The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Lecce (Latin: Archidioecesis Lyciensis) in Apulia, southern Italy, has existed as a diocese since 1057. On September 28, 1960, in the bull Cum a nobis, Pope John XXIII separated the diocese of Lecce from the ecclesiastical province of Otranto and made it immediately subject to the Holy See. In the bull Conferentia Episcopalis Apuliae issued on October 20, 1980, Pope John Paul II erected the ecclesiastical province of Lecce, with the Archdiocese of Otranto becoming a suffragan diocese.
To the ancients, Lecce was known Lupiæ. Beginning circa 1060, Lecce became the seat of a county. One of its notable counts, Tancred of Lecce, contested Emperor Henry VI for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Another count was Gautier de Brienne, a cousin of Tancred.
Bishops and Archbishops of Lecce
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Teodoro Bonsecolo (1057)
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Roberto Vultorico (1214), who restored the cathedral;
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Tommaso Morganti (1409 - 1419 Died)
Curello Ciccaro (19 Dec 1419 - 1429 Died)
Tommaso Ammirato, O.S.B. (2 Mar 1429 - 1438 Died)
Guido Giudano, O.F.M. (6 Aug 1438 - 1453 Appointed, Archbishop of Bari (-Canosa))
Antonio Ricci (20 Jul 1453 - 24 Dec 1483 Died)
Roberto Caracciolo, O.F.M. (8 Mar 1484 - 18 Jul 1485 Appointed, Bishop of Aquino)
Antonio de' Tolomei (18 Jul 1485 - 1498 Died)
Luigi d'Aragona (10 Dec 1498 - 24 Mar 1502 Resigned)
Giacomo Piscicelli (24 Mar 1502 - 1507 Died)
Pietro Matteo d'Aquino (12 Feb 1508 - 1511 Died)
Ugolino Martelli (bishop) (9 Apr 1511 - 18 May 1517 Appointed, Bishop of Narni) a linguist
Giovanni Antonio Acquaviva d'Aragona (18 May 1517 - 1525 Died)
Consalvo di Sangro (19 Jan 1525 - 1530 Died)
Alfonso de' Sangro (9 Mar 1530 - 20 Apr 1534 Resigned)
Ippolito de' Medici (20 Apr 1534 - 26 Feb 1535 Resigned)
Giovanni Battista Castromediano (26 Feb 1535 - 1552 Died)
Braccio Martelli (12 Feb 1552 - 17 Aug 1560 Died)
Annibale Saraceni (29 Nov 1560 - 1591 Resigned)
Scipione Spina (10 May 1591 - 6 Mar 1639 Died)
Luigi Pappacoda (30 May 1639 - 17 Dec 1670 Died) rebuilt the cathedral
Antonio Pignatelli del Rastrello (4 May 1671 - 12 Jan 1682 Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Faenza) later Pope Innocent XII, who founded the seminary of Lecce
Michele Pignatelli, C.R. (26 Jan 1682 - 10 Nov 1695 Died)
Fabrizio Pignatelli (2 Apr 1696 - 12 May 1734 Died)
Giuseppe Maria Ruffo (25 May 1735 - 3 Feb 1744 Appointed, Archbishop of Capua)
Scipione Sersale (3 Feb 1744 - 11 Jul 1751 Died)
Alfonso Sozi Carafa, C.R.S. (15 Nov 1751 - 19 Feb 1783 Died)
Salvatore Spinelli, O.S.B. (26 Mar 1792 - 18 Dec 1797 Confirmed, Archbishop of Salerno)
Nicola Caputo de’ Marchesi di Cerreto (21 Dec 1818 - 6 Nov 1862 Died)
Valerio Laspro (6 May 1872 - 20 Mar 1877 Appointed, Archbishop of Salerno (-Acerno))
Salvatore Luigi Zola, C.R.L. (22 Jun 1877 - 27 Apr 1898 Died)
Evangelista (Michael Antonio) di Milia, O.F.M. Cap. (10 Nov 1898 - 17 Sep 1901 Died)
Gennaro Trama (14 Feb 1902 - 9 Nov 1927 Died)
Alberto Costa (7 Dec 1928 - 2 Aug 1950 Died)
Francesco Minerva (17 Dec 1950 - 27 Jan 1981 Retired)
Michele Mincuzzi (27 Jan 1981 - 7 Dec 1988 Retired)
Cosmo Francesco Ruppi (7 Dec 1988 - 16 Apr 2009 Retired)
Domenico Umberto D'Ambrosio (16 Apr 2009 - )
De Simone, Lecce e i suoi dintorni (Lecce, 1874)
Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia, XXI.
