CONZA. — It is the ancient Compsa, in the land of the Hirpini. Having passed from Roman rule to Gothic, Byzantine, and Lombard dominion, in 1076 it became part of the Norman kingdom. The first record of the Church of C. dates to 743; at a Roman synod held that year, Bishop Pelagius subscribed, but it is highly probable that the Church existed earlier.
In the *Martyrologium Hieronymianum* under October 30, the entry reads *in Comsa Maximi*, but this refers to a martyr whose name is closely linked with Cumae in Campania, where medieval hagiographical and martyrological tradition localized the cult of Maximus. Toward the end of the 10th century, C. was increasingly prominent. On July 12, 1989, Pope John XV decreed that the bishop of C. should be consecrated by the archbishop of Salerno. On July 20, 1908, the first evidence of the archiepiscopal dignity of C. appears; Salerno was its primatial see.
With an apostolic constitution of September 30, 1921, the archdiocese of C. was divided; of the 24 towns previously belonging to it, 11 remained, while 13 were assigned to the diocese of Campagna, immediately subject to the Holy See.
C., while retaining its rights and privileges as a metropolitan church, was united with the diocese of Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi and Bisaccia, founded in the 12th century, whose ordinary takes the title and honor of Archbishop of C. and Bishop of Sant’Angelo.