CIUDAD RODRIGO, DIOCESE OF. - A city in Spain, in the province of Salamanca and a suffragan diocese of Valladolid. It borders to the north and east on the diocese of Salamanca, to the south on that of Coria, and to the west on Guarda and Braganza (Portugal), extending over a territory of 4,259 sq. km. with a population of 140,000 all Catholic, served by 106 parishes and 130 priests (1948). The patron saint is St. Isidore of Seville.
The present diocese was erected in the 12th century by King Ferdinand II of León, shortly after the expulsion of the Saracens from the city. Since the see of Caliabria (Portugal) was united to it, the bishops of Ciudad Rodrigo also took the title Caliabrenses. This union, effected solely by royal decree, was initially opposed by the bishops of Salamanca until an agreement between the two dioceses was ratified by Alexander III in 1175. The first bishop of the diocese was a Benedictine named Peter, in 1184; but little is known of him or his successors until the 14th century. In the 15th century the see was governed by two notable prelates, founders of the Spanish hospice in Rome: Alfonso de Palenzuela, O.F.M., and his successor Alfonso de Paradinas. After the intruding bishop Pedro Alcántara (1835), the diocese was administered by an apostolic administrator until 1851, when, following the Concordat between Spain and the Holy See, it was united to that of Salamanca, with which it remained for some time before being entrusted to an apostolic administrator with episcopal character, who still governs II.
Among the monuments, noteworthy is the cathedral founded by Ferdinand II, King of León, and built between 1170 and 1130; it is a national monument in Romanesque style with three naves and three apses, featuring Romanesque portals; the tympanum of the main door is richly sculpted. Also notable are the churches of St. Augustine and that of Cerralbo. Notable shrines include Our Lord of Nazareth in San Félix de los Gallegos, with an image attributed to Gregorio Hernández (feast on May 3); that of the Holy Christ of La Laguna near Aldehuela; of Our Lady of Peña de Francia (feast on September 8); and of the Blessed Virgin of Caballeros in Villavieja de Yeltes.