Diocese of Chartres

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Comprises the department of Eure-et-Loir. Dismembered by the formation of the newDiocese of Blois, in 1697, it was suppressed in 1802, the entire department of Eure-et-Loir being placed under thejurisdiction of the new Bishopric ofVersailles. However, in 1822, the See of Chartres was re-established and made suffragan to the Archbishopric ofParis. The catalogue of the church of Chartres gives as its firstbishops, Adventus, Optatus, and Valentinus, the last-named being contemporary with St. Martin. According to the Abbé Duchesne the Bishopric of Chartres may thus be traced back to the time of Constantine. Among itsbishops the church of Chartres claims: Saints Martinus Candidus and Anianus (fifth century); St Solennis, instrumental in the conversion ofClovis; St. Adventinus, present at the Council ofOrléans in 511; St. Leobinus, at the Council ofOrléans in 549; St Chaletricus at the Council ofTours in 567; St. Boetharius (about 594),chaplain to Clotaire II and, for a while the captive of Thierry, King ofBurgundy;Fulbert (1007-1029), professor and poet, whose name is identified with the history of thecathedral;St. Yves (1090-1115),Abbot of Saint-Quentin-de-Beauvais, noted as anecclesiastical writer and canonist, andimprisoned for two years by King Philip I for having opposed the repudiation of QueenBertha;John of Salisbury (1176-1180), an illustrious writer, former secretary toSt. Thomas Becket andAlexander III;Godet de Marais (1690-1709), a writer and the arch enemy ofQuietism, also co-operator withMadame de Maintenon in the founding of Saint-Cyr; the future Cardinal de Latil (1821-1824), at firstchaplain to the Comte d'Artois and subsequentlyArchbishop ofReims; Monseigneur Clausel de Montals (1824-1853), ardently attached to Gallicanideas and noted for his opposition to the Abbé Chatel'sschismatic "French Church", and for his efforts in favor of freedom of instruction..

Specialhonour is paid to St. Arnulphus (Arnoul), assassinated in the forest of Yveline about 534; toSt. Avitus (Avit) who, in the beginning of the sixth century, founded amonastery at Châteaudun; to St. Laumer (d. 593), founder andAbbot of Saint-Martin de-Dreux, and to Blessed Bernard (end of the eleventh century), founder andAbbot of Tiron. The mystic Arnaud (twelfth century), author of the "Traité de l'oeuvre des six jours" and biographer ofSt. Bernard, and François-Auguste de Thou, beheaded for political reasons underRichelieu, were both Abbots of Bonneval in the Diocese of Chartres; Philippe Desportes, poet (1546-1606), and the Abbé de Saint Pierre (1658-1743), author of the famous "Projet de paix perpétuelle", were Abbots of Tiron. Among the natives of thediocese may be mentioned: Godeau, the poet,Bishop of Vence (1605-1672). known at the Hôtel de Rambouillet as "Julie's dwarf" and also J.-B. Thiers (1636-1703),curé of Champrond, noted for his disagreements with the Chapter of Chartres and his history of wigs (Histoire des perruques).

According toDidron, thearcheologist, the Chartrescathedral is "the most curious monument inFrance, perhaps even in allEurope; a unique monument."

"If elsewhere may be found more beautiful parts," said thearcheologist Visconti, "nowhere else is there a more beautiful whole." The substructure of the presentcathedral encloses a well and a vault around which cluster traditions of the origin of the church. The earlyChristians of the place, it was said, found here an altar surmounted by astatue representing awoman seated with her child upon her knees — both the altar andstatue, "Virgini paritur," had been erected by the Druids. About the year 67 Saints Altinus and Eodaldus, sent fromSens by Saints Savinianus and Potentianus, built achurch over this grotto, where, during thepersecution the virgin Modesta, daughter of the governor, Quirinus, wasmartyred, and her body flung into the well. Whatever may be held as to the time in which Saints Savinianus and Protentianus lived, it would seem that the foundation of the primitive church of Chartres, all that now can be seen, was laid in the days of Constantius Chlorus (beginning of the fourth century). The church was several times destroyed by fire. About 1020Bishop Fulbert invited all the sovereigns ofEurope to contribute towards the rebuilding of thecathedral, but three more fires (1030-1134-1194) interfered with the progress of the work. However, in 1220, Guillaume le Breton could write: "entirely rebuilt in dressed stone and terminating in a vault that may be compared to the shell of a tortoise, thecathedral of Chartres need fear nothing further from temporal fire until the Day of Judgment."

Thepious enthusiasm of which Notre-Dame of Chartres was then the object is attested by the "Poème des Miracles" (1210), recently published by Antoine* Thomas, and by Jean le Marchand's poem of 1262. Theconsecration of thecathedral occurred in 1260, and St. Louis is supposed to have attended theceremony. Thestained glasswindows date back to the thirteenth century, and are the finest in the world — they contain 3889 figures. The upper windows were presented by St. Louis, and St. Ferdinand and Queen Blanche of Castile. Theporches and windows represent in magnificent symbolism the glorification of Mary. The choir enclosure with its beautifully sculptured groups dates from the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Among thepilgrims who came to Chartres history mentions St. Louis who, in order to reach there, travelled seven leagues on foot;Philip the Fair; Charles the Fair; Philip of Valois; John the Good who went there three times and left his pilgrim's staff, which has become thebâton cantoral of the Chapter; Charles V (ofFrance) who went thither twice barefooted; Louis XI; Henry III who made eighteenpilgrimages;Henry IV, who wascrowned there 27 February, 1594;Louis XIV and PopesPascal II,Innocent II, andAlexander III. The object of this yet very popularpilgrimage is threefold: to venerate

The church of Saint-Pierre of Chartres of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries has some very beautiful fourteenth-century windows; it was dependent upon aBenedictineabbey founded in the sixth century.

Several local congregations ofwomen take charge of theschools and the sick: the sisters of Providence (founded in Chartres, 1654); theSisters of St. Paul of Chartres (founded 1690), who have 123 establishments in the French colonies and others in the countries of the extreme East; the Sisters of the Bon-Secours (founded 1736); the sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Nogent-le-Rotrou (founded 1808), and the Sisters of Our Lady of Chartres (founded 1853). In 1900 the diocese had the following religious institutions: 1foundling asylum, 17 infantschools, 1school for deaf-mutes, 17orphanages, 21hospitals and hospices, and 2 houses of religious nurses. At the end of 1905 (the close of the Concordat period) the population was 275,433 and there were 25 pastorates, 351 succursals, or second-classparishes, and 15 curacies then remunerated by the State.

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