CONVERSANO, DIOCESE OF. - A suffragan of Bari, perhaps originating in the ancient city of Norba; it was a Roman colony, then a municipium, later occupied first by the Byzantines and subsequently by the Goths. It covers 650 sq. km.; it has 18 parishes served by 95 diocesan priests and 15 regular clergy; it has a population of 100,000 inhabitants, all Catholic (1948).
The origin of the diocese of C. does not date back before the 7th century. The earliest documents, which however concern the abbey of S. Benedetto, go back to the 9th century, but it is likely that the erection of the episcopal see took place during the Lombard domination, when the town became a castrum included in the duchy of Benevento. The first two bishops in the series given by Ughelli must therefore be excluded: Simplicius of 487 and Hilarius of 501; the former being the product of legends and the latter to be assigned to Tempas in Bruttium and not to C. Among the other prelates worthy of mention are: Sasso, under whose episcopate the famous monastery of S. Benedetto, to which in 1087 Goffredo, nephew of the Guiscard, had donated the village of Castellano (or di Castellana), enjoyed numerous privileges from Paschal II (1110); and Casio or Caffasio, who
Conversano - Trulli of Alberobello.
CONVERSANO - CONVERSION
is the interior act, from which the new orientation and new life begin. Thus the traditional expression is justified: Fides initium salutis (v. FAITH; JUSTIFICATION).