Circular Letter
On January 26 the grand-duke issued a circular letter to the Tuscan bishops suggesting certain reforms, especially in the matter of the restoration of the authority of diocesan synods, the purging of the missals and breviaries of legends, the assertion of episcopal as against papal authority, the curtailing of the privileges of the monastic orders, and the better education of the clergy.
In spite of the hostile attitude of the great majority of the bishops, Bishop de Ricci issued on July 31 a summons to a diocesan synod, which was solemnly opened on the September 18. It was attended by 233 beneficed secular and 13 regular priests, and decided with practical unanimity on a series of decrees which, had it been possible to carry them into effect, would have involved a drastic alteration of the Church on the lines advocated by Febronius.
Read more about this topic: Synod Of Pistoia
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