TRIVENTO, Diocese of. - City and diocese in the province of Campobasso. It has an area of 1500 sq km with a population of 98,300 inhabitants, almost all Catholics, distributed in 61 parishes, served by 35 diocesan priests and 27 regulars; it has a seminary, 1 male religious community and 7 female ones (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 432).
The bishop of T. certainly appears in the contests between Lombards and Byzantines during the 10th century that led to the creation of the metropolis of Benevento. In fact, in 947 Pope Agapetus II cited at Rome Leo, who had had himself elected bishop at T., as he did Benedict at Termoli, in violation of the rights of the metropolitan of Benevento (Jaffé-Wattenbach, n. 3636). In a bull of John XIV of 983 (ibid., n. 3822), on the occasion of the granting of the pallium to Alone of Benevento, T. is listed among the 13 dioceses subject to that metropolis, as also in another of Gregory V of 998 on the occasion of the pallium granted to Archbishop Alfano (ibid., n. 3884). The late account concerning a St. Castus of Trivento (Acta SS. Novembris, III, Brussels 1910, p. 341) has no historical foundation: it is probably a matter of one of those African martyrs whose cult was widely diffused in the cities of southern Italy. And it is very doubtful that there can be assigned to T. that Dominicus Trive or Trivensis who assisted at the Roman Council of 861 under Nicholas I (Jaffé-Wattenbach, I, p. 343) and at that of Ravenna of 877 (ibid., p. 394). A good hypothesis (Lanzoni, I, p. 378) makes the bishopric of T. the successor of that of Aufidena mentioned in the letters of Gelasius I at the end of the 5th century, which was included within its territory.
In 1176, Rao confirms to the monastery of S. Michele a donation made by Rainaldo lord of Turre (Cottineau, II, col. 3219); three years later Ponzio (or Pozio, d. 1189), having taken part in the Lateran Council of Alexander III (Mansi, XXII, 460), obtained from the Pope that the diocese be detached from Benevento and subject directly to the Holy See; an exemption confirmed by Sixtus IV to Bishop Tommaso Carafa in 1472, which has always remained in force. After Ponzio, the series of the prelates of T. is complete. Mentioned here are only Giulio Cesare Moriconi (or Moriconda: 1582-1606) and Alfonso Mariconda (1717-30): the former erected the Seminary and carried out works of restoration and additions in the Cathedral; the latter was professor of theology at the University of Naples, rebuilt the facade of the Cathedral and reorganized the diocesan associations. Patrons of the diocese are the holy martyrs Nazarius, Celsus and Victor.
MONUMENTS
The small town, enfeoffed in turn to the d'Evoli, Caldora, Requesens, D'Afflitto and finally the Caracciolo families, offers no other notable monument than the Cathedral dedicated to Sts. Nazarius, Celsus and Victor, and, according to legend, situated on an ancient monument to Diana. The crypt with the apses, built in the Romanesque era (12th century?), is dedicated to St. Castus.