MONTEMARANO. - An ancient diocese in the province of Benevento, of which it was a suffragan; today a village at 824 m. in the province of Avellino. The settlement was almost destroyed in 1138 by Ruggero the Norman.
The diocese was created by Pope Gregorio VII (1073–85), and its first bishop was the Benedictine monk St. Giovanni. Also remembered are: Giovanni, present at the Third Lateran Council (1179); Barbato, transferred to Dragonara in 1345; the Franciscans M. Tranisco (1346), G. Castella (1365), A. De Seni (1477), S. De Davidici (1484), A. Bonito (1484); then G. Isopo, who consecrated the Cathedral (1494); A. G. Rodriguez, a Franciscan, who took part in the Council of Trent; S. Brocati (1506), M. A. Genovesi (1603), F. A. Porpora (1636), U. Zambotto (1640), G. Battaglia, formerly parish priest in Roma (1658), C. Laboni, who restored the Cathedral (1670–1720), I. Sanseverino (1746), O. M. Ginnari (1774). In 1818 Pio VII, by the letter De utiliori, suppressed the diocese, uniting it with that of Nusco.
The ancient Cathedral, dedicated to the B. V. ASSENZA, has three naves, and in its crypt the first bishop, St. Giovanni, is buried.