ALATRI - Carved and painted wooden panel belonging to the «Madonna d'Alatri» (13th century) - Rome, Museo di Palazzo Venezia.
newly at war with Asti and in 1275, when attacked again, had to resign itself to an alliance with its enemy.
Once Provençal rule had fallen, the houses of Savoy, Achaea, Monferrato, and Milan contended for these lands. A., which passed to the Visconti in 1347, was transferred first under the rule of the Monferrato, then from them to the Paleologi and the Gonzaga, and in 1631, by the Treaty of Cherasco, was definitively incorporated into the states of Vittorio Amedeo of Savoy.
A. possesses an interesting cathedral dedicated to s. Lorenzo, an important building erected in Romanesque forms before the 10th century, enlarged in Lombard Gothic style in the 15th century at the initiative of Bishop Andrea Novelli, and consolidated in the last century by Arborio Mella. Inside there is a fine terracotta bas-relief and a precious inlaid and carved choir from the 15th century, attributed to Bernardo Fossato; VITA (v.) is buried there, a Latin prose writer and poet who was bishop of A. for more than 30 years. Also noteworthy is a Coronation ALBANI (v.), preserved in the municipal palace.
The diocese probably arose in 397, like the neighboring dioceses of Acqui, Aosta, Ivrea, and Turin, through the division of the diocese of Milan. The evangelization of A., attributed to s. Barnaba or to s. Dalmazzo (250), is legendary. There is no evidence that Dionysius, who begins a false series of bishops of A. (380) and is said to have been bishop of Milan, exiled in 355 by the emperor Constantine, actually existed. The first prelate of whom there is certain record is Lampadius, who attended the Council of Rome in 499, under the pontificate of Symmachus. Since A. was destroyed by the Saracens in 966, Bishop Fulcardus resigned, and the diocese, by decision of the Roman Council of 969 and of that of Milan, was united with that of Asti, but apparently only for a short time (985-992). In 1803 A. was again incorporated into Asti and restored in 1817.
Among its oldest monasteries are: the Benedictine abbey of S. Frontiano; the convent of S. Francesco; that of S. Domenico, founded around 1292 by the blessed Robaldo, a disciple of s. Domenico; and the monasteries of S. Caterina, S. Chiara, and S. Maria Maddalena, the last founded by the blessed Margherita of Savoy, widow of Teodoro, marquis of Monferrato, whose remains rest in the church itself.
The diocese is suffragan to Turin; it has 80 municipalities in the province of Cuneo and 2 in that of Alessandria. There are 136 parishes, 270 diocesan priests, and 70 religious priests. The Catholic inhabitants number 143,186. - Vedi Tav. XLVI.
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