BADAJOZ, DIOCESE of. — In Spain, suffragan of Seville. The episcopal city is the most important in Extremadura and the capital of a vast province. As a diocese, B. appears for the first time in 903–904 and still existed in the year 1000; it was probably erected in the 9th century, perhaps succeeding Emerita, Mérida (v.). After the city was reconquered following the expulsion of the Moors around 1227–30, the diocese too was restored. Because of difficulties that arose with the military Orders of St James, Calatrava, the Temple, and the Hospital, the boundaries of the new diocese were not established until 1256 and 1257. Until the 19th century, the aforementioned Orders exercised jurisdiction over the parishes of the castles and towns that they had taken from the Arabs. The relations between the bishop and the Orders led to frequent conflicts until 1874, when the aforementioned Orders were placed under a titular bishop residing in Ciudad Real. It suffered greatly from the wars, especially in the 14th and 17th centuries (1640–68), and lost several parishes that passed to Portugal. Among its bishops, the Dominican Giovanni Morales (1415–43) distinguished himself as ambassador of Castile at the Council of Constance; he celebrated a Synod in 1419 and built several churches; Alonso Manrique de Lara (1499–1516), later cardinal Francesco de Navarra (1545–56), who took part in the Council of Trent; Cristoforo de Rojas (1556–63); b. Giovanni de Ribera (1562–68) (v.); and Agostino Antolinez (1675–77), who died with a reputation for holiness.
Giovanni M. del Rodezno (1681–1706), Amador Merino Malaguilla (1730–55), and Emanuele Pérez Minayo (1755–79) promoted artistic and social works. It has an area of 16,350 sq. km. and 650,000 inhabitants, all Catholics; 151 parishes, 231 diocesan priests, and 78 religious priests (1948). It is suffragan of Seville. During the last civil war, 28 priests, 6 religious, and 2 seminarians were killed. The monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated. Also noteworthy are the Cathedral (13th–14th centuries) and the Gothic cloister (1509–20). In the chapter house, converted into a museum, paintings by Ribera, Zurbarán, and others are preserved. It has one major seminary and two minor seminaries. The former was founded in 1664 by G. Rodríguez de Valderas, but the present building is the work of Bishop Minayo (1770–79), enlarged in the 19th century. It possesses a library open to the public with 17,000 volumes.