Berissa
Encyclopedia
Berissa is a Roman Catholic titular see
in the former Roman province
of Pontus Polemoniacus, in Asia Minor, which Kiepert and W. M. Ramsay have identified with the modern village of Baulus (also known as Bolus), south-west of Tokat
.
, at the beginning of the sixth century, does not treat it as an independent city; but it is mentioned as such by Justinian in a Novella
of 536, among the cities of Armenia Secunda. It must be remembered that this emperor, when creating the province of Armenia Quarta in 536, gave to Armenia Prima the name of Armenia Secunda, without altering the established ecclesiastical organization, so that Berissa remained a suffragan see of Sebasteia.
Among its later bishops may be mentioned Thomas, who was present at the fifth ecumenical council at Constantinople, in 553 (Mansi, IX, 175), and another at the sixth in 680 (ibid., XI, 66). It appears still later in the Notitiae Episcopatuum
as suffragan to Sebasteia, and its name is written sometimes Berisse or Berisse; Merisse and Kerisse are merely palaeographical mistakes.
Berissa was a Latin bishopric as late as the fifteenth century, when Paul II appointed the Franciscan Libertus de Broehun to succeed the deceased bishop, John (Wadding, Annales Minorum, VI, 708).
Titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
in the former Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Pontus Polemoniacus, in Asia Minor, which Kiepert and W. M. Ramsay have identified with the modern village of Baulus (also known as Bolus), south-west of Tokat
Tokat
Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. According to the 2009 census, the city of Tokat has a population of 129,879.-History:Tokat was established in the Hittite era....
.
Ecclesiastical History
In the time of St. Basil it was included in the diocese of Ibora, as appears from letters LXXXVI and LXXXVII of the great bishop, but soon after became an independent bishopric in Armenia Prima, with Sebasteia as metropolis. This important change took place before 458, when its bishop, Maxentius (written wrongly Ausentius), subscribed with his colleagues of Armenia Prima the synodal letter to the Emperor Leo I (Mansi, XII, 587-589). HieroclesHierocles (author of Synecdemus)
Hierocles or Hierokles was a Byzantine geographer of the sixth century and the attributed author of the Synecdemus or Synekdemos, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each...
, at the beginning of the sixth century, does not treat it as an independent city; but it is mentioned as such by Justinian in a Novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
of 536, among the cities of Armenia Secunda. It must be remembered that this emperor, when creating the province of Armenia Quarta in 536, gave to Armenia Prima the name of Armenia Secunda, without altering the established ecclesiastical organization, so that Berissa remained a suffragan see of Sebasteia.
Among its later bishops may be mentioned Thomas, who was present at the fifth ecumenical council at Constantinople, in 553 (Mansi, IX, 175), and another at the sixth in 680 (ibid., XI, 66). It appears still later in the Notitiae Episcopatuum
Notitiae Episcopatuum
The Notitiae Episcopatuum are official documents that furnish Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church....
as suffragan to Sebasteia, and its name is written sometimes Berisse or Berisse; Merisse and Kerisse are merely palaeographical mistakes.
Berissa was a Latin bishopric as late as the fifteenth century, when Paul II appointed the Franciscan Libertus de Broehun to succeed the deceased bishop, John (Wadding, Annales Minorum, VI, 708).