Storia della residenza della Diocesi Romano-Cattolica di Bacău (1607-1818)

The article explores the history of the Diocese of Bacău and its bishop’s residence. A marble monument, located in the north-western part of the city of Bacău, and built in 2000 by the Diocese of Iaşi, summarizes – with its references – the historical memory of the existence of the Diocese of Bacău and serves as the starting point for this historical study. The beginnings and almost the entire existence of the Diocese of Bacău are linked to the monastery of the Franciscan Observants Friars of Şumuleu-Ciuc. Their church became the cathedral of the diocese and the monastery the residence for the bishop. The bishops who led the Moldavian diocese – most of them of Polish origin – had a difficult life for various reasons: conflicts with the Franciscans of Şumuleu-Ciuc, political circumstances, the poverty of the country, Turkish incursions, and even the floods of 1676, which caused the destruction of the cathedral and monastery. Four of the bishops – Bernardino Quirini, Gerolamo Arsengo, Valerianus Łubieniecki and Marco Bandini – were buried in the cathedral of the city of Bacău. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the old cathedral, nor of the cemetery that was once around the church. However, various civil and religious documents of the time allow us to reconstruct the history of the Diocese of Bacău and to weave, even with unique details, the picture of the life of the Catholic community in Moldavia at that time.