Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay

Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay Dioecesis Aniciensis Diocèse du Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy Cathedral
Location
Country	France
Ecclesiastical province	Clermont
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Clermont
Statistics
Area	5,001 km2 (1,931 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 232,900 (est.) 182,500 (est.)
Parishes	279
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	3rd Century
Cathedral	Cathedral of Notre Dame in Le Puy-en-Velay
Patron saint	Notre Dame
Secular priests	101 (diocesan) 8 (Religious Orders) 15 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Yves Baumgarten
Metropolitan Archbishop	François Kalist
Map
Website
Website of the Diocese

Le Puy-en-Velay Coat of Arms

The Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay (Latin: Dioecesis Aniciensis; French: Diocèse du Puy-en-Velay [djɔsɛz dy pɥi ɑ̃ vəlɛ]) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the whole Department of Haute-Loire, in the Region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Clermont.

The old Diocese of Le Puy was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801, and its territory was united with the Diocese of Saint-Flour. Le Puy became a diocese again in 1823. The district of Brioude, which had belonged to the Diocese of Saint-Flour under the old regime, was thenceforward included in the new Diocese of Le Puy. Le Puy is on the Way of St. James, the historical pilgrimage to Compostela.

Early history

The town was originally named Vellavum, after the Gallic tribe. In the 12th century, it came to be called Le Puy (Podium Vellavorum); podium was the Gallic word for "mountain".

The Martyrology of Ado and the first legend of Saint Front of Perigueux (written perhaps in the middle of the 10th century, by Gauzbert, chorepiscopus of Limoges) speak of a certain priest named George who was brought to life by the touch of St. Peter's staff, and who accompanied St. Front, St. Peter's missionary and the alleged first Bishop of Périgueux. A legend of St. George, the origin of which, according to Louis Duchesne is not earlier than the eleventh century, makes George one of the seventy-two disciples, and tells how he founded the Church of Civitas Vetula in the County of Le Velay, and how, at the request of St. Martial, he caused an altar to the Blessed Virgin to be erected on Mont Anis (Mons Anicius). When and how George is supposed to have become a bishop is not recorded.

After St. George, certain local traditions of very late origin point to Sts. Macarius, Marcellinus, Roricius, Eusebius, Paulianus, and Vosy (Evodius) as bishops of Le Puy. It must have been from St. Paulianus that the town of Ruessium, now Saint-Paulien, received its name; and it was probably St. Vosy who completed the church of Our Lady of Le Puy at Anicium and transferred the episcopal see from Ruessium to Anicium. St. Vosy was apprised in a vision that the angels themselves had dedicated the cathedral to the Blessed Virgin, whence the epithet Angelic given to the cathedral of Le Puy. A notation in the page of a Sacramentary, which may have come from some liturgical book from Le Puy, gives the names: Evodius, Aurelius, Suacrus, Scutarius, and Ermentarius. It is impossible to say whether this St. Evodius is the same who signed the decrees of the Council of Valence in 374. Neither can it be affirmed that St. Benignus, who in the seventh century founded a hospital at the gates of the basilica, and St. Agrevius, the seventh-century martyr from whom the town of Saint-Agrève Chiniacum took its name, were really bishops.

Duchesne thinks that the chronology of these early bishops rests on very little evidence and that very ill-supported by documents; before the tenth century only six individuals appear of whom it can be said with certainty that they were bishops of Le Puy. An inscription places Scutarius, the legendary architect of the first cathedral, at the end of the fourth century.

Growth in importance

The Church of Le Puy received, on account of its dignity and fame, temporal and spiritual favours. Concessions made in 919 by William the Young, Count of Auvergne and Le Velay, and in 923 by King Raoul, gave it sovereignty over the whole population of the town (bourg) of Anis, which was soon more than 30,000 people.

Pope Sylvester and Vellavensis ecclesia

In a council held in Rome by Pope Gregory V (996–999), Bishop Stephan de Gévaudan (995–998) of Le Puy, was condemned as an invasor of the see, and deposed from all ecclesiastical offices. He had been appointed by his predecessor and uncle, Bishop Guido of Anjou (975–993) while he was still alive, contrary to the wishes of the clergy and people. Stephanus was consecrated by two local bishops, contrary to the rule that the bishop-elect should be ordained by the pope. The clear implication is that the archbishop of Bourges had lost a privilege over the Church of Le Puy, the right to consecrate a new bishop, and possibly the right to approve or disapprove the bishop-elect.

Sylvester II also granted the bishops of Le Puy a privilege which granted them security from excommunication or anathema (interdict) by any other bishop or royalty.

Election of 1053

On 25 December 1051, Pope Leo IX granted Bishop Stephanus de Mercour the right to wear the pallium on Christmas, the Epiphany, Holy Thursday, Easter, the Ascension, Pentecost, the feasts of S. Peter and S. Paul and S. Andrew, in all solemn feasts of the Virgin Mary, and the dedication of his cathedral. This was conditional on the observance of the rule that the bishops of Le Puy were to be consecrated by the pope.

Bishop Stephanus de Mercour died at the beginning of 1053. Dissension arose immediately between the clergy of the diocese and Henry I, King of the Franks (1031–1060) The clergy, people, and nobility chose Petrus, the archdeacon and provost of the cathedral, and the nephew of the late bishop Stephanus, and informed the king that he was the one to be consecrated. The king put them off, despite interjections from those who were at the meeting in the presence of the king and bishops. Money was spread around, and the count of Toulouse and his wife put forward as bishop-elect Bertramnus, the Archdeacon of Mende. The cry of simony was immediately raised. The matter had to be referred to Pope Leo IX, who was in Ravenna at the time, on his journey from Germany to Rome.

The delegation was headed by Archbishop Hugo of Besançon, Bishop Aimo of Sion (Switzerland), Bishop Artaldus of Grenoble, with the counsel of Archbishop Leodegarius of Vienne, who was a canon of Le Puy. They were received by the pope on 13 March 1053. After the documents of Pope Sylvester II and Pope Gregory V were read to him, he praised and confirmed the election of bishop-elect Petrus. Peter was ordained a priest by Cardinal Umbertus of Santa Rufina, and consecrated by the pope himself.

Medieval pilgrimages

Legend traces the origin of the pilgrimage of Le Puy to an apparition of the Virgin Mary to a sick widow whom St. Martial had converted. No French pilgrimage was more frequented in the Middle Ages. Charlemagne came twice, in 772 and 800; there is a legend that in 772 he established a foundation at the cathedral for ten poor canons (chanoines de paupérie), and he chose Le Puy, with Aachen and Saint-Gilles, as a centre for the collection of Peter's Pence.

Charles the Bald visited Le Puy in 877, Eudes of France in 892, Robert I of France in 1029, Philip Augustus in 1183. Louis IX met the King of Aragon there in 1245; and in 1254 passing through Le Puy on his return from Palestine, he gave to the cathedral an ebony image of the Blessed Virgin clothed in gold brocade. After him, Le Puy was visited by Philip the Bold in 1282, by Philip the Fair in 1285, by Charles VI of France in 1394, by Charles VII of France in 1420, and by the mother of Joan of Arc in 1429. Louis XI made the pilgrimage in 1436 and 1475, and in 1476 halted three leagues from the city and went to the cathedral barefooted. Charles VIII visited it in 1495, Francis I of France in 1533.

Theodulph, Bishop of Orléans, brought to the Virgin Mary (Nôtre-Dame) of Le Puy, as an ex-voto for his deliverance, a magnificent Bible, the letters of which were made of plates of gold and silver, which he had himself put together, about 820, while in prison at Angers. St. Mayeul, St. Odilon, St. Robert, St. Hugh of Grenoble, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. John Francis Regis were pilgrims to Le Puy.

It was from Le Puy that Pope Urban II dated (15 August 1095) the Letters Apostolic convoking the Council of Clermont, and it was a canon of Le Puy, Raymond d'Aiguilles, chaplain to the Count of Toulouse, who wrote the history of the crusade.

Pope Gelasius II, Pope Callistus II, Pope Innocent II and Pope Alexander III visited Le Puy to pray, and with the visit of one of these popes must be connected the origin of the great Jubilee which is granted to Our Lady of Le Puy whenever Good Friday falls on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation. It is supposed that this jubilee was instituted by Callistus II, who passed through Le Puy, in April, 1119; or by Alexander III, who was there in August, 1162 and June 1165; or by Pope Clement IV, who had been Bishop of Le Puy. The first jubilee historically known took place in 1407, and in 1418 the chronicles mention a Bull of Pope Martin V prolonging the duration of the jubilee. During the Middle Ages, everyone who had made the pilgrimage to Le Puy had the privilege of making a will in extremis with only two witnesses instead of seven. One such jubilee occurred in 1796, and it was presided over by the Constitutional Bishop of Haute-Loire, Etienne Delcher.

The statue of the Virgin Mary of Le Puy and the other treasures escaped the pillage of the Middle Ages. The roving banditti were victoriously dispersed, in 1180, by the Confraternity of the Chaperons (Hooded Cloaks), founded at the suggestion of a canon of Le Puy.

Relationship with Catalonia

Further information: Girona

Honoured with such prerogatives, the Church of Le Puy assumed a sort of primacy in respect to most of the Churches of France, and even of Christendom. This primacy manifested itself practically in a right to beg, established with the authorization of the Holy See, in virtue of which the chapter of Le Puy levied a veritable tax upon almost all the Christian countries to support its hospital of Notre-Dame.

In Catalonia this droit de quête, recognized by the Spanish Crown, was so thoroughly established that the chapter had its collectors permanently installed in that country. A famous "fraternity" existed between the chapter of Le Puy and that of Girona in Catalonia.

Later history

In 1562 and 1563 Le Puy was successfully defended against the Huguenots by priests and religious armed with cuirasses and arquebuses.

Bishop François-Charles de Beringhen D'Armainvilliers (1725–1742) allowed the Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes to establish a presence in the diocese.

French Revolution

One of the first acts of the French Revolution was the abolition of feudalism and its institutions, including estates, provinces, duchies, baillies, and other obsolete organs of government. The National Constituent Assembly ordered their replacement by political subdivisions called "departments", to be characterized by a single administrative city in the center of a compact area. The decree was passed on 22 December 1789, the boundaries fixed on 26 February 1790, with the institution to be effective on 4 March 1790.Le Puy was assigned to the Departement de l'Haute-Loire, in the new "Métropole du Sud-Est," with its administrative center at Clermont. The National Constituent Assembly then, on 6 February 1790, instructed its ecclesiastical committee to prepare a plan for the reorganization of the clergy. At the end of May, its work was presented as a draft Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which, after vigorous debate, was approved on 12 July 1790. There was to be one diocese in each department, requiring the suppression of approximately fifty dioceses. The suppression of dioceses by the state was uncanonical, and thus the Church considered the diocese without a bishop (sede vacante) from 1791 to 1801.

In 1793 the statue of the Virgin of Le Puy was torn from its shrine and burned in the public square.

Gustave Delacroix de Ravignan, in 1846, and Théodore Combalot, in 1850, were inspired with the idea of a great monument to the Blessed Virgin on the Rocher Corneille. Napoleon III placed at the disposal of Bishop Morlhon 213 pieces of artillery taken by Pélissier at Sebastopol, and the colossal statue of "Notre-Dame de France" cast from the iron of these guns, amounting in weight to 150,000 kilogrammes, or more than 330,000 lbs. avoirdupois, was dedicated 12 September 1860.

Cathedral

Main article: Le Puy Cathedral

The cathedral of Le Puy, which forms the highest point of the city, rising from the foot of the Rocher Corneille, exhibits architecture of every period from the fifth century to the fifteenth.

The cathedral was administered by a corporation called the Chapter, which consisted of 4 dignities and 42 canons. The canons had the right to wear the mitre on major solemnities. The dignities were: the Dean, the Provost, the Abbot of S. Petrus de Turre, and the Abbot of S. Evodius. The king of France and the Dauphin were honorary canons.

Other churches

The diocese of Le Puy had eight collegiate churches, that is, each was administered by a college of canons. Inside the city were: Saint-Pierre-le-Monastier, Saint-Pierre-de-la-Tour, Saint-Vosy, Saint-Georges-et-Saint-Agrève, and Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem. Outside the city were: Saint-Paulien, Monistrol. and Retournac. The diocesan seminary was located at S. Georges, and was staffed by priests from S. Sulpice in Paris.

The Benedictine monastery of the Chaise Dieu, around 40 km north-northwest of Le Puy, sacked by the Huguenots, was united in 1640 to the Benedictine Congregation of St-Maur. The congregation was dissolved in 1790, and the monks forced to leave. The church and monastery still stands, with the fortifications which Abbot André de Chanac (1378–1420) caused to be built. The abbey church, rebuilt in the fourteenth century by Pope Clement VI, who had made his studies there, and by Gregory XI, his nephew, contains the tomb of Clement VI.

The church of S. Julien de Brioude, constructed in florid Byzantine style, dates from the eleventh or twelfth century. In 1626, at the age of eighteen Jean-Jacques Olier, afterwards the founder of Saint-Sulpice, was Abbot in commendam of Pébrac, and was an "honorary count-canon of the chapter of St. Julien de Brioude". These benefices were obtained for him by his ambitious father, Jacques Olier de Verneuil, formerly secretary and Master of Requests of King Henri IV, and a Conseiller d'Etat of Louis XIII.

There was also the pilgrimage church of Notre-Dame de Pradelles, at Pradelles, a pilgrimage dating from 1512; the chapel of Notre-Dame d'Auteyrac, at Sorlhac, which was very popular before the Revolution; of Notre-Dame Trouvée, at Lavoute-Chilhac.

Saints

The saints specially venerated in the diocese are:

• Domninus, martyr, whose body is preserved in the cathedral;
• Calminius (Carmery), Duke of Auvergne, who prompted the foundation of the Abbey of Le Monastier, and Eudes, first abbot (end of the sixth century);
• Theofredus (Chaffre, Theofrid), Abbot of Le Monastier and martyr under the Saracens (c. 735);
• Mayeul, Abbot of Cluny, who, in the second half of the tenth century, cured a blind man at the gates of Le Puy, and whose name was given, in the fourteenth century, to the university in which the clergy made their studies;
• Odilon, Abbot of Cluny (962–1049), who embraced the life of a regular canon in the monastery of Julien de Brioude;
• Robert de Turlande (d. 1067) who founded the monastery of Chaise Dieu in the Brioude district;
• Peter Chavanon (d. 1080), a canon regular, founder and first provost of the Abbey of Pébrac.

The Benedictine, Hughes Lanthenas (1634–1701), the historian of the Abbey of Vendôme, who edited the works of Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Anselm; the Benedictine, Jacques Boyer, joint author of Gallia Christiana was a native of the diocese of Le Puy. Cardinal Melchior de Polignac (d. 1741), son of Armand XVI, marquis de Polignac, Governor of Le Puy, was born at the Chateau de la Ronte; he was archbishop of Auch from 1725 to 1741, and author of the "Antilucretius".

Bishops

To 1000

• [Voisy 374]
• Suacre 396
• Scutarius (late IV/early V)
• St Armentaire 451
• [St Benigne]
• St Faustinus ca. 468
• St Georg ca. 480
• St Marcellinus 6th century
• Forbius ca. 550
• Aurelius ca. 590
• St Agreve 602
• Eusebius ca. 615
• Basilius ca. 635
• Kutilius ca. 650
• St Eudes ca. 670
• Duicidius ca. 700
• Hilgericus ca. 720?
• Tornoso ca. 760?
• Macaire ca. 780
• Borice 811
• Dructan ca. 850
• Hardouin 860, 866
• Guido (I.) 875
• Norbert de Poitiers 876–903
• Adalard 919–924
• Hector 925?–934?
• Godescalc 935–955
• Bégon 961
• Peter I. 970?
• Guido II of Anjou 975–993
• Stephan de Gévaudan 995–998
• Theotard 999

1000-1300

• Guido III 1004
• Frédol D'Anduze 1016
• Stephan de Mercœur 1031–1052
• Peter II de Mercœur 1053–1073
• Stephan d'Auvergne 1073
• Stephan de Polignac 1073–1077
• Adhemar de Monteil 1082–1098
• Pons de Tournon 1102–1112
• Pons Maurice de Monfboissier 1112–1128
• Humbert D'Albon 1128–1144
• Peter III 1145–1156
• Pons III 1158
• Pierre de Solignac 1159–1191
• Aimard 1192–1195
• Odilon de Mercœur 1197–1202
• fr:Bertrand de Chalençon 1202–1213
• Robert de Mehun 1213–1219
• Étienne de Chalencon 1220–1231
• Bernard de Rochefort 1231–1236
• Bernard de Montaigu 1236–1248
• Guillaume de Murat 1248–1250
• Bernard de Ventadour 1251–1255
• Armand de Polignac 1255–1257
• Guy Foulques 1257–1260, later Pope Clement IV
• Guillaume de La Roue 1260–1282
• Guido V. 1283
• Frédol de Saint-Bonnet 1284–1289
• Guy de Neuville 1290–1296
• Jean de Comines 1296–1308

1300-1500

• Bernard de Castanet 1308–1317
• Guillaume de Brosse 1317–1318
• Durand de Saint Pourçain 1318–1326
• Pierre Gorgeul 1326–1327
• Bernard Brun 1327–1342
• Jean Chandorat 1342–1356
• Jean du Jaurens 1356–1361
• Bertrand de la Tour 1361–1382
• Bertrand de Chanac 1382–1385
• Pierre Girard 1385–1390
• Gilles de Bellemère 1390–1392
• Itier de Martreuil 1392–1394
• Pierre d'Ailly 1395–1397
• Elie de Lestrange 1397–1418
• Guillaume de Chalencon 1418–1443
• Jean de Bourbon 1443–1485
• Geoffroy de Pompadour 1486–1514

1500-1801

• Antoine de Chabannes (1514–1535)
• (Agostino Trivulzio administrator (1525)
• François de Sarcus (1536–1557)
• Martin de Beaune (1557–1561)
• Antoine de Sénecterre (1561–1593)
• Jacques de Serres (1596–1621)
• Just de Serres (1621–1641)
• Henri Cauchon de Maupas du Tour (1641–1661)
• Armand de Béthune (1661–1703)
• Claude de La Roche-Aymon (1704–1720)
• Godefroy Maurice de Conflans (1721–1725)
• François-Charles de Beringhen D'Armainvilliers (1725–1742)
• Jean-Georges Le Franc de Pompignan (1743–1774)
• Joseph-Marie de Galard de Terraube (1774–1791) (1801)

From 1823

• Louis-Jacques Maurice de Bonald (1823–1839)
• Pierre-Marie-Joseph Darcimoles (1840–1846)
• Joseph-Auguste-Victorin de Morlhon (1846–1862)
• Pierre-Marc Le Breton (1863–1886)
• André-Clément-Jean-Baptiste-Joseph-Marie Fulbert Petit (1887–1894)
• Constant-Ludovic-Marie Guillois (1894–1907)
• Thomas François Boutry (1907–1925)
• Norbert Georges Pierre Rousseau (1925–1939)
• Joseph-Marie Martin (1940–1948)
• Joseph-Marie-Jean-Baptiste Chappe (1949–1960)
• Jean-Pierre-Georges Dozolme (1960–1978)
• Louis-Pierre-Joseph Cornet (1978–1987)
• Henri Marie Raoul Brincard, C.R.S.A (1988–2014)
• Luc Crépy (2015–2021)
• Yves Baumgarten (2022–present)

See also

• Catholic Church in France

Sources

• Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo. Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. pp. 548–549. (Use with caution; obsolete)
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 1 (Tomus I) (second ed.). Munster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 527.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 2 (Tomus II) (second ed.). Munster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1923). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 3 (Tomus III) (second ed.). Munster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 4 (IV) (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 219.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. 5 (V) (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi. Vol. 6 (Tomus VI) (1730–1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1968). Hierarchia Catholica medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. VII (1800–1846). Monasterii: Libreria Regensburgiana.
• Remigius Ritzler; Pirminus Sefrin (1978). Hierarchia catholica Medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. VIII (1846–1903). Il Messaggero di S. Antonio.
• Pięta, Zenon (2002). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. IX (1903–1922). Padua: Messagero di San Antonio. ISBN 978-88-250-1000-8.

Studies

• Cubizolles, Pierre (2005). Le diocèse du Puy-en-Velay des origines à nos jours. (in French). Saint-Just-près-Brioude: Editions Créer, 2005.
• Duchesne, Louis (1910). Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule: II. L'Aquitaine et les Lyonnaises. Paris: Fontemoing.. Archived.
• Du Tems, Hugues (1775). Le clergé de France (in French). Vol. 3 Paris: Bruney 1775.
• Jean, Armand (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801 (in French). Paris: A. Picard. pp. 102–105.
• Lascombe, Adrien (1882). Répertoire général des hommages de l'évêché du Puy, 1154-1741. (in French and Latin).Bérard-Rousset, 1882.
• Pisani, Paul (1907). Répertoire biographique de l'épiscopat constitutionnel (1791-1802) (in French). Paris: A. Picard et fils.
• Sainte-Marthe, Denis (1720). Gallia Christiana, In Provincias Ecclesiasticas Distributa. (in Latin). Paris: Ex Typographia Regia, 1720. [pp. 685-740; "Instrumenta", pp. 222-262].
• Schrör, Matthias, "Von der kirchlichen Peripherie zur römischen Zentrale? um Phänomen der Bistumsexemtion im Hochmittelalter anhand der Beispiele von Le Puy-en-Velay undd Bamberg," (in German), in: Jochen Johrendt, Harald Müller, Rom und die Regionen: Studien zur Homogenisierung der lateinischen Kirche im Hochmittelalter (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2012), pp. 63-82.

External links

• (in French) Centre national des Archives de l'Église de France, L’Épiscopat francais depuis 1919, retrieved: 2016-12-24.

Acknowledgment

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Le Puy". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.