Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.
AQUINO-SORA-PONTECORVO, DIOCESE OF. — In the province of Frosinone, immediately subject to the Holy See. It has 191,000 inhabitants, divided into 88 parishes. The diocesan priests number 159. The bishop’s residence is at Sora. Patrons: of A., St. Costanzo; of S., St. Restituta (identified by Lanzoni with the African martyr); of P., St. John the Baptist.
A., a colony of the Hernici, later a Roman municipium, was the native town of Juvenal; St. Thomas was born (1226) in the nearby castle of Roccasecca.
(prop. A. P. Fruta)
The erection of the diocese is certain from the 5th century. A. was repeatedly devastated by plagues and wars; the last time in 1250, at the hands of Conrad IV.
S., an ancient Volscian city, was a Roman colony and municipium, the birthplace of Attilius Regulus. From Byzantine rule it passed to that of the Lombards of Benevento and then (787) to that of the Popes, the dukes of Spoleto, and the Normans. It was destroyed by Frederick II. The origin of the diocese is traced to the 3rd century, but the episcopal series begins in 1221.
P., founded at the end of the 9th century, passed, at the beginning of the 13th, to the Benedictines of Montecassino and then became a dependency of the territory of Benevento. In 1725 Benedict XIII elevated the collegiate church of P. to the status of cathedral, where the bishop and seminary already resided, and united it, *aequo principaliter*, to A., which was by then deserted. In 1818, when the dioceses of the Kingdom of Naples were reorganized, Pius VII united the diocese of S. to it on equal terms. The bishop now holds the three united titles.
The Benedictine abbey of S. Domenico in S. was founded by St. Dominic of Foligno, who died there in 1031 and is buried there.
The origins of Christianity in Aquitaine are obscure; even taking local traditions into account, it is not possible to trace them back beyond the 4th century. The earliest Churches of which there is record are those of Bordeaux, Eauze and Gabales, whose representatives were present at the Synod of Arles in 314. During the 6th century, now favoured by the State, the Gospel made progress in these regions, though it was hindered by the pagan habits of the natives. Under Constantius and Julian (353-63) the Arian crisis had its repercussions in Aquitaine, where some bishops fell victim to their good faith, while others took a clear stand; thus Paternus of Périgueux, who sided with Arianism, whereas Hilary of Poitiers and Febadius of Agen opposed II.
More serious was the crisis of Priscillianism (v.), which raised practical issues of life accessible to all, especially to women. The Church of Bordeaux resisted it, but in Novempopulana Priscillianism achieved successes whose effects persisted even into the 5th century. The ferment died down with the barbarian invasions that began in 407. In the following years the Goths wrested two Aquitanian provinces from imperial administration; Bourges alone held out, falling to the Visigoths in 475. The first years after these annexations were hard for the Church, and only under the reign of Alaric II (484-507) was there a more tolerant regime. Great changes were brought about by the victory of Clovis (508), which put an end to the Visigothic kingdom. Divided into three ecclesiastical provinces, with several bishops and a primate at Bourges, Aquitaine then formed a unit of its own, separated from the rest of France, later split up by the successors of Clovis and the Merovingian kings. In the 7th century there is a clear aspiration to independence, of which
AQUISG
(photo Enc. Celt.) Aachen – Cathedral. RANA – Choir of the Cathedral (14th cent.).
are evidence in the Romanesque and Baroque styles. In the octagon of the Cathedral the bronze chandelier in the form of a huge crown, a gift from Frederick Barbarossa, is noteworthy, and in the choir the famous pulpit, a gift from Henry II the Saint, with ivories of Alexandrian provenance. Most famous is the so-called Aachenfahrt, that is the pilgrimage to Aachen in order to venerate the many relics that had accumulated in the imperial treasury during the Middle Ages. From the middle of the 14th century this pilgrimage was celebrated only every seven years, from 10 to 24 July (i.e., seven days before and after the anniversary of the dedication of the Mariensittf, 17 July). This pilgrimage was considered one of the greatest in Christendom, with very rich indulgences, and drew hundreds of thousands of the faithful to Aachen. The last pilgrimage was that of 1925.
Bibl.: St. Beissel, Die Aachenfahrt, Freiburg in Br. 1902; H. Disselnkötter, Aachen grosse Heiligtümer und ihre geschichtliche Beglaubigung, Bonn 1909; F. M. Bucher, Forschungen zur karolingischen Kunstgeschichte, in Zeitschrift des Aach. Geschichtesvereins, 41 (1918), pp. 1-142; K. Faymonville, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Aachen, 3 voll., Düsseldorf 1916-24; W. Hermanns, Kaiser Karls Stadt, Aachen 1928; G. Grimme, Aachener Goldschmiedekunst, in Die christliche Kunst, 25 (1928-29), pp. 97-109; H. Gemünd-J. Buchkremer, Der Dom zu Aachen, 1935; V. also the periodical Aachener Kunstblätter published by the Civic Museum of Aachen and edited by F. Knuetgens. Giuseppe Löw
