Diocese of Lodi

The Diocese of Lodi (Latin: Dioecesis Laudensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church that existed since the 4th century; it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan.

Under Diocletian, according to the local legend, 4000 Christians with their bishop, whose name is unknown, were burned alive in their church. The diocese of Lodi and its bishop, Maurizio Malvestiti, reject the tale, naming Bassianus as their "protovescovo".

The actual origins of the diocese are obscure. Some name Bassianus as the first bishop, others name Julianus, whose time of service is equally obscure. St. Bassianus, the patron of the city of Lodi, was certainly bishop in 378.

Lodi was finally captured by the Milanese in the last week of May 1191.

On 9 January 1252, Pope Innocent IV restored the diocese of Lodi, which had been suppressed by Pope Gregory IX. In a separate document of 26 January 1252, Pope Innocent ordered Bishop Bongiovanni Fissiraga to confiscate all the benefices and fiefs of clergy and laity who had supported the Emperor Frederick II.

In 1298 Bishop Berardus Talente (1296–1307) became the first bishop of Lodi to assume the title of Count.

The episcopal palace was built in the 1730s by Patriarch Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba (1725–1741).

Bishop Raimundus Sommaripa, O.P. (1289–1296) took part in the provincial synod held on 27 November 1271, by Archbishop Otto Visconti of Milan, for the purpose of aid to the Holy Land. The Siege of Acre (1291) had just ended, with the collapse of Christian power in the Levant. Pope Nicholas IV had written letters to all the archbishops, instructing them to hold such synods. Bishop Aegidius dall' Aqua (1307–1312) was represented by the Archpriest Pagazani at the provincial synod of Milan, held at Bergamo on 5 July 1311, under the presidency of Archbishop Castano Turriano.