The Diocese of Gaul (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: Dioecesis Galliarum, "diocese of the Gaul rovince") was a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the later

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, under the

praetorian prefecture of Gaul The Praetorian Prefecture of Gaul () was one of four large praetorian prefecture, prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided in the 4th century. History The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine I in 337, whe ...

. It encompassed northern and eastern

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, that is, modern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

north and east of the

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

, including the

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and modern

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west of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. The diocese comprised the following provinces: Gallia Lugdunensis I, Gallia Lugdunensis II, Gallia Lugdunensis III, Gallia Lugdunensis IV (Senonia), Belgica I, Belgica II, Germania I, Germania II, Alpes Poenninae et Graiae and Maxima Sequanorum.

History

The diocese was established after the reforms of

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

and

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

in c. 314. In the year 407, the Rhine frontier was breached, and much of Gaul lost to barbarian tribes temporarily. Roman control over most of Gaul and the Rhineland was restored until the death of

Valentinian III Valentinian III (; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the Western Roman Empire, West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful general ...

in 455. The territory remaining in Roman hands after the 450s was in the south in the Auvergne and Provence until ceded in 475 and in the northwest, the so-called " Domain of Soissons". After its fall to the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

in 486 and the end of Roman administration in northern Gaul, the diocese can be said to have '' de facto'' ended.

Bibliography

*P. Heather, ''La caduta dell'Impero romano. Una nuova storia'', 2006. *G. Halsall, ''Barbarian migrations and the Roman West, 376-568'', 2007.

Belgium in the Roman era 4th century in Roman Gaul 5th century in sub-Roman Gaul History of the Rhineland Netherlands in the Roman era Praetorian prefecture of Gaul History of North Rhine-Westphalia History of Rhineland-Palatinate History of Christianity in France 314 establishments States and territories established in the 310s 486 disestablishments States and territories disestablished in the 5th century {{AncientRome-stub