This statement is confirmed by the many charters, immunities, etc.,
addressed to the episcopal authorities; and direct proof of it may be
had by reference to the controversy which arose in the first half of
the eighth century between the bishops of Arezzo and Siena, which
dispute was based on the fact that for reasons definitely stated these
two dioceses formed an exception to the general rule. The strength of
the proof lies in this exception, which had a well-known cause for its
origin. Some of the documents[15] in the case, of the year 715, show
that the bishop of Siena claimed for his jurisdiction certain churches
which belonged to the diocese of Arezzo, basing his claim solely on
the ground that these churches were situated in the _territorium_ of
Siena. The bishop of Arezzo, on the other hand, claims them as part of
his diocese, on the ground that they had formed part of it ever since
the beginning of Lombard rule in Italy; and--which is the part of
importance to us--gives as the only reason for their having been
attached to the diocese of a neighboring _territorium_, the fact that
at that early date there was no bishop in the _territorium_ of Siena.
That a claim of such a character should have been based on the
argument of the natural coincidence of the boundaries of _territorium_
and diocese, is sufficient proof of the identity of these limits at
that age.
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