The See or Diocese of Bethlehem was a diocese in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

and is now a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

. It was associated with the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Nevers The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nevers ( la, Dioecesis Nivernensis, link=no; french: Diocèse de Nevers, link=no) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Nièvre, in the Regio ...

History

In Bethlehem

In 1099 Bethlehem was conquered by Catholic forces in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

. A new monastery and cloister were built by the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

to the north of the

Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity,; ar, كَنِيسَةُ ٱلْمَهْد; el, Βασιλική της Γεννήσεως; hy, Սուրբ Ծննդեան տաճար; la, Basilica Nativitatis is a basilica located in B ...

, with a tower to the south and an episcopal palace to the west. The Orthodox clergy (the Christian presence in the area had until then been

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

) were ejected and replaced by Catholic clergy. On his birthday in 1100, Baldwin was crowned

King of Jerusalem The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was conquered in 1099. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of ...

in Bethlehem — that same year, at Baldwin's request, Pope Paschal II established Bethlehem (never before an episcopal see) as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishopric, a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of the

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...

. In 1187 the Ayyubid Sultan

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt an ...

(of Egypt, Syria and more in the Levant) reconquered Bethlehem and the Catholic clergy was forced to let the Greek Orthodox clergy return. Saladin himself in 1192 allowed two Catholic priests and two deacons to return to the diocese, though Bethlehem's economy still suffered from the drastic reduction in pilgrims from Europe.

Interior exile

In 1223, the bishopric was suppressed as a residential see in the Holy Land, being truly

in partibus infidelium A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

, yet was not made a regular

but transferred as a residential bishopric in French exile: the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bethléem à Clamecy with a tiny territory in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

, see below - rare but not unique, compare the

Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Nazareth The Archbishop of Nazareth is a former residential Metropolitan see, first in the Holy Land, then in Apulian exile in Barletta (southern Italy), which had a Latin and a Maronite successor as titular sees, the first merged into Barletta, the seco ...

, fellow crusader see in southern Italian exile (at Barletta in Apulia, southern Italy). In 1229 Bethlehem, Jerusalem,

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

and

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

briefly returned to the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establish ...

under a treaty between

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jer ...

and the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin ...

Sultan

Al-Kamil Al-Kamil ( ar, الكامل) (full name: al-Malik al-Kamil Naser ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammad) (c. 1177 – 6 March 1238) was a Muslim ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Cr ...

, in exchange for a ten-year truce between the Ayyubids and the Crusaders. That treaty expired in 1239 and Bethlehem was then reconquered by the Muslims in 1244. In 1250, with the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

' risen to power, tolerance for Christians in Palestine declined — the Catholic clergy left Bethlehem, whose walls were demolished in 1263. The Catholics then returned to Bethlehem only in the 14th century and settled in the monastery adjacent to the Church of the Nativity. The Greek Orthodox in the meantime took over control of the Church of the Nativity and shared control of the

Milk Grotto he, מערת החלב , native_name_lang = , image = A Churches in Bethlehem3.jpg , imagesize = 250px , imagelink= , imagealt= , caption = Chapel of the Milk Grotto , pushpin map= West Bank#Palestinian territories ...

with the Catholics and the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

Residential Bishops of Bethlehem in Palestine

* Aschetino = ''Ansquitinus'', (1110 – after 1123) * Anselmo = ''Anseau'', (before 1132 – after 1142) * Giraldo, (before 1147 – after 1152) * Raul = Radolfo I, (1155 – death 1173) * Albert = Alberto, (1177 - 1181) * Rodolfo (?–1191), next

(Palestine) (1191 – death 1192) * Piero, (before 1204 – killed in 1205 at the battle of Adrianopolis) * Tommaso, (before 1207–?) * Rainierio, (before 1210–1233) *

Tommaso Agni Tommaso is an Italian given name. It has also been used as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name A * Tommaso Acquaviva d'Aragona (1600–1672), Roman Catholic prelate * Tommaso Aldrovandini (1653–1736), Italian painter of ...

Lentini Lentini ( scn, Lintini, historically Liuntini; la, Leontīnī; grc, Λεοντῖνοι) is a town and in the Province of Syracuse, South East of Sicily (Southern Italy). History The city was founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 72 ...

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

(O.P.), (1258–1263), in 1272 elected

Exile in Burgundy

The crusading

William IV, Count of Nevers William IV, Count of Nevers, (c. 1130 – Acre, 24 October 1168) Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre (1161–1168). Family William was a son of William III, Count of Nevers and Ida of Sponheim, and the older brother of his successor Guy, Coun ...

, dying in the Holy Land in 1168, had left the building known as the Hospital of Panthenor or Pantenor in the town of Clamecy in

, together with some land, to the Bishops of Bethlehem, in case Bethlehem should fall under

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

control. In 1223, the then Bishop of Bethlehem took up residence in his Burgundian property, which remained the seat of residential (nearly titular) Bishops of Bethlehem for almost 600 years, until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

of 1789. From 1223, therefore, the 'exiled' Bishops of Bethlehem exercised jurisdiction over the hospital and the faubourg that was their property. Their successors were chosen by the Counts, later the dukes of Nevers, with the approval of the Pope and the King, although (neighbouring) French bishoprics contested their diocesan legitimity. In 1413, Charles VI tried to obtain for them the privileges enjoyed by the diocesan bishops of the realm, but because of the opposition of the French clergy they continued to be considered bishops '. In 1635, the

assembly of the French clergy The assembly of the French clergy (''assemblée du clergé de France'') was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy ...

granted them an annual pension. Christopher d'Authier of

Sisgau Veltheim is a municipality in the district of Brugg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Veltheim has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 32.3% is forested. Of the rest of the la ...

, founder of the Missionary Priests of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and celebrated for his sermons to the galley-slaves of Marseilles, was Bishop of Bethlehem 1651–63. The immediate aftermath of the French Revolution extinguished the title to property that was once attached to the titular bishopric of Bethlehem, making it like any other of the

s listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in the ''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides name ...

''.In the 2012 and 2013 editions it appears on page 849

Titular see

Circa 1462 the crusader diocese was nominally restored by Rome, alongside Clamecy (which was in obedience to the

Antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mi ...

s of Avignon), but now as a regular Latin

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Bethlehem (English) / Bethléem (français) / Betlemme (Italiano) / Bethleem (latine) / Bethleemitan(us) (Latin). It had the following incumbents, all of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Giovanni Berratino (1462.09.19 – ?) * Fabrizio (? – ?) * Francesco de Carralaris (1468.06.01 – 1471?) * Cristoforo Amici (1473.02.01 – 1500.07.18) * Matteo (1506.11.21 – 1511?) * Antonio de Monte (1517.04.20 – 1517.08.21) *

Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte (1484–1564) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. Biography Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte was born in Arezzo in 1484, the son of Cecco di Cristofano Guidalotti, a patrician of P ...

(Christophe de Monte) (later Cardinal) (1517.08.21 – 1525.02.10) * Tommaso Albizzi (1525.02.10 – 1527) * Leonardo da Vercelli, O.E.S.A. (1534? – ?) * Luís Soler (1536.04.28 – ?) * Cristóbal de Arguellada (1550.07.04 – 1572?) * Mario Bellomo (1585.09.23 – 1593) * Vincenzo Malatesta (1595.11.20 – 1603.05.02). Circa 1603 it was suppressed, but in 1840 restored as

of Bethlehem (English) / Bethléem (French) / Betlemme (Curiate Italian) / Bethleem (Latin) / Bethleemitan(us) (Latin), this time however with

Apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bisho ...

to the former 'Burgundy-exiled' Diocese of Bethléem à Clamecy. :The Abbots of the Territorial Abbacy of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune (which has its own Swiss Congregation of

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

, C.S.A.) held the title of Bethlehem from 1840.07.03 to 1970. It is vacant since 1987, having had the following incumbents, so far all of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : :BIOS TO ELABORATE * Étienne-Barthélemy Bagnoud, C.R.A. (1840.07.03 – 1888.11.02) * Joseph Paccolat, C.R.A. (1889.02.05 – 1909.04.04) * Joseph-Emile Abbet, C.R.A. (1909.07.24 – 1914.08.03) * Joseph-Tobie Mariétan, C.R.A. (1914.10.15 – 1931.02.08) * Bernard Alexis Burquier, C.R.A. (1932.08.22 – 1943.03.30) * Lois-Séverin Haller, C.R.A. (1943.06.26 – 1987.07.17)

Notes and references

Sources and external links

GCatholic

in Catholic Encyclopedia.

Bibliography

* Honoré Fisquet, La France pontificale, histoire chronologique et biographique des archevêques et évêques de tous les diocèses de France. Métropole de Sens. Nevers - Bethléem, Paris, pp. 143–172 * Charles D. Du Cange; Nicolas Rodolphe Taranne;

Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey Baron Alban Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (28 May 1837 – 4 April 1916) was a French archaeologist, topographer and orientalist. He is known for his historical works on Crusader states and on military fortifications in the Near East. He is considered by ...

, ''Les familles d'outre-mer'', Paris, Imprimerie Impériale

869 __NOTOC__ Year 869 ( DCCCLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor L ...

pp. 784–93 * Guy le Strange
''Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from AD 650 to 1500''
Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1890. * De Sandoli, Sabino (1974)

Pubblicazioni dello Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 21:193–237 *

Christopher Tyerman Christopher Tyerman (born 22 May 1953) is an academic historian focusing on the Crusades. In 2015, he was appointed Professor of History of the Crusades at the University of Oxford. Life and career He graduated from New College, Oxford, with a f ...

''England and the Crusades, 1095–1588''
Chicago, University of Chicago Press

988 Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangia ...

1996. , * Bruno Figliuolo
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in ''Chiesa e mondo feudale nei secoli X-XII: atti della dodicesima settimana internazionale di studio Mendola, 24–28 Agosto 1992'', Vita e Pensiero, 1995. * Paul Read Peirs, ''The Templars'', Macmillan, 2000. * Louis de Mas Latrie, ''Trésor de chronologie d'histoire et de géographie'', Paris 1889, coll. 1391-1394 * Paul Riant, ''L'église de Bethléem et Varazze en Ligurie, in Atti della Società ligure di Storia patria'', vol. XVII, 1885, pp. 543–705 (cfr. tabella sinottica dei vescovi p. 641) * Paul Riant, ''Études sur l'histoire de l'église de Bethléem'', vol. I 1889, vol. II 1896 * Paul Riant, ''Eclaircissements sur quelques points de l'histoire de l'église de Bethléem-Ascalon'', in ''Revue de l'Orient latin'', vol. I, pp. 140–160, 381–412, 475–524; t. II, pp. 35–72 * G. Levenq, lemma 'Bethléem' in ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques'', vol. VIII, 1935, coll. 1248-1251 * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, pp. 516–517 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 1, pp. 134–135; vol. 2, pp. XVI e 105; vol. 3, p. 133; vol. 4, p. 114; vol. 5, p. 119; vol. 6, p. 122 * Papal bulla 'Qui Christi Domini', in ''Bullarii romani continuatio'', vol. XI, Rome 1845, pp. 245–249 *

Papal breve The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Catho ...

'In amplissimo', in ''Bullarium pontificium Sacrae congregationis de propaganda fide'', vol V, Rome 1841, p. 196 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethlehem in the Holy Land, Roman Catholic Diocese Catholic titular sees in Asia Roman Catholic dioceses in the Crusader states

Roman Catholic Diocese As of October 5, 2021, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,171 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 archdioceses and 2,248 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic administrations, apos ...

Christianity in Bethlehem