The Italian Catholic diocese of Andria is in Apulia, seated at Andria Cathedral, about ten miles southwest of Trani. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto. The diocese has 39 parishes, with one priest for every 1,573 Catholics.
Tradition assigns the Christian origin of Andria to an Englishman, St. Richard, chosen as bishop by Pope Gelasius I, about 492 AD. The story has been dismissed as fable by some scholars. A Bishop Christopher of Andria is reported at the II Council of Nicaea in 787, but inspection shows that he was Christopher Bishop of Saint Cyriacus (Gerace).
The diocese dates probably back to the time of Gelasius II, elected Pope in 1118. The earliest known bishop of Andria, whose name is not preserved, took part in the translation of the body of S. Nicolas Peregrinus in Trani in 1143. Bishop Richard of Andria was present at the Eleventh Ecumenical Council (Third Lateran, 1179) held under Pope Alexander III.
It was united with the diocese of Montepeloso, from 1452 to 1479.
Diocese of Andria
Erected: 11th Century
Latin Name: Andriensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Trani
...
Richard (attested 1158–1196)
Mathaeus (attested 1243)
frater Joannes (attested 1269–1274)
...
Placidus (attested 1290, 1304)
Joannes (attested 1318)
Dominicus (attested 1319)
Joannes de Alexandria, O.E.S.A. (10 November 1348 – 1349)
Andreas, O.E.S.A. (14 March 1349 – ? )
Joannes (attested 1356)
Marcus
Lucidus de Nursia, O.E.S.A. (20 December 1374 – 1379/1380)
Franciscus
Milillus, O.E.S.A. (16 January 1392 – )
Franciscus de Nigris (12 August 1418 – )
Joannes Donadei (14 November 1435 – 1451)
Diocese of Andria-Montepeloso
United: 1452 with the Diocese of Montepeloso
Latin Name: Andriensis-Montis Pelusii
Antonellus, O.Min. (20 September 1452 – 1463?)
Matthaeus Antonius (3 April 1463 – 1465?)
Franciscus de Bertinis (20 October 1465 – 18 September 1471)
Martin Sotomayor, O.Carm. (18 September 1471 – March 1477)
Angelus Florus (1477 – 1495)
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Andria". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
