Alassio, Loano, Oneglia, Porto Maurezio, San Remo, and Pieve; the Augustinians in Cervo, Loana, Oneglia, Pontedassio, Pieve, and Triora; the Minims of S. Francesco di Paola in Albenga and Borghetto S. Spirito; the Discalced Carmelites at Loano; the Certosini at Toirano; and the Jesuits in San Remo and Alassio.

The Emperor Charles V organized an alliance of Italian cities and states, to defend Piedmont from the incursions of the French, and Albenga became a member of that league.

From 1794 through 1796 the armies of the French Republic used the road through Albenga to enter Lombardy and the Po Valley in their war against the Austrians.

In June 1797 a civil war broke out in Genoa, which, under the inspiration of General Napoleon Bonaparte, led to the establishment of the Ligurian Republic,[51] of which Albenga became a member.

[53] Bishop Paolo Maggiolo (1791–1802) was forced by a violent mob to flee from his cathedral, finding refuge in the parish of Bardino Vecchio, where he died and was buried.

[55] In 1810, Bishop Angelo Dania issued a pastoral letter, in which he announced the suppression of all of the religious houses in the diocese of Albenga, in accordance with French laws.

On 14 February 1814, Pope Pius VII, having been released from his captivity by Napoleon at Fontainbleau, arrived at Albenga, while on his journey to Savona.

Carmelo Cordiviola (1820–1827) had the unenviable task of restoring order and repairing the damage done by the French and their collaborator Bishop Dania.

[58] In 1866 Bishop Raffaele Biale sold the entire island on which the monastery of S. Maria e S. Martino was located to Signor Leonardi Gastaldi.