Viseu (Vizeu), Diocese of

VISEU (VIZEU), DIOCESE of. — In the province of Beira-Alta, in Portugal. It has an area of 3,400 sq. km and a population of 300,500 inhabitants, almost all Catholics, distributed among 201 parishes, served by 222 diocesan priests and 8 religious priests. It has a major and a minor seminary; one male and 15 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 449).

The origin of the diocese is unknown. According to the division of the bishoprics made at the Council of Lugo (559), the diocese of V. extended over the territory « de Borgia usque Sartam, et de Bonella usque Ventosam ». It is now difficult to identify these names.

The first bishop whose name is recorded is Remissol, who took part in the Second Council of Braga (572). With the occupation of the territory by Leovigild, king of the Visigoths and an Arian, in 585, the Catholic prelates were subjected to harsh persecutions, and the Arian bishop Sunila was installed in the Cathedral; he later abjured the heresy at the Third Council of Toledo (589). During the Muslim rule, mention is made of Theodemir and other Catholic bishops.

In the middle of the 10th century the diocese temporarily came under the rule of the Catholic kings, and various monasteries and churches were then restored, especially in the valley of Besteiros. However, the definitive reconquest was carried out by Ferdinand the Great between 1057 and 1064. Pope Paschal II, by the bull Apostolicae Sedis of 23 March 1102, entrusted the see to the bishop of Coimbra, Maurizio, who governed it through a prior. One of these, named Odorio, was acclaimed bishop by the people and clergy. Nevertheless, through the intervention of the bishop of Coimbra, he continued as a simple prior until he withdrew to the monastery of S. Croce in Coimbra.

Given the doubt concerning the authenticity of the bull attributed to Pope Lucius II, from which the existence of a bishop at V. in 1144 might be inferred, it seems that the diocese was not provided with a bishop before 1147, when the name of Odorio is encountered. He was followed by Nicola, a canon regular (1193), and Martino (1230). After a vacancy of approximately 20 years, Pietro Gonzalves was confirmed in the see of V.; he was succeeded by Matteo I, a vigorous defender of the rights of the Church in the struggle against the Crown under the reign of Alfonso II. Among the prelates who subsequently governed the see of V. IV, who were involved in the Great Schism, and Luiz do Amaral, a follower of the antipope Felix V who returned to obedience to Rome before his death. In 1446 Giovanni Vicente was elevated to the see of V.; he was the founder of a Congregation of Canons Regular of S. Giovanni, known by the name of Loyos, and a reformer of the Order of Christ. Diego Ortiz de Villegas (1507–16) displayed extensive activity; Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1547–52), on the other hand, never reached the see. Jorge de Athaide took part in the Council of Trent; Nuno de Noronha built the Seminary. Giovanni Manuel (1610), Bernardino de Senna (1629), and, after the vacancy that lasted 23 years because of disputes with Spain, Giovanni de Mello and Riccardo Russel, should also be remembered. In more recent times, Antonio Alves Martins resolutely opposed the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council. Diocesan synods were held at V. in 1527, 1555, 1614, 1681, 1699, 1745, and 1748. Its patron is the bishop St. Teotonio.

Monuments. — The most notable is the Cathedral, rebuilt in the 12th century on a 9th-century building; the cloister was erected between the end of the 13th century and the first half of the 14th; in 1516 Bishop Diego Ortiz de Villegas inaugurated the new façade; the sacristy was built between 1573 and 1578; partial alterations were made in the 17th and 18th centuries. Also worth mentioning are the church of Our Lady of Carmine (18th century) and S. Michele « do Fetal », the oldest in V., but rebuilt in the 18th century. Of the convents erected in V. between the 15th and 18th centuries, none has survived.

(propr. Enc. Catt.)

VISIGOTICA, SCRIPT and MINIATURE — Characteristic letters, ligatures, connections, and notable letters of the script v.: 1. the a, g, and t; 2. the caput ligature; 3. the double forms of d, e, and i; the ti ligatures in the hard and sibilant sounds; the tur group with the u written above; 4. the a, r, m, o, t, and the t of the capital alphabet.