URGELL, Diocese of. - Diocese in Spain in Catalonia, in the province of Lerida, with its residence at Seo de Urgel at 700 m. of altitude, on the banks of the Segre. The territory of the diocese extends for 7950 sq km, not only in the civil provinces of Lerida and Gerona, but also in that of Huesca and in France and in Andorra, of which the bishop of U. has been since 1278 prince of the State.
It has an area of 7930 sq km with a population of 142,084 inhabitants, almost all Catholics, distributed in 497 parishes, served by 256 diocesan priests and 28 regulars; it has two seminaries; 10 male religious communities and 34 female (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 439). The diocese is a suffragan of Tarragona. Among its bishops the most ancient known is St. Justus of about the middle of the 6th century; then come Felix, d. in 818; St. Ermengol (1010-35; cf. Martyr. Romanum, p. 495); St. Otto, d. in 1122; Pedro de Luna (1365-1370) later antipope; the theologian A. Capilla (1588-1609); L. Diaz Aux de Armandáriz (1622-27); A. Perez (1627-33); J. Benloch y Vivo (1906-19), later cardinal.
The Cathedral, dedicated to St. Otto, was begun at the beginning of the 11th century by St. Ermengol and finished in 1175 by Lombard masters, as was the cloister. Its plan is inspired by that of the abbey of Ripoll; its imposing architecture, the beautiful proportions of the central nave, the artistic apses were later disfigured in the 18th century. The high altar is Gothic, on the model of that of the cathedral of Barcelona. It was sacked in 1936. Annexed to the Cathedral is the artistic cloister with broad Romanesque galleries, except the one to the east which is later. To the left of the Cathedral is the "Parroquia" in classical style of the 18th century; the episcopal Palace is of various periods, with an elegant patio and a square tower.
Among the manuscripts are remembered the celebrated codex of the Apocalypse (P. Pujol i Tuban, De paleographia visigótica a Catalunya: El cèdex de l'Apocalipsi de Beatus de la Catedral d'U., in Bullett de la Bibl. de Catalunya, 4 [1917], pp. 6-27); a codex of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great of the 10th century (ms. XI, 173), a Bible of the 11th century (XI, 175); the manuscript of the monk Guillerm Costa de Curu, prior of S. Maria di Ripoll, etc.
Notable is the church founded by St. Ermengol, dedicated to St. Michael, for the 12th-century frescoes it contains. In the Archive of the Cathedral are preserved precious original documents such as one of Sylvester II for the bishop Sala of May 1001; an endowment of the bishop Ermengol to the Chapter of 1010; an endowment of Benedict VIII for the said bishop of 1012; one of Eugene III to the bishop Bernardo of 17 March 1151; some of Alexander III (1163-75).
At Tremp is the sanctuary of S. Maria de Pallars, now S. Maria de Valle de Flores. The primitive church having been destroyed by the Arabs, it was rebuilt by the bishop Bernardo in 1087 and endowed by the count Raimondo of Pallars and his family; it later became a collegiate church (A. Coy y Cotonat, Sort y comarca Noguera Pallaresca, Barcelona 1906; M. Lledos y Mir, Historia de la antigua villa hoy ciudad de Tremp, Barcelona 1917). Pope Pius XI, with an apostolic letter of 23 Jan. 1923, elevated the sanctuary of Tremp to the title and dignity of minor basilica (AAS, 15 [1923], pp. 146-47). In Tremp was also the Dominican convent of S. Giacomo de Pallars called "Schola Christi". At Nuria in the Fresser, at 1985 m. of altitude, is a sanctuary of the 11th century with a church of 1642 and another modern one. At Gerri the abbey of S. Vincenzo founded by the count of Pallars, today N. S. de Gerri (J. Pasqual, Principio, progresos y decadencia del R. Monasterio de S. Vicente (hoy de Nuestra Señora) de Gerri, in Revista de Ciencias historicas, 1 [1880], pp. 54 ff). At Mur is found a monastery founded by the count Pietro of Pallars in 1108; it is remembered in the Liber Censuum (ed. Fabre-Duchesne, p. 17; J. Miret y Sans, Nota a la fundación del monestir de Mur, in Boletín de la R. Academia de Buenos Letras de Barcelona, 6 [1941]). At Ager (Aggerense Castrum) the church of S. Pietro with annexed monastery is remembered in the Liber Censuum (ed. Fabre-Duchesne, I, p. 216; II, p. 116); there are also documents of Pope Alexander III to the abbot Raimoro of 1165 and 1179. At Castelbò is the female abbey of S. Cecilia di Elins of 1436.
Bibliography12 works
Enrico Josi