 In 1627 the inhabitants of Rionero were forced to change their religious observances from the Greek rite to the Latin rite by Diodato Scaglia, the Bishop of Melfi.Seriously struck by the earthquake of 1694, Rionero's population in that period did not exceed 700.Later on the Caracciolo, princes of Torella, to whom belonged the feudal rights, granted permission for the deforestation, the tillage, and the cultivation of lands occupied from the forests of the locality "Gaudo" and as a result of the consequent economic development the population endured a strong growth