BRINDISI, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Brindisi, a city in Apulia, is situated at the end of a deep inlet, which has two branches within: the spur between them is occupied by the town; the western branch forms the harbor, which is very well protected. Its foundation is very ancient and is attributed to Diomedes or the Cretans. It stands at the end of the Via Appia; of the two columns that marked its limit, one is intact, while of the other only the pedestal and a fragment remain, now in Lecce. The Via Traiana also ends at Brindisi; it starts from Benevento and joins the Egnazia at Aeca. A well-known maritime emporium since ancient times, it was a rival of Taranto; conquered by the Romans, it became a colony and then a municipality and constituted the principal port for communications between Rome and the East. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was successively prey to the Goths, the Saracens, and the Byzantines, all attracted by the importance of its geographical position; it was the scene and theater of struggles especially between the Byzantines and the Normans. Robert Guiscard, who conquered it in 1060, donated it to his brother Geoffrey. From the Normans it passed to the Swabians, and Frederick II, who embellished it with numerous constructions, ceded it to Manfred. After passing under Aragonese rule, it was ceded to the Spanish in 1520 and remained under their domination until the 18th century, when they were replaced by the Bourbons.
In such an important maritime center as Brindisi, there could certainly not be lacking colonies or groups of Orientals, who, as elsewhere, could have spread the Gospel; but precise and reliable information on the origin of the episcopate is lacking; it must be considered certain that Bishop Leucio was the first of the series of bishops of Brindisi; traditions make him a citizen of Alexandria of the 4th-5th century, others even a disciple of St. Peter. Leaving aside the latter as unfounded, we can accept the former as to the date, but not as to the circumstances that accompany II. Some other bishops are attested for the following centuries. What happened to Brindisi as a result of the Lombard invasion cannot be precisely determined; but Byzantine rule could continue even under the Carolingians without changes in character.
Following the first Saracen invasions (9th century), the bishop of Brindisi had to withdraw into the interior of the country to establish his residence in the better fortified and more easily defended city of Oria; unlike other places, no trace is found in this period at Oria of a Greek bishop. Bishop Theodotus worked hard to restore the religious organization disrupted by the Muslim invasion. At the end of the 10th century, it is supposed, Byzantine authority strove to withdraw from the Latin bishop of Oria any jurisdiction over the coast and especially over Brindisi. Freed from Greek influence by the Norman occupation, Brindisi appears as a Latin archbishopric without suffragans. In 1088 Urban II consecrated its new cathedral. Oria and its territory also remained included in the diocese of Brindisi until May 8, 1591, when it was erected into an independent diocese, while that of Nardò had been erected as early as 1413. The diocese of Ostuni was placed under the perpetual administration of the archbishop of Brindisi in 1821. Although Brindisi had long remained under Byzantine rule, without, however, having Greek bishops, the Greek rite, although not predominant, was widely diffused and had churches in which it was celebrated, such as S. Basilio, S. Andrea Apostolo, S. Giacomo Maggiore. It began to decline under Norman rule, but traces of it remained until the 13th century in some liturgical ceremonies, and later the influx of Greek and Albanian populations caused it to revive so that the church of S. Pietro was assigned to this rite.
Among the archbishops of Brindisi are to be remembered: G. Pietro Carafa (Paul III), Cardinal Girolamo Aleandro, humanist and nuncio in Germany, Francesco Aleandro, G. Bovio, translator of the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa.