Ancient Diocese of Die

The former French Catholic diocese of Die existed from the fourth to the thirteenth century, and then again from 1678 to the French Revolution. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801, its territory being assigned to the diocese of Grenoble.[1] Its see was the Cathedral of the Assumption in Die.

Cathedral of Die, with square tower

History

Situated on the River Drôme, Die was one of the nineteen principal towns of the tribe of the Vocontii. It was made a Roman colony by the Emperor Augustus in the 20s B.C.[2]

The Carthusian Polycarpe de la Rivière gives a St. Martinus (220) as first Bishop of Die; his assertion has been doubted.[3] The oldest historically known bishop, St. Nicasius, attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Audentius attended three regional councils, at Riez (439), Orange (441), and Vaison (442). After them are mentioned: St. Petronius, followed by his brother St. Marcellus (c. 463), confessor and miracle-worker; Lucretius (541–573), to whom St. Ferreolus of Uzes dedicated his monastic rule. For various reasons Abbé Jules Chevalier omits from the episcopal list: St. Maximus (sixth century); Wulphinus (end of eighth century); Exuperius and Saturninus (ninth century). Other bishops were: Hugh (1073–83), consecrated at Rome by Gregory VII, became a papal legate of the latter, presided over numerous councils for the reform of the Church, and subsequently became Bishop of Lyon; Ismido (1098–1115) of the noble house of Sassenage; Uric (1129–42), who opposed the Petrobrusian heresy in his diocese and became a Carthusian; Blessed Bernard (1173–76); Stephen (1203–1208), formerly a Carthusian at the monastery of Portes; Blessed Didier (Desiderius) de Lans (1213–20).

The Cathedral of Die was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The Cathedral Chapter had two dignities, the Dean and the Sacristan, and ten other Canons.[4] In the thirteenth century the diocese was divided for administrative purposes into four Archpresbyteries: the Archpriest of Die, the Archpriest of Trivilis (Trièves), the Archpriest of Deserto, the Archpriest of Crista.[5] There was a Collegiate Church at Crest (Crista) dedicated to Saint-Sauveur, which had a Provost, a Cantor, and six Canons.[6]

After the eleventh century the Diocese of Die, long disputed between the metropolitans of Vienne and Arles, became suffragan of the archbishopric of Vienne. On 28 March 1165 Pope Alexander III confirmed by papal bull the grant to the Church of Die on the part of Arnaud de Crest[7] and Guillaume of Poitiers[8] of the abbeys of S. Marcel de Die,[9] Saint-Medard, Saint-Croix, Saint Julien-de-Guiniaise, Leoncel, and Saou. The bull also confirms the possession of the entire city of Die and nine castle-towns including Crista.[10] By Papal Bull of 25 September 1275,[11] in order to strengthen the Church of Valence in its struggle with the House of Poitiers, Gregory X united the Diocese of Die with that of Valence. Five days later, on 30 September, Pope Gregory wrote to Abbot Amadeus of Roussillon, informing him that he had been named Bishop of Valence in succession to Bishop Guy, who had died in 1272.[12] It was no accident that Amadeus of Roussillon was the nephew of Amadeus of Geneva, Bishop of Die. Amadeus of Roussillon was present at the bedside of his uncle when he made his Testament on 21 January 1276.[13] Bishop Amadeus of Die died on 22 October 1276, and his nephew Amadeus of Roussillon became Bishop of Valence and Die.

This union, which lasted four centuries, was unfortunate for the Church in Die. The Huguenot sect, derived from the Calvinism of Geneva, had taken firm hold in the Dauphiné, and in particular in the Alpine valleys. In order to combat Protestantism, therefore, King Louis XIV, published the Edict of Fontainebleau on 22 October 1685, revoking the special rights granted to Protestants in France in the Edict of Nantes. King Louis revived the diocese of Die and appointed a Bishop of Die in 1687. From the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church, however, the union of the two dioceses was dissolved canonically in the Consistory of 7 July 1692 by Pope Innocent XII.[14] On 10 September 1692, the Bishop of Die, Armand de Montmorin Saint-Hérem, had an interview with James II of England and Louis XIV. Asked for a report on the state of the Dauphiné, inter alia the Bishop reported that Die was entirely in the hands of the Huguenots.[15]

In 1790 the Civil Constitution of the Clergy reduced the number of dioceses in France from 135 to 83, and ordered that they be coterminous with the new départments of the civil organization. Each départment was authorized and ordered to elect its own bishop; the electors did not have to be Catholic, and that fact alone created a schism between the Constitutional Church and Constitutional Bishops and the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Gaspard-Alexis Plan des Augiers protested, and then fled his diocese; he died in exile in Rome in 1794. On 21 February 1791, the Constitutional diocese of Drôme elected François Marbos, curé of the parish of Bourg-lez-Valence as their 'bishop'. He was consecrated in Paris on 3 April 1791, by Jean Baptiste Gobel of Paris, assisted by Bishops Mirodot and Gouttes. After the Concordat of 1801 he retracted his errors, and died in communion with Rome in 1825.[16]

Bishops

to 1276
  • Nicaise : 325[17]
  • Audentius : c. 439[18]
  • Petronius[19]
  • Marcellus : 463[20]
  • Saeculatius : 517, 518[21]
  • Lucretius : 541, 573[22]
  • Paul : 585[23]
  • Maximus : 614[24]
  • Desideratus : 788[25]
  • Remigius : 859[26]
  • Aurelius : 875[27]
  • Hemico 879[28]
  • Achideus : 957[29]
  • Wulfinus (Wulfade) : 974[30]
  • Conon (Cuno) : 1037[31]
  • Pierre I : 1055[32]
  • Lancelin 1073[33]
  • Hugues de Romans 1082[34]
  • Ponce : 1084–1086[35]
  • Bernard
  • Ismido (Ismidon de Sassenage) : 1097/8?–1115[36]
  • Pierre II : 1116–1119
  • Étienne : 1121–1127
  • Ulric (Odolric) : 1130[37]
  • Hugues, : died in 1159[38]
  • Pierre III : 1163–1173
  • Bernard : 1176
  • Humbert : 1199–1212
  • Étienne de Chatillon : died 1213[39]
  • Desiderius de Forcalquier (Didier de Lans) 1213–1222[40]
  • Bertrand D'Étoile 1223–1235[41]
  • Humbert II 1235–1245, resigned[42]
  • Amedée de Genève 1245–1276[43]
United with the diocese of Valence (1276–1687)

from 1687 to 1801
  • [Daniel de Cosnac : 1687–1691][44]
  • Armand de Montmorin Saint-Hérem : 1691–1694[45]
  • Séraphin de Pajot de Plouy : 1694–1701[46]
  • Gabriel de Cosnac : 1701–1734[47]
  • Daniel-Joseph de Cosnac : 1734–1741[48]
  • Gaspard-Alexis Plan des Augiers 1741–1794, last bishop of Valence and Die[49]

See also

References
  1. Die (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]
  2. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. vii–16.
  3. Polycarpe wrote an Annales Episcoporum Diensium, which exists in manuscript. Ses ouvrages historiques ont fait naître des débats pour ainsi dire interminables, vu la difficulté qu'on éprouve aujourd'hui à verifier l'authenticité des documents don't il a fait usage. C.-G.-A. Lambert (1862). Catalogue descriptif et raisonné des mss. de la Bibliothèque de Carpentras (in French). Tome I. Carpentras: Rolland. pp. 312–314. Polycarpe's ms. was used by Colombi in his history of the bishops of Valence and Die. Polycarpe claimed to have used for St. Martinus a poem written by Wulfinus, which he had read in some library in Paris, but the poem is not extant. Parva quidem fides Wulfino debetur, writes the Gallia christiana XVI, p. 509.
  4. Jean-Aymar Piganiol de la Force (1718). Nouvelle description de la France dans laquelle on voit le Gouvernement Général de ce Royaume, celui de chaque province en particulier; et la description des villes, Maisons royales, châteaux, & monumens les plus remarquables... Par M. Piganiol de La Force. Tome premier [- Tome sixième] (in French). Tome troisieme. Paris: Chez Theodore Legras Fils. pp. 383–384. Ritzler, VI, p. 195 note 1. The Dean, Sacristan and Chapter are mentioned in the thirteenth century pouillé.
  5. Chevalier (1868), "Septième Livraison: Polypticha, id est Regesta Taxationum Beneficiorum...", pp. 43–52.
  6. Piganiol de la Force, p. 384. Félix Grégoire, "Un torrent, la Drôme," Bulletin d'archéologie et de statistique de la Drôme 35 (in French). Valence. 1901. pp. 170–178, at 175–178.
  7. C.U.J. Chevalier (1868), pp. 33–35.
  8. C.U.J. Chevalier (1868), pp. 35–36.
  9. The Abbey of S. Marcellus de Die had been founded by Benedictines in 985. In 1182 or 1183, Pope Lucius III confirmed the possession of the abbey by the Bishops of Die. C.U.J. Chevalier (1868), p. 19.
  10. C.U.J. Chevalier (1868), pp. xiii and 20–22.
  11. Jean Giraud (ed.), Les Registres de Gregoire X (1272-1276) (Paris: Thorin 1892), pp. 272–273 no. 637.
  12. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 406–408. Amadeus of Roussillon was the brother of the Archbishop of Lyon, Adhemar de Roussillon (1273–1283): Eubel, I, p. 316.
  13. Amadeus of Geneva named as his universal heir his nephew, Aymon the Count of Geneva. J. Chevalier (1888), p. 409.
  14. Ritzler, V, p. 184 note 1, and 403 note 1.
  15. The report of the interview is printed by Thomas Babington Macaulay (1834). The history of England from the accession of James the second (in French). pp. 388–389. M. de Die ... (dit qu')il y'a beaucoup d'Huguenots dans le Dauphiné, et que la ville de Die l'est toute entière.
  16. Paul Pisani (1907). Répertoire biographique de l'épiscopat constitutionnel (1791-1802) (in French). Paris: A. Picard et fils. pp. 334–335, and 456.
  17. Bishop Nicasius was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Duchesne, p. 233, no. 1.
  18. Audentius was present at three regional councils presided over by Hilary of Poitiers, the Bishop of Arles: at Riez (439), Orange (441), and Vaison (442). Jacques Sirmond (1789). Conciliorum Galliae tam editorum quam ineditorum collectio, temporum ordine digesta, ab anno Christi 177 ad ann. 1563... Opera et studio monachorum congregationis Sancti Mauri. Tomus primus (in Latin). Tomus primus. Paris: P. Didot. pp. 446 and 461. Duchesne, p. 233, no. 2.
  19. Duchesne, pp. 233–234, no. 3.
  20. Marcellus was consecrated in May 463 by Bishop Mamertus of Vienne. Duchesne, p. 234, no. 4.
  21. Bishop Saeculatius was present at the Council of Epaona (AD 517) and Lyon (518–523). Sirmond, p. 899, 906. Duchesne, p. 234, no. 5.
  22. Bishop Lucretius was present at the IV Council of Orleans (AD 541); he was represented at the IV Council of Arles (AD 549) by the priest Vincentius; he was at the II Council of Paris (AD 553) and the IV Council of Paris (AD 573) Sirmond, I, pp. 1018, 1043–1044, 1091, 1196. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 6.
  23. Bishop Paulus was represented at the II Council of Macon (AD 585). Sirmond, I, p. 1305. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 7.
  24. Maximus was present at the Council of Paris in 614. Charles de Clercq (1963). Concilia Galliae a. 511-a. 695 (in Latin). Turnholt: Typographi Brepols Editores Pontificii. p. 281. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 8.
  25. Bishop Desideratus was present at the Council of Narbonne in 788: J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio editio novissima XIII (Florence: A. Zatta 1767), p. 823. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 9.
  26. Bishop Remigius was present at the synod of Langres on 19 April 859. Mansi, Tomus XV, p. 528. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 11.
  27. Bishop Aurelianus was present at the synod of Tournus in 875. Jean Hardouin; Claude Rigaud (1714). Acta conciliorum et epistolae decretales, ac constitutiones summorum pontificum: Ab anno DCCCLXXII, ad annum MLXXXV (in Latin). Tomus VI, Pars I. Paris: ex Typographia Regia. p. 161. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 12.
  28. Bishop Hemico was present at the Council of Ponthion (Pontigonense), and at the Council of Mantaille (Mantalense). Hardoouin, pp. 174, 180, 346. Duchesne, p. 235, no. 13.
  29. Brun-Durand, p. 17. J. Chevalier (1888), p. 130.
  30. Bishop Wulfinus: Brun-Durand, pp. 17–18. J. Chevalier (1888), p. 131. His poem on Bishop Marcellus is printed in: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Poetarum Latinorum Medii Aevi Tomi IV fasciculi ii et iii (Berlin: Weidmann 1923) ed. K. Strecker, pp. 963–976. Strecker calls Polycarpe de la Rivière falsarius ille impudens (p. 964).
  31. Bishop Cuno was present at a synod held at Romans on 2 October 1037, presided over by Archbishop Leger of Vienne. Brun-Durand, p. 18. J. Chevalier (1888), p. 136.
  32. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 136–137.
  33. Bishop Lancelin was condemned as a simoniac at the Council of Châlons-sur-Saone, and deposed by the Papal Legate, Bishop Giraldus of Ostia. Mansi, Tomus XX , pp. 391–394. Brun-Durand, p. 18. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 137–138.
  34. Bishop Hugues was a nephew of Hugues Duke of Burgundy. He was Chamberlain of Lyon when elected bishop in the presence of the Papal Legate Giraldus of Ostia. Mansi, Tomus XX , pp. 391–394. Brun-Durand, p. 18. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 138–166. Bishop Hughes became a Papal Legate and Archbishop of Lyon (1081–1106).
  35. Bishop Ponce celebrated a synod in Die in 1186. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 166–167.
  36. Bishop Ismido was born, according to the Gallia christiana and Chevalier, in the Château of Sassenages, but others (Colombi, AA SS) place his birth in Valence. Ismido had been Canon of Lyon when, probably in 1096, he was assigned as Coadjutor to the Bishop of Die. He took part in the Roman synod of April 1099 of Urban II, as the Pope himself notes in a letter of 24 April 1099 to Archbishop Hugues of Lyon (P. Jaffé, Regesta pontificum Romanorum I (Leipzig 1885), no. 5788). He twice went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Gallia christiana XVI, pp. 518–519. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 177–189. His tomb was rifled by the Huguenots during the wars of religion, his remains were burned, and the ashes scattered.
  37. Before becoming Bishop of Die, Ulric was Prior of the monastery of Domène (ca. 1095), Canon of the Cathedral of Grenoble (1104), and then Dean of the Chapter (1128). In 1139 he dedicated an altar in the Chartreuse of Ecouges. The Annals of Chartreuse state that he died in their monastery in 1145; but they also state that this was just after the death of Hugues of Grenoble, who died in 1132; and Ulric's successor was already in office in 1144. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 195–199.
  38. In 1144 Bishop Hugues was present when an agreement was entered into by Bishop Jean of Valence and Silvio of Clérieu: Jean Columbi (1668). Joannis Columbi,...Opuscula varia... (in Latin). Lyon: J.-B. de Ville. p. 288. On 15 August 1145 Arnaud de Crest gave Bishop Hugues his lands. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 201–206.
  39. Eubel, I, p. 224, indicates that Bishop Stephanus (Étienne) died on 7 September 1208. Baillet indicates that the date was 7 September 1213: Adrien Baillet (1715). Les Vies Des Saints: Composées Sur Ce Qui Nous Est Resté de plus authentique, & de plus assuré dans leur Histoire... (in French). Tome troisieme (nouvelle ed.). Paris: Roulland. pp. 57–58.
  40. Eubel, I, p. 224, indicates that he served as Bishop from 1214 to 1222.
  41. Bishop Bertrand was the brother of the Chevalier Guillaume d'Étoile and brother-in-law of Guillaume Artaud, lord of Aix. Bishop Bertrand negotiated a peace with his Cathedral Chapter which gave them complete independence in the election of their members. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 309–319. Gallia christiana XVI, pp. 202–212.
  42. In September 1238, the Emperor Frederick II confirmed for Bishop Humbert all of the privileges which the Church of Die had enjoyed up to that point. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 319–347.
  43. Amadeus of Geneva was one of seven sons of Count Guillaume of Geneva: Gallia christiana XVI, p. 528. His brother Aymon was Bishop of Viviers (1255–1263): Eubel, I, p. 533, with note 2. Amadeus was Canon of Lausanne by 1234. On 16 October 1250 he consecrated the rebuilt Cathedral of Die. J. Chevalier (1888), pp. 348–353. Eubel, I, p. 224 note 3. The Bishop of Die was present at the regional council in Provence, meeting in Vienne in December 1248, which had been ordered by Pope Innocent IV. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima XXIII (Venice: A. Zatta 1779), p. 778. Bishop Amadeus died on 22 October 1276: Eubel, I, p. 224, note 3. Gams, p. 544.
  44. From the papal viewpoint, Cosnac was Bishop of Valence and Die until the dissolution of the union of the two dioceses was approved by Rome, even though Louis XIV had called Armand de Montmorin to the See by brevet of 7 January 1687. Jean, p. 479. Ritzler, V, p. 184.
  45. Montmorin was born in the diocese of Clermont, the second son of Gilbert Seigneur de Montmaret; he was a Doctor of theology. He was nominated to the diocese of Die by King Louis XIV on 5 October 1691, and approved by Pope Innocent XII on 7 July 1692. He was transferred to the diocese of Vienne on 19 July 1694. Ritzler, V, p. 184 with note 2.
  46. Pajot de Plouy was born in Paris, and was a Doctor of theology (Paris). He was nominated by on 10 April 1694, and approved by Pope Innocent XII on 13 September 1694. Ritzler, V, p. 184 with note 3.
  47. Gabriel de Cosnac: Ritzler, V, p. 184 with note 4.
  48. Daniel De Cosnac was born in the Château d'Espeyruc in the diocese of Limoges. He was a Doctor of theology (Paris, 1726). He was connected with Louis Boucherat, Chancellor of France. He served as Vicar-General of Die and of Aix. He was Vicar-General of Paris when he was nominated by Louis XV to be Bishop of Die on 23 May 1734. His nomination was approved by Pope Benedict XIII on 27 September 1734. Ritzler, VI, p. 195, with note 3.
  49. Plan des Augiers was a native of Die. He fled his diocese when the dissolution of the dioceses was ordered by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790. He died in Rome at the end of April 1794 at the age of 85. Armand Jean (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801 (in French). Paris: A. Picard. pp. 480–481. Ritzler, VI, p. 196, with note 4.

Books

Acknowledgment

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