Roman Catholic Diocese of Uzès

The Ancient Diocese of Uzès (Lat.: Uceticensis) is a former Roman Catholic diocese in France. From the arrival of Christianity in the 5th century until the French Revolution the southern French city of Uzès, in the department of Gard, was the seat of a bishop, a competitor to the local lords.

History

The first historically verified Bishop of Uzès was Constantius, who was present at the Council of Vaison in 442. Other notable bishops were the fourth, Saint Firminus (541-53), who is locally venerated as Saint Firmin and whose remains are kept in Uzès Cathedral. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Theodoritus (Saint Théodorit), martyr, and patron saint of the town, and who was invoked against plague. Also honored is Saint Ferreol (553-81).^[1]

On 15 October 879, Bishop Walefridus of Uzès participated in the election of Boso of Provence, the son of Bivin of Gorze, count of Lotharingia, and Richildis, the daughter of Boso the Elder, as King of Provence.^[2]

As the power of territorial magnates dispersed, the bishops obtained the right to strike coinage,^[3] a sure sign of their secular power, and the seigneurial right to dispense justice. In the 13th century, at the height of the see's power, the bishop was able to purchase a part of the signory of Uzès. Prior Guillaume de Grimoard held office as vicar-general of the bishop of Uzès, from 1357 to 1362, before becoming Pope Urban V.^[4]

Like many cloth-manufacturing centers (Uzès manufactures serge), the city and the surrounding countryside were strongly Protestant during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, which wreaked havoc in the Languedoc regions, and Bishop Jean de Saint Gelais (1531–60) became a Calvinist.^[1] Many of the city's churches were burned by Huguenots and only two remain.

The missionary Jacques Bridaine (1701–67) was a native of the diocese of Uzès.^[5]

For seventy days the little city was the fortified residence of Cardinal Pacca, after his confinement at Fenestrelles (1812).

The town of Pont Saint Esprit, on the Rhône, owes its names to a bridge built there between 1265 and 1309 with the proceeds of a general collection made by the monks.^[1]

After the bishopric of Nîmes was re-established as a separate diocese in 1821, a Papal Brief of 27 April 1877, granted to its bishop the right to add Alais and Uzès to their bishopric, with the two dioceses being combined with that of Nîmes.^[1]

Bishops of Uzès

Year	Name
419?–462	Constantius^[6]
506	Probatius^[7]
	[Roricius]^[8]
538–553	Firminus^[9]
553–581	Ferreolus^[10]
581	Albinus^[11]
[581]	Jovinus usurper^[12]
581	Marcellus
659	Aurelien (Aurele)
661	Mummolus
773	Sigibert (Sigepert, Sigisbert)
791	Arimundus (Arimond)
823–835	Amelius I.
842	Éliphas (Éléphant, Alphant, Alphonse)
858–879	Walafrid (Wilfrid, Wilfred)
885	Asaël
886–915	Amelius II.
945	Rostaing
994–1030	Heribald (Aribald, Arbaud)
1030–1080	Hugues (Hugo)
1096–1138	Raymond I.
1139–1150	Ébrard I. (Éverard)
1150–1188	Raymond II. de Posquières
1188–1190	Bertrand I.
1190–1204	Guillaume I. de Vénéjan
1204–1208	Ébrard II.
1208–1212	Raymond III. (Rainon, Raynier)
1212–1227	Raymond IV named de Mas d'André (Mansus Andreae)
1228–1239	Berlio (Berlion, Berlionc)
1240–1249	Pons de Becmil
1249–1285	Bertrand II. Armand
1285–1307	Guillaume II. des Gardies
1315–1318	André de Frédol
1318–1344	Guillaume III. de Mandagout
1344–1346	Élias (Hélias de Saint-Yrieix)
1357–1365	Pierre I. d'Aigrefeuille
1365–1366	Pierre II. (Gérard de la Rovère)
1366–1371	Bompar (Bonuspar)
1371–1374	Bernard de Saint-Étienne
1375–1398	Martial
1400–1405	Pierre III. de Beaublé (Belbladi)
1405–1426	Géraud de Breuil (Guiraud de Broglio)
1427	Pierre IV. Soybert
1427–1441	Bertrand III. de Cadoène
1441–1442	Guillaume IV. de Champeaux
1442–1445	Alain de Coëtivy
1445–1446	Guillaume V. Soybert
1446–1448	Olivier du Châtel (Oliverius de Castro)
1448–1463	Gabriel du Châtel
1463–1483	Jean I. de Mareuil (de Marolio)
1483–1503	Nicolas I. Malgras (Maugras, Malgrassi)
1503–1531	Jacques I. de Saint-Gelais
1531–1570	Jean II. de Saint-Gelais
1570–1591	Robert de Girard
1591–1601	François I. Rousset
1601–1624	Louis de Vigne
1621–1633	Paul-Antoine de Fay de Peraut
1633–1660	Nicolas de Grillié (de Grillet)
1660–1674	Jacques II. Adhémar de Monteil de Grignan
1674–1677	Michel I. Phélypeaux de la Vrillière
1677–1728	Michel II. Poncet de la Rivière
1728–1736	François II. de Lastic de Saint-Jal
1737–1779	Bonaventure Baüyn
1779–1801	Henri Benoît Jules de Béthizy de Mézières^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Nîmes" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ D.P. Curtin, Frankish Royal Elections: Boso, Eudes, Louis & Guy, (Philadelphia: Dalcassian Pub. Co. 2005), pp. 7, 22.
^ Inge Lyse Hansen, Chris Wickham, The Long Eighth Century: Production, Distribution and Demand (Leiden-Boston: Brill 2021), p. 183: "The switch from emperor to king notwithstanding, the royal coinage is identical with its predecessor, is issued from the same four principal mints—Marsdeille, Arles, Uzès and Viviers—and continues to represent a centrally-inspired attempt to profit from trade on the Rhône-valley axis." Philip Grierson, "Le sou d'or d'Uzès," in: Le Moyen Age (1954), 293-309, rejecting the idea that the gold coins of Charlemagne are authentic contemporary currency. Robert Latouche, The Birth of the Western Economy: Economic Aspects of the Dark Ages (New York: Routledge, 2013), p. 151, note 1: "The only gold coins issued under the early Carolingians were struck at Aix-la-Chapelle. Consequently the mint at Uzès which turned out gold coins is a myth."
^ Jean Baptiste Magnan, Histoire d'Urbain V., (in French) (Paris, 1862), pp. 87-88.
^ Edwin Charles Dargan, A History of Preaching ...: Vol. II. From the Close of the Reformation Period to the End of the Nineteenth Century, 1572-1900. (New York: G.H. Doran Company, 1912), pp. 254-257.
^ Bishop Constantius (Constantinus) participated in the Council of Vaison in 442: "Ex prouincia prima Narboninsi Eucesia oppido Constantius episcopus, Principius diaconus." (C. Munier, Concilia Galliae (Turnholt: Brepols 1965), p. 102); in the council of Arles in 451. In 462, he was appointed by Pope Hilarius to preside over the bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Narbonensis prima. Gallia christiana VI, p. 610. Duchesne, p. 314, no. 1.
^ Probatus, Probacius, Probasius: Munier, p. 213: "Probatius in Christi nomine episcopus de Vcetia subscripsi." Duchesne, p. 315, no. 2.
^ According to the "Legend of Saint Firminus", Roricus was the father and predecessor of the saint on the episcopal throne of Uzès. Gallia Christiana VI, p. 611. Duchense (p. 315, note 1), however, considers the source 'hardly reassuring', and excludes Roricius from the list of bishops: "Le G. C. insère ici un Roricius, père du suivant, d'après la légende de celui-ci, laquelle est des moins rassurantes."
^ Bishop Firminus attended the council of Orleans in 541; the council of 549 in 549; and the council of Paris in 552. Duchesne, p. 315, no. 3.
^ Duchesne, p. 315, no. 4.
^ Albinus was bishop for only three months, according to Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum Book VI, § 7: "Post cuius obitum Albinus ex praefecto per Dinamium rectorem Provinciae extra regis consilium suscepit episcopatum ; quem non amplius quam tribus utens mensibus, cum ad hoc causa restitisset, ut removeretur , defunctus est." He had failed to secure the consent of the king (the praeceptio), and was deposed. O.W. Dalton, The History of the Franks, Volume 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927), p. 288, 296. Duchesne, p. 315, no. 5, with note 6.
^ His name is omitted both by Gallia Chrsistiana and by Duchesne. Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum Book VI, § 7: "Iovinus iterum, qui quondam & Provinciae rector fuerat, regium de episcopatum praeceptum accipit. Sed praevenit eum Marcellus diaconus, Felicis senatoris filius. Qui, convocatis conprovincialibus, per consilium Dinamii episcopus ordinatus est. Sed et ipse vi pulsatus deinceps a Iovino, ut removeretur, conclusus in civitate, virtute se defensare nitebatur; sed cum non valeret, muneribus vicit." Gallia Christiana VI, p. 614.
^ Mézières refused to take the compulsory oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, as demanded by the National Constituent Assembly. He was therefore considered deposed by the French government (who did not have canonical authority to do so), and he was forced to flee the country. When Pope Pius VII abolished the dioceses of France on 29 November 1801, Mézières lost his diocese, which he had refused to resign, even at the pope's request. He died in exile in London on 8 August 1817. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 428 with note 3.

Bibliography

Sources: Episcopal lists

Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo (in Latin). Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. pp. 548-549. (Use with caution; obsolete)
Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
Eubel, Conradus; Gulik, Guilelmus, eds. (1923). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi. Vol. VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.

Studies

Congregation of St. Maur, O.S.B. (edd.) (1739. Gallia Christiana, In Provincias Ecclesiasticas Distributa. (in Latin). Tomus Sextus, Volume 6. Paris: Typographia regia, 1739. [pp. 609-663; "Instrumenta", pp. 293-312].
Albiousse, Lionel d' (1903). Histoire de la ville d'Uzès. (in French). Uzès: H. Malige, 1903.
Devic, Claude; Vaissete, J. (1872). Histoire générale de Languedoc: avec des notes et les pièces justificatives. (in French and Latin). Volume 4. Toulouse: E. Privat, 1872. [chronological annotated list, pp. 298-304; 864-870].
Duchesne, Louis (1907). Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule (in French). Vol. Tome I: Provinces du Sud-Est (deuxieme ed.). Paris: A. Fontemoing. pp. 314–316.
Jean, Armand (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801 (in French). Paris: A. Picard. p. 520.
Pisani, Paul (1907). Répertoire biographique de l'épiscopat constitutionnel (1791-1802) (in French). Paris: A. Picard et fils.