ANDRIA, Diocese of. - In Apulia, with an area of 1250 sq km, it extends over three municipalities in the province of Bari, and one in the province of Potenza; a suffragan of Trani. It comprises 20 parishes, 91 diocesan priests and 14 regulars, 110,000 inhabitants, all Catholics. The

ANDRIA - Portal of the church of St. Augustine (early 13th century).
(Ist. Gab. Fat. Rec.)

The cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption. The episcopal see is in A. (province of Bari).

It is claimed that A. was founded by colonists from Andros, led by Diomedes, whereas its origins appear to date back to Peter the Norman, count of Trani (1046); it was the preferred residence of Frederick II. A county and later a duchy of the Del Balzo family, annexed in 1496 to the kingdom of Naples through the marriage of Elisabetta Del Balzo to Frederick of Aragon, it retained the title of duchy, which passed (1518) to the Carafa house. The tradition that traces the erection of the bishopric back to Gelasius I around 482 is erroneous; it was in fact Gelasius II, who is said to have appointed there the Englishman St. Richard. The first bishop of whom there is reliable record appears in 1143; the regular succession begins in the 14th century. In 1452 the diocese of Montepeloso was united to A. and again separated in 1479. In 1818 the territory of the diocese of Canosa was annexed to A. and the bishopric of Minervino was incorporated. Among the illustrious men of A. we may mention the pontiff Leo V and the Dominican Peter of A., a disciple of St. Thomas.

Abbeys and monasteries: St. Bartholomew and St. Mary; numerous Basilian convents and underground churches built by these monks who took refuge in the territory between the 9th and 10th centuries to escape the persecutions of the Saracens. - See Pl. CVI.

Plate CVI (Int. Anderson) PORTAL OF THE CHURCH OF S. AGOSTINO (13th cent.) (Int. Anderson) PORTAL OF THE CHURCH OF S. FRANCESCO (13th cent.)

Plate CVI (Int. Anderson) PORTAL OF THE CHURCH OF S. AGOSTINO (13th cent.) (Int. Anderson) PORTAL OF THE CHURCH OF S. FRANCESCO (13th cent.)

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Ughelli, VII, coll. 920-35; R. D'Urso, Storia della città di A. dalle origini al 1841, Naples 1842; Cappelletti, XXI, pp. 77-85; E. Merra, Monografie ambicci, 3 vols., Bologna 1900; M. Agresti, Il Capitolo Cattedrale di A., ed i suoi tempi, 2 vols., Andria 1911-13; Lanzoni, pp. 294, 302, 304.

Nocmi Crostarosa Scipioni

@incollection{ec1_andria_diocesi_di, author = {Crostarosa, Scipioni Noemi}, title = {Andria, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {1212--1213}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/andria-diocesi-di} }

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Andria, Diocese of

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