Diocese of Valence

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(VALENTINENSIS).See alsoUNIVERSITY OF VALENCE.

Comprises the present Department of Drome. It was re-established by the Concordat of 1802, being formed of the ancient Diocese of Valence, less the portion comprised in the newDiocese of Viviers, and of various portions of the Diocese of Die, Saint Paul-Trois-Châteaux, Vienne (seeARCHDIOCESE OF LYONS), Orange,Vaison,Gap, Sisteron (seeDIOCESE OF DIGNE). From 1802 to 1821 Valence was a suffragan ofLyons; since 1821 it has been dependent onAvignon.

Ancient diocese of Valence

A tradition of the early sixth century attributes the establishment ofChristianity at Valentia to the three missionaries sent fromLyons bySt. Irenæus; thepriest St. Felix and thedeacons Sts. Achilles and Fortunatus, allmartyrs. The "Chronicles of the Bishops of Valence", probably compiled about the middle of the twelfth century, gives only confused information with regard tobishops prior to the ninth century. The first historically knownbishop was St. Æmilianus (second half of the fourth century), who signed at the Council of Valence in 374. St. Sextus,martyred during the invasion of Chrocus, waserroneously introduced into the list ofbishops by theCarthusian Polycarpe de la Riviere. In 450Pope St. Leo made Valentia a suffragan of Vienne. St. Apollinaris, brother ofSt. Avitus, occupied thesee for thirty-four years during the first half of the sixth century, and after the conversion of Sigismund, King ofBurgundy, was exiled by the latter; he is the patron of thediocesancathedral. Otherbishops were: Maximus II (567), during whose episcopate the city was delivered from besieging Lombards by theprayers ofSt. Galla, a virgin of Bourg-les-Valence; Gontard (1082), who receivedUrban II at Valence, 1095; St. John I (1141-6), formerly aCistercianAbbot of Bonnevaux, disciple of St. Peter ofTarentaise; Bl. Humbert de Miribel (1200-20); Gérold (1220-27), formerlyAbbot of Cluny, laterPatriarch ofJerusalem;St. Boniface of Savoy (1240-42), laterArchbishop ofCanterbury; Amadeus II,Cardinal of Saluces (1383-89); John VI,Cardinal of Lorraine (1521); Francois-Guillaume de Castelnau,Cardinal of Clermont-Lodève (1524-31); Jean de Montluc, brother of the historian Blaise, who assisted in thenomination of the Duke of Anjou as King ofPoland (1553-79), and was suspected ofProtestant tendencies. During theMiddle Ages Valence recognized only the sovereignty of the emperor, as King ofBurgundy and Arles; under him thebishops exercised real dominion. The neighbouring territories bore the title of Countship and Duchy of Valentinois. In 950 Gontard, of the house of the counts ofPoitiers, made himself master of the Countship of Valentinois, which passed to the Duke ofSavoy in 1419, and to the Dauphin Louis, son of Charles VII, in 1446, becoming united to the Crown ofFrance. In 1498 Louis XII made Valentinois a ducal peerage which he gave to Caesar Borgia.

Diocese of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux

According to a legend of the fifteenth century, St. Restitutus, firstBishop of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, was the man born blind, mentioned in the Gospel. Local traditions also make Sts. Eusebuis, Torquatus, Paulus, Amantius, Sulpicius, Bonifatius, Castorinus, and Michael earlybishops of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux. Mgr. Duchesne regards St. Paulus (fourth or sixth century), patron of the city, as the only knownbishop. Owing toSaracen ravages (827-29) theChurch of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, byDecree ofGregory IV, was united with theChurch of Orange until the end of the eleventh century, when the Diocese of Orange was re-established. The Diocese of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was always dependent on Arles. Among itsbishops were Heraclius (525-42), correspondent ofSt. Avitus; Saint Martin des Ormeaux (seventh century), who became a solitary.

Diocese of Die

TheCarthusian Polycarpe de la Riviere gives St. Martinus (220) as firstBishop of Die. The oldest historically knownbishop is St. Nicasius, who attended theCouncil of Nicaea in 325. After him are mentioned:St. Petronius, followed by his brother St. Marcellus (c. 463), confessor andmiracle-worker; Lucretius (541-73), to whom St. Ferreolus of Uzes dedicated his monastic rule. For various reasons Abbé Jules Chevalier omits from theepiscopal list: St. Maximus (sixth century); Wulphinus (end of eighth century); Exuperius and Saturninus (ninth century). Otherbishops were: Hugh (1073-83),consecrated atRome byGregory VII, became alegate of the latter, presided over numerous councils for the reform of theChurch, and subsequently becameBishop ofLyons; St. Ismido (1098-1115) of the noble house of Sassenage; Bl. Uric (1129-42), who opposed thePetrobrusian heresy in hisdiocese and became aCarthusian; Bl. Bernard (1173-76); St. Stephen (1203-8), formerly aCarthusian at themonastery of Portes; Bl. Didier (Desiderius) de Lans (1213-20). After the eleventh century the Diocese of Die, long disputed between themetropolitans of Vienne and Arles, became dependent on Vienne. ByBull of 25 September, 1275, in order to strengthen theChurch of Valence in its struggle with the House ofPoitiers,Gregory X united the Diocese of Die with that of Valence. This union, which lasted four centuries, was unfortunate for Die. It was annulled in 1687 byLouis XIV, who, to combatProtestantism, appointed aBishop of Die.

Councils were held at Valence in: 374, at which measures were taken forecclesiastical discipline; 530, againstPelagianism; 585, King Gontran's donations to theChurch were confirmed; 855, againstGottschalk'sheresy; 890, Louis, son of Boson, was proclaimed King of Provence; 1100, theBishop ofAutun was suspended as asimoniac; 1209, dealt with the conditions on which the Count ofToulouse should be admitted toabsolution. A so-called Council of Valence, held at Montelimar (1248),anathematizedEmperor Frederick II and organized theInquisition in SouthernFrance. TheBenedictine Abbey of Notre-Dame-d'Aiguebelle, which was founded in 1045 through Hughues Adhemar, Baron de Grignan, and visited by Paschal II in 1107, subsequently fell to decay. In 1137 theCistercians of Morimond were summoned by Gontard Dupuy, Lord of Rochefort, to found a newabbey in the neighbourhood of the first. From the end of the fifteenth century it belonged to commendatoryabbots. Since 1816, when Pierre-Francois de Paul Malmy (Pere Etienne), aTrappist, secured possession of it, there has been aTrappist congregation at the Abbey d'Aiguebelle. TheCanons Regular of Sts. Rufus, founded atAvignon in 1039, opened at Valence in 1158 a house which became their mother house in 1210, were secularized in 1774. Among the canons were: Anastasius IV,Adrian IV, andJulius II.

Among thesaints of thediocese were: May (Marius),Abbot of Bodon (d. 550); Barnard (778-842),Archbishop of Vienne, who became a solitary at Romans, where he founded a largeBenedictinemonastery and built achurch which still stands; Hugh (1053-1132), formerly a canon of Valence andBishop ofGrenoble, one of the founders of theCarthusians; Hugh,Abbot of Lioncel, nephew of the preceding (twelfth century), Blessed Bertrand of Garrigue, companion ofSaint Dominic, died at Bouchet in the Diocese of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux during a mission (1230);Blessed Humbert of Romans, general of theDominicans, author ofascetical writings, died at theconvent of Valence (1277). Adhémar de Monteil, a native of Grignan,Bishop ofLe Puy, was accompanied on theFirst Crusade by Bernard of Valence, first patriarch of Antioch in the newLatin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and by Raymond des Agiles, a native of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, one of the historians of thecrusade. Marie Teyssonnier, called Marie de Valence (1576-1648), had such a reputation forpiety thatCardinal de Berulle,St. Francis de Sales,Olier,Father Cotton, and Louis XIII visited her. Christophe d'Authier de Sigaud (1609-67), founder in 1632 of the Congregation of Missionary Priests of the Blessed Sacrament, founded theseminary in 1639.

Twowomen warriors played an important part in the history of this region: Marguérite de Laye triumphantly led the inhabitants of Montélimar against theCalvinist troops of Coligny; Philis de la Tour du Pin la Charce in 1696 successfully led the inhabitants ofLyons and the neighbouring communes against the invasion of the Duke ofSavoy. Madame de Sévigné, the famous writer of letters, died in 1696 in the Chateau de Grignan which belonged to her son-in-law. At Romans Gambretta delivered a famous discourse (18 Sept., 1878) in which he outlined the whole anti-clerical policy of the Third Republic. In thecathedral of Valence a Requiem Mass is sung yearly on 29 August, for thesoul ofPius VI, who died at Valence, 29 August, 1799, during his confinement in the citadel. The chiefpilgrimages of thediocese are: Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Combe at St-Germain d'Hauterives, dating from the twelfth century; Notre-Dame-de Chatenay at Lens-Lestang; Notre-Dame-de Consolation at Arpavon; Notre-Dame-de-Mont-Carmel at Chateauneuf-de-Mazenc; Notre-Dame-la Blanche at Mollans.

Before the application of the Associations Law of 1901 there were at Valence:Assumptionists,Capuchins,Marists,Lazarists,Carmelites, andRedemptorists,Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, and various orders of teachingBrothers.

Several orders ofwomen are native to the diocese: Trinitarians, nursing and teaching sisters, established at Valence since 1695; Sisters of the MostBlessed Sacrament,hospital and teaching sisters, founded by Father Vigne, a convert, with mother-house at Romans, 1715; the teaching Sisters of St. Martha, founded in 1815 by Mlle du Vivier with mother-house at Romans; Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, founded by Baroness de Mont-Rond and Abbé Née in 1851 for the supervision of work-rooms and studios, with mother-house at Recoubeau. At the end of the nineteenth century thereligious orders had in the Diocese of Valence: 28 infantschools, 1 institution for deaf-mutes, 1 infirmary for dependent children, 1orphanage for boys, 15orphanages for girls, 3 industrialschools, 1 protectivesociety, 3 reformatories, 12 houses of religious for the care of the sick in their homes, 1 asylum for idiots and epileptics, 10hospitals. In 1905 the diocese had: 297,321 inhabitants, 37parishes, 314 succursals, 68 vicariates. The presentbishop, Mgr. Jean-Victor-Emile Chesnelong, b. at Orthez, 6 April, 1856, studied at Saint-Sulpice, wasordained atParis, 1879, andconsecrated byPius X atRome, 25 Feb., 1906.

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