[4] The fact that the ancient cathedral (now the Abbazia Fiesolana) stands outside the city is an indication that the Christian origins of Fiesole date from after the period of the persecutions.

They appealed for help to Pope Gregory I, who wrote a letter in May 599 to Bishop Venantius of Luni, asking him to contribute twenty solidi, or more if he has the resources, to the restoration project.

[7] Bishop Donatus of Fiesole, an Irish monk, was the friend and adviser of Emperors Louis the Pious and Lothair I.

Bishop Rodulfus requested permission from Pope Alexander III to transfer the seat of his bishopric to the more secure castle of Figline, and he is actually addressed in one letter as ep.

[11] In retaliation the Florentines completely destroyed the castle, and, to prevent its being rebuilt, they compelled the Bishop to reside in Florence at the Church of S. Maria in Campo.

[12] The unsatisfactory situation seems to have persisted for some time, for, on 16 December 1205, Pope Innocent III sent a mandate to the Abbot of Vallombrosa and Canon Gualando of Pisa, to summon the bishop and canons of Fiesole and the podestà, consuls, and councilors of Florence to a meeting, to find a suitable place in the diocese of Fiesole to which the seat of the bishop could be transferred.

Pope Honorius therefore commissioned an investigative committee on 10 July 1219, composed of the Carmelite abbots of S. Galgano and of S. Michele, to conduct a visitation of the diocese and ascertain the facts behind the reports.

Reports reached Pope Honorius including one from the Bishop of Modena, who had travelled to Florence and witnessed the situation.

The Florentines had put Bishop Hildebrand under the ban, and had imposed an outrageously large fine of 1,000 pounds of current money on him.

[19] Andrew Corsini (1352), born in 1302 of a noble Florentine family, after a reckless youth, became a Carmelite friar, studied at Paris, and, as a bishop, was renowned as a peacemaker between individuals and states.

On 5 May 1639, Pope Urban VIII issued a motu proprio in which he granted Bishop Lorenzo Robbia and his successors as bishops of Fiesole the right to exercise their episcopal powers not only at the parish church of S. Maria in Campo in Florence, which belonged to the diocese of Fiesole, but also, like an Apostolic Delegate, beyond the limits of that parish in every part of the city and diocese of Florence.