Diocese of Orvieto-Todi

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The Italian Catholic diocese of Orvieto-Todi, in central Italy, was created in 1986 when the historical diocese of Orvieto was united to the diocese of Todi. This diocese is directly subject to the Holy See^[1]

[edit] History

During the Gothic War, Orvieto was defended by the Goths for a long time. Later, it fell into the hands of the Lombards (606). From the latter end of the tenth century the city was governed by consuls, who, however, took the oath of fealty to the bishop; but from 1201 it governed itself through a podestà (in that year, the Bishop Richard) and a captain of the people. On account of its position, Orvieto was often chosen by the popes as a place of refuge and Pope Adrian IV fortified it.

The first known Bishop of Orvieto was John (about 590), and in 591 appears a Bishop Candidus; among its other prelates were Constantino Medici, O.P., sent by Pope Alexander IV in 1255 to Greece, where he died; Francesco Monaldeschi (1280), who did much for the construction of the cathedral. In 1528 Pope Clement VII sought refuge at Orvieto, after the sack of Rome, and while there ordered the construction of the "Pozzo di San Patrizio" (the well of St. Patrick), by Sangallo. Bishop Sebastiano Vanzi (1562) distinguished himself at the Council of Trent and built the seminary, which was enlarged afterwards by Cardinal Fausto Polo (1645) and by Giacomo Silvestri, who gave to it the college and other property of the Jesuits (1773); Cardinal Paolo Antamori (1780) caused the history of the cathedral of Orvieto to be written by Guglielmo della Valle; and lastly G. B. Lambruschini (1807).