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. The legend, which first appears in a document of the 14th century, has been disproved. The
Diocese of Trivento (the Latin adjective is:
Triventinus) was established as a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Benevento. 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. In passing, the archbishop notes that Trivento had been his and his predecessors' suffragan
antiquitus. In the
Liber Censuum of 1192, the diocese of Trivento is listed as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Benevento. 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. 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. 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. The diocese of Trivento, in 1532, had a population of 4,461
fuochi, or 20, 075 persons. 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. 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.
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. Trivento was one of these. 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. In 1977 the diocese of Trivento gained territory 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. In 1679, there were three dignities and eight canons. In 1756, there were five dignities and twelve canons.
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. The diocesan priestly seminary was erected by Bishop Giulio Cesare Mariconda (Moriconi, Moriconda), O.F.M. (1582–1606). == Extent of diocese ==