MATELICA, DIOCESE of. - In the Marche. It was an episcopal see in the 5th century, since the names of the bishops Equizio (478), Basilio, and Fiorenzo are known; the latter was at Constantinople with Pope Vigilio in 551 (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 930). The absolute lack of later information suggests that the bishopric became extinct, perhaps as a result of the Lombard invasions. It was restored in 1785 Fabriano (v.) « aeque principaliter ». For statistical data V. FABRIANO.
Among the monasteries, mention should be made of the convent of nuns of S. Maria Maddalena, dating from the 13th century, now the convent and church of the B. Mattia. In 1655 a community of Oratorians of the Oratory of S. Filippo was established at M.; it became a well-known quietist circle directed by Fr. Matteo Romiti of the same Congregation (1685; M. Petrocchi, Il quietismo italiano del Seicento, Roma 1948, p. 106).
The history of the city was connected first with the Duchy of Spoleto, and in the struggles between Empire and Church in the 12th century it suffered the devastations of Cristiano di Magonza (1175). Subsequently it was under the lordship of the Ottoni, who were invested with it by Bonifacio IX in 1394, and it followed the subsequent fortunes of the Papal States.