Roman Catholic Diocese of San Severo

The Italian Catholic diocese of San Severo is in Apulia. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino.^[1]

History

The diocese of San Severo was established in 1580. The episcopal see is only the continuation of that of the diocese of Civitate, which in turn succeeded the ancient city of Teanum. Civitate, where the papal troops were defeated by the Normans in 1052, was an episcopal see in 1062 under Amelgerio.

Among the bishops of Civitate were:

• Fra Lorenzo da Viterbo, O.P. (1330), a theologian;
• Luca Gaurico (1545), an astronomer;
• Francesco Alciati (1561), later a cardinal.

In 1580 the first occupant of the See of San Severo was Martino de Martini, a Jesuit; other bishops are:

• Fabrizio Verallo (1606), nuncio in Switzerland, later a cardinal;
• Francesco Venturi (1625), a canonist and defender of the rights of the Church;
• Orazio Fortunato (1670), who restored the cathedral;
• Carlo Felice de Matta (1678)
• Carlo Francesco Giocoli (1703)
• Fra Adeodato Summantico (1720), an Augustinian.

To this diocese was added later the territory of the ancient Dragonara, a city built in 1005 by the Byzantine Governor of Apulia. Cappelletti gives the names of twenty-eight bishops between 1061 and 1657.^[2]

Notes

1. ^ Catholic Hierarchy page
2. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.