[4] At the same period or a little later the Bishop of Catania was Everus, who is mentioned in the acts of the martyrs of Leontini (303).

John of Ajello, who died in the 1169 Sicily earthquake, won a contested episcopal election against William of Blois in 1167.

[9] In 1169 an eruption of Mount Etna completely destroyed Catania, with a loss of life of some 15,000 persons.

[11] In 1409 a severe earthquake reduced the monastery of San Niccolò l'Arena to ruins.

[12] Bishop Bellomi (1450–1472) petitioned Pope Nicholas V that the Cathedral Chapter of Catania should include the dignities of the Archdeacon, Prior, Cantor, the Dean, and the Treasurer.

Originally the Canons were all members of a monastic community and followed the Rule of St. Benedict (hence the office of Prior),[15] but Bishop Vincenzo Cutelli (1577-1589) obtained permission from Pope Gregory XIII on 9 February 1578 to convert the Chapter into a corporation of secular priests.

By mid-May three quarters of Catania was surrounded by lava, and several streams entered the city.

Fourteen towns and villages between the volcano and Catania were obliterated, leaving only the tower of a ruined church visible.

On 9 January 1693[22] a major earthquake destroyed the city of Catania and killed eighteen thousand people.