Benevento, Metropolitan Archdiocese of:
Type: Metropolitan Archdiocese
Rite: Latin/Roman
History: Established in the 1st century.
Promoted to a Metropolitan Archdiocese on May 26, AD 969.
Conference Region: Campania
Metropolitan (if applicable):
Suffragans (if applicable): Ariano Irpino–Lacedonia, Avellino, Cerreto Sannita–Telese–Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Montevergine, Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi–Conza–Nusco–Bisaccia.
Area: 1,691 km² (653 sq. miles).
In 2006 the diocese had a population of 267,000, of which 265,000 (99.3%) are Catholics. There are 116 parishes, 231 priests (153 Diocesan and 78 Religious), 32 permanent deacons, 116 male religious, and 249 female religious.
Benevento, Duchy/Principality of: A Lombard state founded in the late 6th Century in the southern part of the Italian peninsula. Separated from the northern Kingdom of Italy by Papal Ducatus Romanus, it was largely autonomous throughout most of its history. The exact date of its foundation is somewhat disputed but most sources put it in cAD 590.
Benevento, Rulers of:
Duchy of Benevento (AD 571 – 774)
- Zotto (Zottone) AD 571 – 591
- Arechis (Arechi) I 591 – 641
- Aiulf (Aione) I 641 – 646
- Radoald (Radoaldo) 646 – 651
- Grimoald (Grimoaldo) I 651 – 662 (King of the Lombards 662 – 671)
- Romoald (Romoaldo) I 662 – 677
- Grimoald (Grimoaldo) II 677 – 680
- Gisulf I 680 – 706
- Romoald (Romoaldo) II 706 – 732
- Adelais 732 – 733
- Gregory 733 – 740
- Godescalc (Godescalco) 740 – 743
- Gisulf II 743 – 749
- Liutprand 749 – 758
- Arechis (Arechi) II 758 – 774 (see below)
Principality of Benevento (AD 774 – 1053)
- Arechis (Arechi) II 774 – 787
- Grimoald (Grimoaldo) III 787 – 806
- Grimoald (Grimoaldo) IV 806 – 817
- Sico (Sicone) I 817 – 832
- Sicard (Sicardo) 832 – 839
- Radelchis (Radelchi) I 839 – 851
- Radelgar 851 – 854
- Adelchis (Adelchi) 854 – 878
- Waifer (Gaideri) 878 – 881
- Radelchis (Radelchi) II 881 – 884 (first reign)
- Aiulf (Aione) II 884 – 890
- Orso 890 – 891
- Byzantine Occupation 891 – 895
- Guy (also Duke of Spoleto) 895 – 897
- Peter (Bishop of Benevento & Regent) 897
- Radelchis (Radelchi) II 897 – 900 (second reign)
- Atenulf I (also Prince of Capua) 900 – 910
- Landulf I (also Prince of Capua) 901 – 910 (as co-ruler)
- Landulf I (also Prince of Capua) 910 – 943
- Atenulf II (also Prince of Capua) 911 – 940 (as co-ruler)
- Landulf II “the Red”(also Prince of Capua) 939/940 – 943 (as co-ruler)
- Atenulf II Carinola (also Prince of Capua) 933 – 943 (as co-ruler)
- Landulf II “the Red”(also Prince of Capua) 943 – 961
- Pandulf I Ironhead (also Prince of Capua) 943 – 961 (as co-ruler)
- Landulf III (also Prince of Capua) 959 – 961 (as co-ruler)
- Landulf III (also Prince of Capua) 961 – 968/9 (as co-ruler)
- Pandulf I Ironhead (also Prince of Capua; Duke of Spoleto; and Duke of Salerno) 961 – 981
- Landulf IV (also Prince of Capua) 968 – 981 (as co-ruler)
- Pandulf II 981 – 1014
- Landulf V 987 – 1014 (as co-ruler)
- Landulf V 1014 -1033
- Pandulf III 1012 – 1033 (as co-ruler)
- Pandulf III 1033 – 1050
- Landulf VI1038 – 1050 (as co-ruler)
- Norman Occupation 1050 -1053
- Rudolf (Papal rector) 1053 – 1054
- Pandulf III (as Papal vassal) 1054 – 1059 (restored)
- Landulf VI (as Papal vassal) 1054 – 1077 (restored)
- Pandulf IV 1056 – 1074
- Robert Guiscard 1078 – 1081
Beneventum: (mod. Benevento). A town in ancient Samnite Hirpini. It was situated on the Appian Way, at the junction of the river valleys of the Sabatus and Calor. Prior to its occupation by the Romans it was called Maleventum but, because this name closely resembled the Latin word for “bad air”, it was changed to the more positive Beneventum (= good air). An early tradition claimed that the city was founded by the Homeric Greek hero Diomedes after his return from the Trojan War. In 274 BC, the Romans under Curius defeated Pyrrhus nearby. It was captured from the Hirpini by the Romans during the Samnites wars and, in 271 or 268 BC, became a Roman colony called Beneventum. Later, Augustus planted a new colony here, giving the place the name of Colonia Julia Concordia Augusta Felix. Sitting on the Via Appia, the town flourished under the early empire. The emperor Trajan chose Beneventum as the site for his famous triumphal arch in AD 114. It was the birthplace of the grammarian Arbelius.
Bentinck, Lord William: The administrator of Sicily during the English occupation of the island during the Napoleonic Wars. He was the creator of the short-lived Constitution of 1812 (q.v.) for Sicily.
Berbers: A general term given to the native tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions of Barbary and the northern Sahara. Although conquered by Phoenicians/Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, and Arabs, they maintained a distinctive cultural and ethnic identity. Berbers had a warlike nature and were utilized by the Saracens in the conquest of Sicily during the 9th and 10th centuries.
Beregra: A town of the ancient Praetutia, Picenum, situated to the S of Interamna. Under the Romans it became a colonia.
Bernalda (MT): A commune in the province of Matera. Population: 12,162 (2006e).
Bernard: (fl. mid-9th century). Monk. While on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he passed through Bari, then under Saracen control, where he picked up letters of safe conduct from the Emir there. While in Bari he witnessed thousands of southern Italian prisoners being loaded into ships to be taken off into slavery.
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo: (b.1598, Naples. d. 1680, Rome). Architect, Sculptor and Scene-Designer. Having received his earliest training in the studio of his father, Pietro Bernini, he was strongly influenced by both contemporary Renaissance works and those of the Classical masters. His long career was centered in and around Rome where he produced some of the most important civic and religious sculptures and architectural works of his era. Principal Works: Aeneas and Anchises (marble group) (Rome); Ratto di Proserpina (marble group) (Rome); David (marble group) (Rome); Apollo and Dafne (marble group) (Rome).
Bersaglieri: The sharpshooters of the Sardinian-Piedmontese, and later Italian, army. They were first employed in 1848.