The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associat ...

of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...

and is 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 ...

to the Archdiocese of Rouen, which is also in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. At the time of the

Concordat of 1802 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

, the ancient Diocese of Lisieux was united to that of

Bayeux Bayeux () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. It is also known as the first major town ...

. A pontifical brief in 1854 authorized the Bishop of Bayeux to call himself Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux.

History

A local legend, found in the

breviaries A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such ...

of the 15th century, makes St. Exuperius to be an immediate disciple of St. Clement (Pope from 88 to 99), and thus the first Bishop of Bayeux. His see would therefore be a foundation of the 1st century. St. Regnobertus, the same legend tells us, was the successor of St. Exuperius. But the

Bollandists The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...

, Jules Lair, and Louis Duchesne found no ground for this legend; it was only towards the end of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century that Exuperius might have founded the See of Bayeux. Certain successors of St. Exuperius were honored as popular saints: Referendus, Rufinianus, and Lupus (about 465);

Vigor Vigor or vigour may refer to: Companies * Vigor S.A., a Brazilian food company * Vigor Industrial, an American shipbuilding, ship repair, and industrial service provider in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska ** Vigor Shipyards, four shipyards in W ...

(beginning of the 6th century), who destroyed a pagan temple, then still frequented; Regnobertus (about 629), who founded many churches, and whom the legend, owing to an anachronism, made first successor to Exuperius; and Hugues (d. 730), simultaneously bishop of two other sees, Paris and Rouen. An important bishop was

Odo of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097), Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux, was the maternal half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England. Early life Odo was the son of William the Conqueror's mother ...

(1050–97), brother of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

, who built the cathedral, was present at the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest ...

, who was imprisoned in 1082 for attempting to lead an expedition to Italy to overthrow Pope Gregory VII, and who died a crusader in Sicily; Cardinal Agostino Trivulzio (1531–48),

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholi ...

in the

Roman Campagna The Roman Campagna () is a low-lying area surrounding Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, with an area of approximately . It is bordered by the Tolfa and Sabatini mountains to the north, the Alban Hills to the southeast, and the Tyrrhen ...

, who was trapped in the

Castel Sant'Angelo The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleu ...

during the siege and pillage of Rome by the Imperial forces led by the Constable de Bourbon; Arnaud Cardinal d'Ossat (1602–04), a prominent diplomat identified with the conversion of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

from Protestantism to Catholicism (the second time). Claude Fauchet, who after being court preacher to

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

, became one of the "conquerors" of the Bastille, was chosen

Constitutional Bishop During the French Revolution, a constitutional bishop was a Catholic bishop elected from among the clergy who had sworn to uphold the Civil Constitution of the Clergy between 1791 and 1801. History Constitutional bishops were often priests wit ...

of Bayeux in 1791, and was beheaded 31 October 1793. Léon-Adolphe Amette, Archbishop of Paris was, until 1905, Bishop of Bayeux. In the Middle Ages Bayeux and neighbouring Lisieux were very important sees. The Bishop of Bayeux was senior among the Norman bishops, and the chapter was one of the richest in France. Important councils were held within this diocese, one at

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Abbey of St. Stephen (Abbaye-aux-Hommes) and the Abbey of the Holy Trinity (Abbaye-aux-Dames), both founded at Caen by William the Conqueror (1029–87) and his wife Matilda, in expiation of their unlawful marriage. The Abbey of Saint-Étienne was first governed by

Lanfranc Lanfranc, OSB (1005 1010 – 24 May 1089) was a celebrated Italian jurist who renounced his career to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen in Normandy and the ...

(1066–1070), who afterwards became

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Jus ...

. Other abbeys were those of

Troarn Troarn () is a commune in the Calvados in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Saline, but this merger was undone on 31 December 2019. Population Sights * The abbey founded by Ro ...

of which Durand, the successful opponent of Berengarius, was abbot in the 11th century; and the Abbaye du Val, of which Armand-Jean de Rancé (1626–1700) was abbot, in 1661, prior to his reform of

La Trappe Abbey La Trappe Abbey, also known as La Grande Trappe, is a monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France. It is known for being the house of origin of the Trappists, to whom it gave its name. History The site of the famous La Trappe Abbey was for ce ...

. The Abbey of St. Evroul (Ebrulphus) in the Diocese of Lisieux, founded about 560 by St. Evroul, a native of Bayeux, was the home of

Ordericus Vitalis Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern hist ...

, the chronicler (1075–1141). In 1308 Bishop Guillaume Bonnet was founder of the Collège de Bayeux in Paris, which was intended to house students from the dioceses of Bayeux, Mans, and Angers, who were studying medicine or civil law. Saint Jean Eudes founded in 1641 in Caen the Congregation of Notre Dame de Charité du Refuge, which was devoted to the protection of reformed prostitutes. The mission of the nuns has been expanded since that time, to include other services to girls and women, including education. In 1900 the Order included 33 establishments in France and elsewhere, each an independent entity. At Tilly, in the Diocese of Bayeux, Michel Vingtras established, in 1839, the politico-religious society known as La Miséricorde, in connexion with the survivors of La Petite Eglise, which was condemned in 1843 by

Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...

. Daniel Huet, the famous savant (1630–1721) and

Bishop of Avranches The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cathe ...

, was a native of Caen. Bishop de Nesmond authorized the establishment of the priests of the Congregation of the Mission of Saint-Lazare in the diocese of Bayeux in 1682. During World War I, the diocese of Bayeux sent 260 priests and 75 seminarians into military service. Seventeen priests and sixteen seminarians died. In c. 1920 there were 716 parishes in the diocese.

Bishops

To 1000

Exuperius Saint Exuperius (also Exsuperius) (french: Saint Exupéry, Saint Soupire) (died c. 410) was Bishop of Toulouse at the beginning of the 5th century. Life His place and date of birth are unknown. Upon succeeding Saint Sylvius as bishop of Toulous ...

390? – 405? : Regnobertus *

Rufinianus Saint Rufinien was the third bishop of Bayeux in the 5th century.Lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

c. 434 – c. 464 : Patricius 464?–469? : Manveus 470?–480? : Contestus 480–513 *

(''Vigorus'') 513–537 * Leucadius c. 538 – after 549 : Lascivus *Leodoaldus or Leudovald c. 581 – c. 614 * Gérétran of Bayeux (''Geretrandus'') or Gertran c. 615 * Ragnobertus 625–668 * Gereboldus Gerbold 689–691 : Framboldus 691?–722? * Hugo of Champagne 723–730 * Leodeningus, c. 765 :Thior (Thiorus) * Careviltus (''Carveniltus'') c. 833 * Harimbert or Ermbart 835–837 : Saint Sulpice (''Sulpicius'') 838–844 * Baltfridus c. 843–858 : ortoldus 859* Erchambert 859–c. 876 *Henricus (I.) c. 927–after 933 *Richard (I.) *Hugo (II.) c. 965 * Radulfus, Radulphus 986–1006

1000 to 1300

* Hugo III. d'Ivry 1011/1015–1049 *

1049–1097 * Turold de Brémoy (''Turoldus'') or d'Envermeu 1097–1106 * Richard (II.) of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidston ...

1107–1133 * Richard (III.) of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of the ...

1135–1142 * Philippe d'Harcourt 1142–1163 *

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mo ...

(II.) 1163–1205 * Robert des Ablèges 1206–1231 * Thomas de Freauville 1232–1238 : ''Sede vacante'' (1238–1241) *Guy 1241–1260 * Eudes de Lory (''Odo de Lorris'') 1263–1274 * Gregory of Naples 1274–1276 * Pierre de Beneis 1276–1306

1300–1500

* Guillaume (I.) Bonnet 1306–1312 * Guillaume (II.) de Trie 1312–1324 * Pierre (II.) de Lévis. 1324–1330 * Guillaume (III.) de Beaujeu 1330–1337 * Guillaume (IV.) Bertrand 1338–1347 * Pierre (III.) de Villaine 1347–1360 * Louis (I.) Thézart 1360–1373 * Milon de Dormans 1374–1375 * Nicolas du Bos 1375–1408 * Jean de Boissey or Jehan de Boissey 1408–1412 * Jean Langret 1412–1419 * Nicolaus II. Habart 1421–1431 * Zanon de Castiglione 1434–1459 *Ludwig II. d'Harcourt or Louis de Harcourt 1460–1479 * Charles de Neufchâtel 1480–1498 * René de Prie 1498–1516

1500–1800

* Louis de Canossa, O.Cist. 1516–1531 * Pierre (IV.) de Martigny 1531 * Agostino Trivulzio 1531–1548 (Administrator) *Charles II. d'Humières 1549–1571 * Bernardin de Saint-François 1573–1582 * Mathurin de Savonnières, O.S.A. 1583–1586 * Charles de Bourbon 1586–1590 (Administrator) : ''Sede vacante'' (1590–1598) * René de Daillon du Lude 1590–1600 (Administrator of temporalities?, 1590–1598) * Arnault d'Ossat 1600–1604 * Jacques d'Angennes 1606–1647 * Édouard Molé 1647–1652 *François I. Servien 1654–1659 * François II de Nesmond 1661–1715 *Joseph-Emmanuel de la Tremoille 1716–1718 * François Armand of Lothringen-Armagnac 1719–1728 *

Paul d'Albert de Luynes Paul d'Albert de Luynes (5 January 1703 – 21 January 1788) was a French prelate. He was elected the seventh occupant of Académie française seat 29 in 1743. Early life Paul d'Albert de Luynes was born on 5 January 1703 in the city of Versail ...

1729–1753 * Pierre-Jules César de Rochechouart-Montigny 1753–1776 * Joseph-Dominique de Cheylus 1776–1797 :*Claude Fauchet 1791–1793 (Constitutional Bishop) :*Julien-Jean-Baptiste Duchemin 1796–1798 (Constitutional Bishop) :* Louis-Charles Bisson 1799–1801 (Constitutional Bishop)

From 1800

* Charles Brault (9 Apr 1802 Appointed – 8 Aug 1817 * Jean de Pradelles (1817–1818) * Charles-François Duperrier-Dumourier (13 Jan 1823 Appointed – 17 Apr 1827 Died) * Jean-Charles-Richard Dancel (2 Jun 1827 Appointed – 20 Apr 1836 Died) * Louis-François Robin (25 May 1836 Appointed – 30 Dec 1855 Died) * Charles-Nicolas-Pierre Didiot (7 Apr 1856 Appointed – 15 Jun 1866 Died) * Flavien-Abel-Antoinin Hugonin (13 Jul 1866 Appointed – 2 May 1898 Died) * Léon-Adolphe Amette (8 Jul 1898 Appointed – 21 Feb 1906 * Thomas-Paul-Henri Lemonnier (13 Jul 1906 Appointed – 29 Dec 1927 Died) *

Emmanuel Célestin Suhard Emmanuel Célestin Suhard (; April 5, 1874 – May 30, 1949) was a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Paris from 1940 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935. He was instrumental in the found ...

(6 Jul 1928 Appointed – 23 Dec 1930 * François-Marie Picaud (12 Sep 1931 Appointed – 5 Aug 1954 Retired) * André Jacquemin (29 Oct 1954 Succeeded – 10 Dec 1969 Resigned) * Jean-Marie-Clément Badré (10 Dec 1969 Appointed – 19 Nov 1988 Retired) * Pierre Auguste Gratien Pican, S.D.B. (19 Nov 1988 Succeeded – 12 Mar 2010 Retired) * Jean-Claude Boulanger (12 Mar 2010 Appointed – 27 Jun 2020 Retired) * Jacques Léon Jean Marie Habert (10 Nov 2020 Appointed – present)

Notes

Bibliography

Reference works

* (Use with caution; obsolete) * (in Latin) * (in Latin) * * * * * * * * ists of benefices

Studies

* * *Farcy, Paul de (1887). ''Les abbayes de l'évêché de Bayeux''
Tome I: Cerisy—Cordillon—Fontenay—Longues
(Laval: L. Moreau 1887) * * * * * * *Lair, Jules (1867). "Études sur les origines de l'évêché de Bayeux, III" * defense of tradition and legend by the Vicar of Vaucelles* *

Acknowledgment

*Goyau, Georges.
Bayeux
" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907, pp. 358–359. Retrieved: 26 Jun. 2017.

External links

* Centre national des Archives de l'Église de France
''L'Épiscopat francais depuis 1919''
retrieved: 2016-12-24. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayeux, Roman Catholic Diocese of