OSIMO and CINGOLI, DIOCESES OF — United dioceses, the first in the province of Ancona, the second in that of Macerata.
Osimo has an area of 150 sq. km. with a population of 44,515 inhabitants, all Catholic; it has 28 parishes served by 67 diocesan priests and 27 regular clergy; it has 5 male and 15 female religious communities.
Cingoli has an area of 105 sq. km. with a population of 13,000 inhabitants, all Catholic; it has 11 parishes served by 24 diocesan priests and 14 regular clergy; it has 2 male and 3 female religious communities. (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 304).
In the Acts of St. Antimo (BHL, 361) the Osimo martyrs Sisinnio the deacon, Diocletian and Florentius are mentioned; but on the more reliable testimony of the Hieronymian Martyrology and of later local cult, the authentic martyrs of Osimo are considered to be Florentius and Diocletian (L. Allevi, Le origini cristiane delle Marche, in Atti e memorie della Deputazione di storia patria, 5th series, 2-3 [1938], p. 257). The episcopal see is attested as vacant for a long time, diu pastorali sollicitudine destituam, in a letter of Gregory the Great from 599 (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 1624-25) and is certainly anterior to this period. But nothing certain is known of the bishop St. Leopardo, whose legend (BHL, 4884) makes him a contemporary of Pope Innocent I (401-17); his fairly ancient cult (11th century) is attested by the city statutes, compiled under Bishop Pietro Ascolano (in 1371). In the preamble, Leopardo, Vitalian and Benvenuto are invoked as sanctissimi confessores (O. Sabbatini, Sul fondamento giuridico degli Statuti comunali. Un documento osimano del sec. XIV, in Studia Picena, I [1925], p. 74); Vitalian is mentioned in an epitaph walled up in the crypt of the Duomo (8th century) and the relics of Bishop St. Benvenuto (1364-82) are preserved in an urn. The list of bishops of Osimo, full of great gaps for the earliest period, becomes complete and reliable after the 10th century. During the struggle against Nicolaism and the Investiture Controversy, the city was agitated by popular uprisings against which Pope Leo IX intervened with a letter addressed omnibus Auximaniis clero et populo (cf. S. Prete, S. Pier Damiani, le chiese marchigiane, la riforma nel sec. XI, in Studia Picena, 19 [1949], pp. 123-24); Bishop Gislerio (1022-57), accused of horrible crimes, was admonished by Peter Damian in one of his letters (Epist., 4, 4: PL 144, 299; Opusc. 16: PL 145, 366-80). In the 12th century the best-known bishop is Gentile (1177-1205), who worked for peace in the region, transferred the bodies of the martyrs Victor, Philip and Corona to Osimo and carried out works in the cathedral.
Under Bishop Rainaldo, in 1240, the episcopal see was suppressed by Pope Gregory because the city had sided with Frederick II, and it was subjected to Recanati: on 28 February 1264 Urban IV restored II. Bishop Bernardino de Cupis (1547-74) took part in the Council of Trent and ensured the implementation of its decrees in the diocese, continued by his successor Cornelio Fermani (1574-88) who convened a synod and founded the convent of the Capuchins. Later notable figures included: Agostino Galamini O.P., Master of the Sacred Palace and Minister General of the Order, created cardinal in 1611, transferred from the church of Recanati to that of Osimo which he governed for 19 years (1620-39); he carried out various visitations and held three synods (1624, 1627, 1636); Cardinal A. Bichi, who invited the Filippini Fathers to Osimo and invited the noted Quietist Father Giacomo Lambardi to direct the nascent oratory (1672). Benedict XIII, restoring the diocese of Cingoli, united it aequo principaliter to Osimo. Among the holders of the two united sees, mention should be made of Pompeo Compagnoni (1740-74), author of learned historical memoirs of the diocese and the region, and Cardinal G. A. Benvenuti (1828-38), papal legate during the uprisings of 1831.
The city of Osimo, which offered itself to Pope Adrian I (Lib. Pont., I, p. 496), belonged from the 8th century to the Papal States, but the changing fortunes of the later struggles between Church and Empire pushed Osimo towards the Ghibelline faction; during the siege of Ancona in 1172 it aided the imperial troops of Christian of Mainz, and because it had sided with Manfred, it was deprived of its episcopal see from 1240 until 1264. In the 14th century it came under the autonomous rule of local lords (Guzzolini, Sinibaldi) only to be pacified by Cardinal Albornoz (1368). Having fallen under the rule of Francesco Sforza (1433), it freed itself to return to the Holy See to which it remained subject until the annexation of the Marches in 1860.
Monasteries. — S. Pietro sotto la chiesa romana: had very extensive possessions listed in a donation act of Pope Benedict X (1058); S. Vittore de arcione, near the Musone river, of Benedictine origin, mentioned in many papal diplomas (11th-12th centuries) and later transferred in commendam; the documents of the destroyed foundation are in the municipal archives; S. Maria in silvis, near Macerata, founded in 1042 iuris beati Petri, granted by Urban II to the abbey of S. Maria di Rambona and in 1153 passed to that of Chiaravalle di Fiastra. In the Osimo area the cradle of the Sylvestrine Order (monks of S. Benedetto di M. Fano) was founded by St. Sylvester Gozzolini (1177-1267) of Osimo at M. Fano in 1231.
### Monuments
**Cathedral:** Notable elements are attributed to a pre-Roman construction from around the 8th century, during the time of Bishop Vitaliano; however, the current form of the entire building is of Roman structure. Pope Leo IX is said to have consecrated it in 1053 and dedicated it to St. Leopardo. The monument, in its current form, seems attributable to Bishop Giovanni (1295–1320). Characteristic is the entrance portico on the left side, with three arches and three portals; decorative sculptural motifs are found in the apse and transept. The interior is Gothic with vaults and a crossing from the 16th century. The crypt is the most interesting part of the monument: formed by 3 transverse and 7 longitudinal aisles, it features numerous examples of capitals and material of Roman origin. Bishop A. Ugolini Sinibaldi had the body of St. Leopardo, discovered in 1296 (*inventio*), interred in an artistic altar in 1513, and in the crypt he also transferred the remains of St. Vitaliano and the martyrs of O.; the latter are preserved in a 4th-century sarcophagus, with hunting scenes on the front and Christian depictions on the raised portion: the Adoration of the Magi, Noah in the Ark, etc. (C. Costantini, *Il duomo di O.*, in *Rassegna marchigiana*, 3 [1925], pp. 283–91; id., *I restauri del duomo di O.*, ibid., 4 [1926], pp. 117–27).
Attached to the episcopal palace is the Baptistery, where a bronze baptismal font by Tarquinio and P. Iacometti of Recanati (1627) is admired.
**Basilica of St. Joseph of Copertino:** The church and convent of St. Francis are certainly attested in 1247, and to this period belong some structures of the current temple, such as the apse, the tower, and the right side. From 1657, St. Joseph of Copertino resided there until his death, and upon his canonization by Clement XIII on July 16, 1767, he received a cult in O. The church, restored, was consecrated and dedicated to the new saint on May 27, 1781, by Cardinal Bishop G. Calcagnini, and declared a basilica by Pius VI on January 20, 1706 (anon., *Convento di S. Francesco e basilica di S. Giuseppe da Copertino*, in *Picenum Seraphicum*, 2 [1916], pp. 186–213, 439–48).
**St. Nicholas:** Former church, Romanesque, with a fine portal and Gothic decoration (13th century); in a Gothic niche, frescoes from the Bolognese school of the 14th century are preserved; eight doctors in the vault, and on the walls the Crucifixion and scenes from the life of the Virgin. In the territory of O. is a Marian sanctuary at Campocavallo, a recent neo-Lombard style construction begun in 1892 by Bishop E. Mauri and completed by Bishop P. Fiorani (1916–24).
**Treasury:** In the Cathedral, a silver repoussé plaque (cm. 32 x 12) is preserved, depicting the bishop standing with pallium, nimbus, and the inscription *SCS Leopoldus* from the 8th–9th century. The Archive of the Curia preserves documents dating after the 13th century (1202); the municipal archive, rich in documents of monastic provenance, was reorganized by A. Zonghi (*Relazione sull'ordinamento dell'antico Archivio comunale della città di O.*, Fano 1883).
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### C.
The episcopal see of C. has ancient origins. Bishop Giuliano of C., who accompanied Pope Vigilius to Constantinople for the Council of 553 (Mansi, IX, 353–59), is the first mentioned in the documents, while Teodosio and Esperanzio belong to an ancient age that cannot be determined due to the legendary nature of the *Vita s. Exsuperatii* (BHL, 2808). After the see became extinct at an unknown time, C. was subjected to the diocese of O., and only in 1725 was it restored by Benedict XIII, who united it *aequo principaliter* with that of O. It is worth noting that C. was the birthplace of F. Saverio Castiglioni, who became Pope Pius VIII (March 31, 1829 – November 30, 1830).
**Monuments.** — In C. there is a fine group of monumental churches from the Romanesque-Gothic period of the 14th century, notable among which are: S. Esperanzio, with an artistic portal (1295); S. Domenico, where L. Lotto’s *Madonna of the Rosary* (1539) is preserved; S. Giacomo; S. Filippo; and S. Anastasia, which features valuable frescoes (15th–16th centuries).
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**Fig. 1.** (photo Alinari)
**Ossi or Cingoli, Diocese of - Portal of the church of S. Esperanzio. Work by M. Jacopo (1205). In the lunette, St. Exsuperantius between two angels - Cingoli.**