Diocese of Lodi

Diocese of Lodi

(LAUDENSIS)

A suffragan of Milan. Lodi, the capital of a district in the Province of Milan, and situated on the right bank of the Adda, is an important commercial centre for silk, wool, majolica ware, and works in cement. Noteworthy among the sacred edifices is the Lombard cathedral, built in 1158 by the Cremonese Tito Muzio de Gata. The interior was restored in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The high altar belongs to the Seicento. There is also a subterranean crypt. The pictures are by Campi (the choir), Calisto, Procaccini, etc. A notable monument is that of the Pontani, husband and wife. The cathedral treasure possesses valuable miniature codices, a large silver ostensorium of the Quattrocento, and ornaments of the same period. The church of the Incoronata, a gem of Renaissance architecture, was built by the city on the plans of Giovanni Battogia. Other beautiful churches are: S. Francesco (Gothic facade), S. Bassiano, and the Abbey of Cerreto with an octagonal tower. Among the secular buildings are the bishop's residence, the great hospital, and the castle, erected by Barnabo Visconti, and converted into a barrack by Joseph II.

About four miles distant is Lodi Vecchia, the ancient Laus Pompeia, at first a city of the Gauls, and later colonized by the father of Pompey. In the Middle Ages its inhabitants were in frequent conflict with the Milanese, by whom it was destroyed (in 1025 under the Archbishop Ariberto d'Antimiano; again in 1111; also in 1158 for its hostility towards Frederick Barbarossa). The Marchioness Adelaide of Turin captured and burned the city to avenge herself on Henry IV. In 1160 Barbarossa built the modern city, which always remained faithful to him. Under Frederick II, however, Lodi joined the second Lombard League. It was then absorbed in the Duchy of Milan. In 1454 the peace between Milan, Venice, and Florence was confirmed at Lodi. The city is noted for the brilliant cavalry operations of 1796, when Napoleon took the bridge over the Adda, opposed by the Austrians under Beaulieu. Under Diocletian, according to the local legend, 4000 Christians with their bishop, whose name is unknown, were burned alive in their church. St. Bassianus, the patron of the city, was certainly bishop in 378. Other bishops were: Titianus (474), whose relics were discovered in 1640; St. Venantianus, a contemporary of St. Gregory the Great; Olderico (1024); Alberico di Merlino (1160); S. Alberto Quadrelli (1168); Blessed Leone Palatini (1318), peacemaker between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; Paolo Cadamosto (1354), legate of Urban VI in Hungary; Cardinal Gerardo di Landriana (1419), who discovered the "De Oratore" of Cicero; Cardinal Lodovico Simonetta (1537), who presided at the Council of Trent; Antonio Scarampi (1568), founder of the seminary and friend of St. Charles Borromeo; Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba (1725), Apostolic visitor for China and the Indies; Gian Antonio della Beretta (1758), who suffered exile for his opposition to the oath of the Cisalpine Constitution. The diocese has 102 parishes, with 200,000 souls; 4 religious houses of men, and 37 of women; 4 schools for boys, and 23 for girls.

CAPPELLETTI, Le Chiese d'Italia, XII (Venice); Historia rerum Laudensium, ed. PERTZ in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., VIII; VIGNATI, Codice diplomatico laudense (2 vols., Milan, 1883-86); Archivio di Lodi (1905), XXIV.

U. BENIGNI.