Guglielmo da Villanova di Francia'' or ''di Franchi, O. Min. (Latin: ''Guilelmus de Villanova'') (French: ''Guillaume de Villeneuve'') was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as

Bishop of Trieste The Italian Roman Catholic Diocese of Trieste ( la, Dioecesis Tergestina) in the Triveneto, has existed since no later than 524, and in its current form since 1977. The bishop's seat is in Trieste Cathedral. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese ...

(1327–1330), Bishop of Sagone (1323–1327), and as an auxiliary bishop of Khanbalik. ''(in Latin)''

Biography

Villeneuve was most likely from Villeneuve-les-Avignon. On 23 July 1307, he was named by

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

along with six other Franciscan bishops (

Andrew of Perugia Andrew of Perugia ( la, Andreas Perusinus; died ) was a Franciscan friar and Bishop born in Perugia, Italy, and active in China in the 14th century. He was Bishop of Quanzhou (ancient Zaiton) in Fujian from 1322. He was initially sent to China in ...

, Andreuccio d'Assisi, Gerardo Albuini, Nicola da Banzia, Ulrico von Seyfriedsdorf, and Peregrino da Castello) to travel to China to consecrate

John of Montecorvino John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian (1247 – 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman, founder of the earliest Latin Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking. He converte ...

as Archbishop of Khanbalik. He was consecrated in the same year by

Niccolò Alberti Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The fe ...

Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia The Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia is an ecclesiastical territory located within the Metropolitan City of Rome in Italy. It is one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses. The incumbent Bishop is cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Since 11 ...

. He was unable to leave with the others and on 1 May 1308, Pope Clement V, instead ordered him to leave for

Tartaria Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...

''sine dilatione qualibet'' (without any delay). Although in January 1318, he appeared at the court of the Pope in Avignon (alongside Girolamo Catalano, former auxiliary bishop of Khanbalik and the first Bishop of Caffa, a Genoese colony in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

) using the title ''Episcopus apud Tartaros'' or "Bishop at Tartary" or "Bishop among Tartars", he remained a suffragan bishop of Montecorvino and did not hold an episcopal jurisdiction. It is uncertain whether he actually travelled to China where Montecorvino was resident or was assigned a geographic area of responsibility with it being most likely that he worked as a missionary bishop traveling throughout the regions occupied by the Mongols. On 28 Feb 1323, he was appointed by

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...

as Bishop of Sagone. In 1324, he travelled with papal legate

Bertrand du Pouget Bertrand du Pouget (Italian ''Bertrando del Poggetto'') (1280 – 3 February 1352) was a French papal diplomat and Cardinal. Bertrand was born in Castelnau-Montratier. He may have been a nephew of Pope John XXII. As cardinal he was closely ...

during the

Papal Army The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

's intervention in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. On September 25, 1327, he was transferred to the diocese of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. He died in Trieste in 1330.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villanova, Guglielmo da 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in China Bishops appointed by Pope Alexander VIII Bishops appointed by Pope John XXII Conventual Franciscan bishops 1330 deaths