Manfredonia, Diocese of

MANFREDONIA, DIOCESE of. — City and archdiocese in the province of Foggia (Italy).

It has a population of 112,040 inhabitants, of whom 111,903 are Catholics; it has 16 parishes, 76 diocesan priests and 17 religious priests, one seminary, 4 male religious communities, and 14 female ones (Annuario Pont., 1951, p. 262).

1. HISTORY

M. was founded by Manfredi in 1256, after ancient Siponto had lain in ruins, destroyed by the Saracen assault and by the earthquake. Once the diocese was transferred, it inherited from it, together with its glories, all its privileges as well. The origin of the see of Siponto is lost in legend. The first historically attested bishop is a Felice, present at the Roman Council of 465. The second, Lorenzo, appears in two later Lives, one of which, written by an anonymous author, contains data that are not always acceptable; while the other, heavily reworked in the 11th century, confuses facts and episodes that are unjustified before the Byzantine domination. Lorenzo’s episcopate is to be placed between the 5th and 6th centuries; he is associated with the consecration of the celebrated Gargano shrine of the archangel s. Michele, which achieved such renown in the Middle Ages. The third bishop was a Felice (one, and not two as Ughelli maintains), attested between 591 and 593 (Jaffé-Wattenbach, nos. 1121, 1245, 1246, 1247, 1288). He was followed by Vitaliano (597–99; ibid., 1495, 1496, 1638 and 1791) and Ruffino, who took part in the Lateran Council of Martin I (649). At this time a tragic period of devastation began for Siponto, caused by Slavs, Saracens, and Lombards, so that the population was dispersed and the episcopal see entrusted to Benevento. Only in the early years after 1000 did Siponto regain its independence through Pope Benedict VIII, who raised the see to metropolitan rank with various suffragan dioceses. The first titular archbishop, Leone (1034), established his see at Monte Gargano, but he was also the only one. Divergences over religious privileges,

which arose between Siponto and Monte Gargano, and consequently the continued subjection of the Siponto see to that of Benevento, desired by Leone IX, produced a state of uncertainty until 1066, when Alexander II definitively separated the churches, appointing as archbishop of Siponto Gerardo I, a most learned German monk of the Benedictine Order. Subsequently Siponto acquired new privileges. Paschal II subjected Vieste to the Siponto church, Eugene III did the same with Monte Gargano, and in 1200 Innocent III confirmed both privileges.

It was the archbishop Ruggero who witnessed the decline of Siponto and the birth of M.; entering solemnly with his clergy in 1258, he confirmed the continuity of the Siponto church while at the same time inaugurating the succession of the prelates of M. The church of this city, long agitated by the ancient controversies and repeatedly disturbed by the winds of schism, has left painful episodes in the history of the episcopate. Yet M. has more than once linked its name to the noblest figures among the princes of the Church.

II. MONUMENTI

Siponto fu la città madre di M.; tra le sue vestigia si conservano ancora i monumenti più importanti. In una landa deserta sorge ancora la celebre chiesa di S. Maria Maggiore, in forme romanico-bizantine, a pianta quadrata, con cupola bassa ed absidi laterali. È composta di due chiese sovrapposte, che sarebbero due costruzioni distinte, perché la superiore, consacrata da Pasquale II nel 1117, fu compiuta quando l'altra era ormai interrata e rovinata dai guasti del tempo e dai movimenti tellatrici. Comunque, il pregio maggiore è, oltre che nelle forme, nella ricca decorazione che attinge ai tipi bizantini, riplasmati da quel senso di classico equilibrio, che informa quasi dovunque i capolavori dell'arte medievale pugliese. A un miglio circa dalle rovine di Siponto s'erge tuttora la chiesa di S. Leonardo, che da vicino richiama le cattedrali pugliesi a più cupole. Quadrata, con forti archi ad ogiva sproventi su robusti polistili, serba ancora molto della sua struttura, nonostante l'abbandono e le amputazioni subite dagli edifici addossati. Di M. poco di notevole da segnalare, ad eccezione del Duomo del sec. XIII, che peraltro ha quasi tutto perduto nella ricostruzione in forme moderne.