DIOCESE OF ASTORGA. - In Spain, suffragan of Valladolid since 1851. The ancient Asturica Augusta, in the province of León, 40 km. from that city, sits on a height (870 m.) in the upper basin of the Douro and has about 7,000 inhabitants. It was an episcopal see in the middle of the 3rd century. In this first period, two are the most salient points of its history: Priscillianism in the 4th and 5th centuries, and monasticism, which flourished in the 7th century (v. FRUCTUOSUS OF BRAGA, St.). A. was then a metropolis of Galicia (4th century and first half of the 5th century). After the kingdom of the Suevi disappeared, in 585 it became a suffragan of Braga until 1851. From 714-15 until the end of the 9th century there is no further reliable information about the diocese; it flourished anew in the 10th century through the work of the bishops St. Gennadius (899-920), Fortis (920-29) and Solomon (931-51). A., the Bierzo and other districts of the diocese became populated with monasteries. The monks, as well as the clergy and the population, were in large part «muzàrabes», come from the south of Spain. From 1034 to 1041 the chronicler Sampiro was bishop; Peter Andrés IV assisted at the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215); the Franciscan Fernando of A., residing in Portugal, appointed bishop by Urban VI, was never able to reach A., since it was under the obedience of the popes of Avignon. The bishops of A. also took part in the Council of Trent. During the 16th century three diocesan synods were held (1518, 1533, 1592). The cathedral chapter, very numerous in past centuries, has consisted since 1851 of 7 dignitaries, 7 canons and 12 beneficed clergy. The Marquis of A., by concession of Clement VII, had the right to present candidates to the vacant posts of the chapter. The present diocesan seminary is the work of the bishop Antonio López (1785-87), enlarged by his successors, while the minor seminary was founded by Msgr. Senso Lázaro (1915).
Among the shrines of the Madonna, that of S. Maria de las Ermitas is famous, built by the bishop A. Mexia Tovar (1624). The cathedral (15th-18th centuries) is in the Gothic «plateresco» and Baroque style, has a rich artistic treasure and, since 1918, an archaeological museum; the reredos of the high altar is the masterpiece of Gaspar Becerra (1569).
The fortnightly diocesan bulletin has been published since 1852. Statistics: 12,461 sq. km., 500,000 inhabitants, all Catholics; 887 parishes, 637 diocesan priests and 24 regulars.