Toynbee "Lunensis"
belonging to Luni; Lunensis pontifex, the bishop of Luni (i.e. Gherardino da Filattiera), Epist. xi. 15 [Filattiera, Gherardino da: Luni] [Malaspina]. [Cf. B SDI, iii (1895), xi.] C. S. Latham gives the following account [A Translation of Dante's Eleven Letters (Boston, 1892), pp. 168-9] of the state of affairs during the episcopate of Gherardino (1312?21) at Luni:

The Bishops of Luni at this tilue zs erc powerful temporal lords, but in 1313, when Gherardino refused to render obedience to Henry VII and to take part in the coronation at Milan, the Emperor deprived him of his temporal power. Although Henry died shortly after at Buonconvento, the Ghibellines threw themselves upon the bishopric of Luni to despoil it of its dominions, and Gherardino had to abandon the diocese. The Malaspina themselves were not the last to assail it, caring little for their relationship with the Bishop, when they perceived the gain that would accrue to them. Gherardino, being hard pressed, cast his eyes upon a young soldier who had just returned from England and France, where he had made a great name in arms. This was Castruccio Castracani, who was named Viscount of the Bishopric of Luni on July 4, 1314, by Gherardino; from this must date the beginning of his brilliant career. The Bishop, however, did not have great cause to be satisfied with his choice, for although Castruccio succeeded in taking Fosdinovo, and in driving the relations of Gherardino from one part of Lunigiana, the temporal power of the Bishops of Luni was much shaken, and little by little vanished. Gherardino died in 1321, when Castruccio Castracani was lord of Lucca.

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press