Its cathedral, a work of Roger Borsa,[citation needed] son of Robert Guiscard (1155), was destroyed by the earthquake of 1851.

[7] The Norman Roger Borsa took an oath of fealty to Pope Urban, who invested him with the duchy of Apulia and Salerno.

[8] Pope Paschal II confirmed, in a bull of 29 September 1101 (Per Apostoli Petri), the privilege granted to the bishops of Melfi of being consecrated by the Roman pontiff.

[9] In 1528, Clement VII, in view of the scarcity of its revenues, united the Diocese of Rapolla to that of Melfi, "aeque principaliter".

[13] The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses.

[14] These considerations applied to Melfi and to Rapolla, as the population migrated in the post-war period away from agriculture to jobs on the coast.

Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation.

The cathedral of Melfi, dedicated to the Taking Up of the Body of the Virgin Mary into Heaven (Assumption), was administered by a Chapter, composed of four dignities (the Cantor, the Primicerius, the Treasurer, and the Vice-Cantor) and sixteen canons.