ASCOLI SATRIANO-CERIGNOLA, DIOCESE OF. — In Apulia, in the province of Foggia, a suffragan of Benevento. It has 15 parishes, 57 diocesan priests and 18 regular clergy, 86,921 inhabitants, all Catholic. Seat: Ascoli Satriano (summer), Cerignola (winter). Patrons: of Ascoli Satriano, St. Potitus; of Cerignola, St. Peter.
Ascoli Satriano, burned by the Saracens and destroyed by the Normans, was rebuilt nearby and became a duchy in 1400. The origins of the diocese are uncertain; it is mentioned in the founding bull of the Archbishop of Benevento (969), but no bishops are known until the 11th century (Mauro in 1058); it seems that the episcopal title of Ardona was transferred to II.
Cerignola is believed to have been founded by the dispersed inhabitants of Cerina, a Greek colony not far away, destroyed by Alexander, King of Epirus. Razed by an earthquake in 1731, it was rebuilt. In 1818, Pius VII, in reorganizing the churches of the Kingdom of Naples, granted it episcopal dignity and united it with Ascoli Satriano.
Abbeys and monasteries: St. John; St. Mary; St. Michael; St. Leonard, a commandery of the Teutonic Order founded by Frederick II; SS. Benedict and Lazarus.
ASCOLI PICCINO — Church of St. James (13th century).
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