The Diocese of Trivento () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. The Diocese of Trivento is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Campobasso-Boiano, in the ecclesiastical region of Abruzzo-Molise, southern Italy."Diocese of Trivento" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved 6 June 2017"Diocese of Trivento" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016 Trivento is approximately 100-110 kilometers (roughly 62-68 miles) north-northwest of Benevento, in the civil Campobasso province, in the administrative region of Molise.
The cathedral of the diocese is the Cattedrale di Ss. Nazario, Celso e Vittore, Trivento. The other major sanctuary is at Canneto, in the commune Roccavivara, founded in the fourth century and until the tenth dependent on Montecassino.
History According to local legend the earliest bishop of Trivento was St. Castus, sent to Trivento by Pope Clement I at the end of the 1st century. Some seek to save the appearances by assigning him to the fourth century.Gams, p. 852. The legend, which first appears in a document of the 14th century, has been disproved.Kehr, p. 193: "Triventinam ecclesiam iam priscis christianitatis temporibus episcopali dignitate ornatam esse asserit Vita s. Casti ep. (Acta Sanctorum. Vol. III, 7 Nov. 341 sq.; Bibl. hagiogr. Lat. 165Id), quae tamen omni fide carere editor bollandista et Lanzoni 1.c. demonstraverunt."
The Diocese of Trivento (the Latin adjective is: Triventinus) was established as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Benevento.Umberto Benigni, "Trivento," in: The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912), p. 63; retrieved: 25 March 2026.
In 946, Pope Agapetus II consecrated a Benedictine monk and priest named Leo as bishop of Trivento. He immediately received a protest from Archbishop Joannes of Benevento, who demonstrated with documents that he possessed the right to consecrate the bishops of Trivento. The pope admitted his mistake and gave way, deposed Leo from the diocesan seat, and advised the people of Trivento, under pain of excommunication, that they should not receive Leo or allow him to carry out episcopal functions.Kehr, pp. 54, no. 12; 195, nos. 1-3. In passing, the archbishop notes that Trivento had been his and his predecessors' suffragan antiquitus."Triventina et Termolensis ecclesiae antiquitus subditae fuissent Beneventano episcopo."
In the Liber Censuum of 1192, the diocese of Trivento is listed as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Benevento.Kehr IX, p. 194: "In Albini et Cencii Libris censuum S. R. E. vero (ed. Fabre-Duchesne II 103. I 39) episcopatus Triventinus inter suffraganeos Beneventanos recensetur." Bishop Giacomo (1290–1315), however, obtained from Pope Boniface VIII on 9 August 1296, the privilege of exemption from the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Benevento for himself for life.Kehr IX, p. 194. Antoine Thomas, Les registres de Boniface VIII , Vol. 1 (Paris: E. Thorin 1884), p. 483, no. 1337.
In his war against Pope Gregory IX and then the College of Cardinals, the Emperor Frederick II passed through Trivento in 1241, and requisitioned all the gold, silver, jewels, and vestments belonging to the Church, which he sold and used to pay for his expedition.Williell R. Thomson, Friars in the Cathedral: The First Franciscan Bishops 1226-1261 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies 1975), p. 238. Maselli, p. 34. Ryccardus de Sancto Germano, Chronica (ed. G.H. Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae Historica in usu scholarum (Hannover: Hahn 1864), p. 146: "Mense Iunii prelati de regno vocati ab Andrea de Cicala capitaneo et magistro iustitiario, apud Melphiam ad eum vadunt; a quibus thesauri ecclesiarum suarum, tam in auro, argento, quam vestibus sericis et lapidibus pretiosis, in commodato pro principe exiguntur."
On 30 June 1474, in the bull "Ad Apostolicae dignitatis," Pope Sixtus IV granted the bishops of Trivento exemption from the jurisdiction of the archbishops of Benevento, though still requiring them to attend the synods of the archbishop.Ughelli I, pp. 1330-1331. Cappelletti XXI, p. 470.
The diocese of Trivento, in 1532, had a population of 4,461 fuochi, or 20, 075 persons.Cocozza (2017), p. 30. When Bishop Carolus Scaglia (1631–1645) made his ad limina visit to Rome in 1643, he reported that the population was 35,000 persons, about 25,000 of whom were communicants.Cocozza (2017), p. 30.
Since the city of Trivento was near the northern border of the diocese, many bishops considered it more convenient to spend much of their time in Anglona, which was nearer the center of the diocese, and nearly twice the size of the episcopal city.Ughelli I, p. 1327.
Changes of dynasties
In 1446, Pope Eugenius IV granted the Emperor Frederick III (Habsburg) the privilege of nominating a candidate to an episcopal vacancy in his lands. The privilege was renewed for successive emperors, until Sixtus IV made it permanent in 1480. In September 1523, the Emperor Charles V obtained the privilege for all the bishoprics in the Spanish church, and in 1529 it was extended to twenty-five of the 130 bishoprics in the Kingdom of Naples.Cocozza (2017), pp. 43-46. Luigi Conforti, Manuale di polizia ecclesiastica , (Milano: Società editrice libraria 1902). p. 281. Trivento was one of these.Cocozza (2017), p. 49, fig. 4.
By the Peace of Utrecht (1713), the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (including Naples) passed from the House of Bourbon to the House of Habsburg. By the Treaty of Vienna (1738), Naples passed under the control of King Charles III of Spain (Charles VII of Naples). Charles died on 6 October 1759, and was succeeded by Ferdinand IV of Naples. In 1818, in a new concordat with the kingdom of Naples, Pope Pius VII conceded to the kings the privilege of nominating candidates to all the dioceses in his kingdom.Conforti, p. 282.
In 1977 the diocese of Trivento gained territoryActa Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 69 (1977), p. 218: "municipium vulgo S. Pietro Avellana quod dioecesi Triventinae unit." from the Benedictine Territorial Abbacy of Montecassino, and lost territory to the Diocese of Sulmona.
Chapter and cathedral The cathedral in Trivento is dedicated to Saints Nazarius, Celsus, and Victor. It was served by an ecclesiastical corporation called the Chapter, which was headed by five dignities, with six canons. The Chapter was presided over by the Archdeacon.Ughelli, Vol. 1, p. 1327. In 1679, there were three dignities and eight canons.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 390, note 1. In 1756, there were five dignities and twelve canons.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 417, note 1.
Synods Bishop Alfonso Mariconda, O.S.B. (1717–1730) held his first diocesan synod in Trivento in 1726, and his second from 31 May to 2 June 1727. The proceedings and relevant documents were published.Alphonsus Miraconda, 'Secunda diœcesana Synodus Sanctæ Triventinæ Ecclesiæ ab Illustriss. & Reverendiss. ... Domino Alphonso Mariconda ... celebrata die .. prima & secunda mensis Junii anni MDCCXXVII, Benevento: Archiepiscopali Typographia 1727).
The diocesan priestly seminary was erected by Bishop Giulio Cesare Mariconda (Moriconi, Moriconda), O.F.M. (1582–1606).Cappelletti, p. 472. Ughelli I, p. 1332, says it was a puerorum seminarium. Gams, p. 936, col. 2.
Extent of diocese
The diocese is currently divided for administrative purposes into four deaneries: Agnone, Carovilli, Frosolone and Trivento, which extend over 40 civil communes (municipalities) in three civil administrative provinces : in the civil Province of Campobasso: Trivento, Casalciprano, Castropignano, Duronia, Fossalto, Molise, Montefalcone nel Sannio, Pietracupa, Roccavivara, Salcito, San Biase e Torella del Sannio; in the civil Province of Isernia: Agnone, Bagnoli del Trigno, Belmonte del Sannio, Capracotta, Carovilli, Castel del Giudice, Castelverrino, Chiauci, Civitanova del Sannio, Frosolone, Montenero Val Cocchiara, Pescolanciano, Pescopennataro, Pietrabbondante, Poggio Sannita, Rionero Sannitico, San Pietro Avellana, Sant'Angelo del Pesco e Vastogirardi; in the civil Province of Chieti: Borrello, Castelguidone, Castiglione Messer Marino, Celenza sul Trigno, Roio del Sangro, Rosello, San Giovanni Lipioni, Schiavi di Abruzzo e Torrebruna.
Bishops of Trivento To 1379
... ○ Leo: Kehr, p. 195. ... Gaidulfus (1001–1015?)Gaidulfus: Kehr IX, p. 193: "Primus episcopus Gaidulfus chartae a. 1001 m. iun. datae subscripsit (cf. I. Mazzoleni, in: Arch, di stato di Napoli. Archivi privati, Inventario II39 n. 1)." Bishop Liutulphus attended the Roman synod of Pope Benedict IX in 1015. He may, however, have been bishop of Tivoli. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, , Vol. 19 (Venice: A. Zatta 1774), p. 364: "Ego Liutulphus Sanctae Trivensis ecclesiae episcopus." Cappelletti XXI, p. 470. Kehr, p. 193, removes the name from the episcopal list: "Ex serie episcoporum tollendus est Liutulfus (cf. Klewitz 1. c. p. 52)." ... Maifredus ( 1043)Maifredus: Kehr IX, p. 193: "subrogandus vero Maifredus, qui a. 1043 m. oct. abbatiae s. Sophiae Beneventan. donationem fecit (Benevento Arch, prov., S. Sofia vol. XII n. 15)." ... Alferius (1084)Alferius: Kehr IX, pp. 193-194: "Alferius teste Di Meo Annali VIII 236 a. 1084 m. april. occurrit (cf. quoque Chron. Casin. lib. IV c. 34, ap[ud]. Muratori Scr. IV 512; Mon. Germ. Scr. VII 778)." Giovanni (c. 1109–1115)Giovanni: Kehr IX, p. 194: "lohannes (cf. Chron. Casin. 1. c. et chartas a. 1109 m. iun. et a. 1115 m. sept. datas ap. Gattula Hist. Casin. p. 421 et Benevento Arch, prov., S. Sofia vol. XXIV n. 1)." ... Giovanni (1160–?) Raone (1175–?)Bishop Raone attended the Second Lateran Council of Pope Alexander III in March 1179. Kehr IX, p. 196, no. 5, note. Ignotus (1196 – ? )A bishop-elect of Trivento, whose name is not given, was assigned a mandate by Pope Celestine III on 18 October 1196. Kehr IX, p. 196, no. 7. Tommaso (1226–1237) [Ignotus] (1237–1240)On 26 January 1237, Pope Gregory IX ordered the bishop of the Marsi to investigate the election of the Chapter of Trivento, who had made a postulation for a candidate they had selected as bishop. Eubel I, p. 494, note 1. Lucien Auvray, Regestes de Gregoire IX, , Vol. 2 (Paris: Fontemoing 1907), p. 540, no. 3458. Riccardo (1240–?)Richardus: Cappelletti, p. 471. Eubel I, 494. Nicolaus (1256–?)Nicolaus: Cappelletti, p. 471. Eubel I, p. 494. Odorico (1258–?) Luca, O.F.M. (1258–1266)Bishop Luca, Conventual? Friars Minor, was exiled by Manfred, King of Sicily (1258–1266). Williell R. Thomson, Friars in the Cathedral: The First Franciscan Bishops 1226-1261 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies 1975), pp. 237-239. Pace (1266–?) Giacomo (1290–1315) Natimbene, O.E.S.A. (1334–1344)Nantimbene, the son of Francesco Manfredi the Lord of Faenza, had previously been Bishop of Avellino (1326–1334). He was appointed bishop of Trivento by Pope John XXII on 71 June 1334. He died in 1344. Cappelletti, p. 471. Eubel I, pp. 122, 495. Giordano Curti (1344 – 1348.05.30), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Messina (Sicily, Italy) (1348.05.30 – 1348)