The tradition of Cremona considers St. Sabinus to be its first missionary and first bishop; he is said to have lived in the 1st century, though there is no documentary or monumental proof of his existence.
Liudprand of Cremona was sent (946) as ambassador to Constantinople by the Emperor Otto II, and is a noted historical writer of the 10th century.
[7] On 21 September 603, Cremona, until then a part of the Byzantine Empire, was captured by the Lombard king, Agilulf and completely destroyed.
[14] His ill-treatment of the monks roused the anger of the citizens of Cremona, who had already twice suffered under the invasion of German imperial armies.
[15] The bishop's servants who were inside the castle were able to make an arrangement with the canons of the cathedral to ransom themselves with all of their goods, but their houses were destroyed.
Thenceforth Cremona became a citadel of Ghibellinism and was greatly favoured by Frederic Barbarossa and Emperor Frederick II, though for the same reason frequently at war with the neighbouring cities.
[25] Other important bishops were Gualtiero (1096), in whose time the cathedral was begun;[26] Sicardus (1185–1215), author of a chronicle and of the Mitrale, a handbook on ecclesiastical offices;[27] Cacciaconte da Somma (1261–1285), under whom was erected the belfry of the cathedral; Niccolo Sfondrati (1560–1590), later Pope Gregory XIV; his nephew Cardinal Paolo Sfondrati (1607–1610); also the zealous and charitable Omobono di Offredi (1791–1829).
The other party pointed out that, while Egidiolus had more votes than Egidius, he had not reached a majority and his supporters were not the sanior pars of the electors; moreover, he possessed insufficient knowledge and his lifestyle was not commendable (as required by the Lateran Council).
Sanclemente, relying on the authority of an unpublished manuscript by Giuseppe Maria Bonafossa, states that Egidiolus immediately demanded confirmation of his election from his metropolitan, Archbishop Gaston of Milan.
Egidiolus' opponents immediately registered a complaint with the archbishop, and demanded the confirmation of Egidius de Madalbertis, according to Cappelletti.
The papal Sede vacante lasted until 7 August 1316, when the Conclave elected Cardinal Jacques Duèse as Pope John XXII.
[34] Since bishop-elect Egidius was still living in Avignon on 4 August 1319, he assigned to Frater Thomas of the house of S. Abundantius in Cremona the care of the physical fabric of the cathedral.
[35] Conditions in Cremona at the time are revealed in a letter to the Abbess and nuns of the monastery of Cistello, just outside the walls of Cremona, dated 6 October 1319; he commiserates with the nuns over the fact that they have been forced to abandon their monastery because of the incursions of hostile persons, and take up residence inside the city in houses of private individuals.
On 20 September 1325, Pope John sent a letter to Cardinal Giacomo Caetani Stefaneschi of S. Giorgio ad velum aureum, authorizing him to accept Bishop-elect Egidius' resignation, and to take charge of the administration of the diocese himself.
In his letter of transmittal, he admits that his predecessors for more than seventy years, because of their long absences, had allowed some of the clergy and people of the diocese to go wrong, which made corrections both beneficial and necessary.