Bernard Saisset () was an Occitan

bishop of Pamiers The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pamiers, Couserans, and Mirepoix (Latin: ''Dioecesis Apamiensis, Couseranensis, et Mirapicensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Pamiers, Mirepoix, et Couserans'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church i ...

, in the

County of Foix The County of Foix (french: Comté de Foix, ; oc, Comtat de Fois) was an independent medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern ''département'' of Ariè ...

in the south of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, whose outspoken disrespect for

Philip IV of France Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from ...

incurred charges of high treason in the overheated atmosphere of tension between the King and his ministry and

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...

, leading up to the papal bull ''

Unam sanctam ' is a papal bull that was issued by Pope Boniface VIII on 18 November 1302. It laid down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Catholic Church, the necessity of belonging to it for eternal salvation, the position of the Pope as supreme hea ...

'' of 1302.

Biography

Saisset is famous in French history for his opposition to Philip IV. As an ardent Occitan aristocrat of an old noble family, he despised the northern “Frankish” French, and publicly demonstrated it by decrying the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

ian

bishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

, Pierre de la Chapelle-Taillefer, as “useless to the Church and the country, because he was of a speech that was always an enemy... because the people of the country hate him because of that language.” Further, Saisset was sent in 1301 as a

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 Catholic ...

to Philip IV to protest the king’s anticlerical measures. But on his return to

Pamiers Pamiers (; oc, Pàmias ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although it ...

he was denounced to the king as having tried to raise a rebellion of Occitan independence, associated with

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, under the banner of the

Count of Foix The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their cour ...

(with whom Saisset had until very recently been embroiled in the courts). The king charged two northerners, Richard Leneveu, archdeacon of

Auge In Greek mythology, Auge (; Ancient Greek: Αὐγή 'sunbeam, daylight, dawn') was the daughter of Aleus the king of Tegea in Arcadia, and the virgin priestess of Athena Alea. She was also the mother of the hero Telephus by Heracles. Auge had ...

in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Lisieux Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

, and Jean de Picquigni,

vidame Vidame () was a feudal title in France, a term descended from mediaeval Latin . Like the ''avoué'' or ''advocatus'', the ''vidame'' was originally a secular official chosen by the bishop of the diocese—with the consent of the count—to ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, to make an investigation, which lasted several months. Philip’s ministry had a well-earned reputation for judicial violence, and Saisset was on the point of escaping to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

when the vidame of Amiens surprised him by night in his episcopal palace at Pamiers. He was brought to Senlis, and on October 24, 1301 he appeared before Philip and his court. This cites: * Dom Vaissete, ''Histoire générale de Languedoc'', ed. Privat, t. ix. pp. 216-310, and ''Histoire littéraire de France'', t. xxvi. pp. 540-547 * E. De Rozière, ''Le Passage de Pamiers'', in Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartres (1871) * Ch. V. Langlois in Lavisse's ''Histoire de France'', t. iii., pt. ii., pp. 142-146. The chancellor

Pierre Flotte Pierre Flotte or Pierre Flote (Languedoc, second half of the 13th century – Kortrijk, 11 July 1302) was a French legalist, Chancellor of France and Keeper of the Seals of Philip IV the Fair. He was taught Roman law at the University of Mont ...

charged him with high treason, and the old charges of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

and

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...

Article about Bernard Saisset
''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' that were always easily levelled against 13th century Occitans, and for saying that Saint Louis was in

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

and should never have been

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

, and other less than credible charges. By a judicial fiction he was placed in the comparative safe keeping of his own metropolitan, the

archbishop of Narbonne The former Catholic diocese of Narbonne existed from early Christian times until the French Revolution. It was an archdiocese, with its see at Narbonne, from the year 445, and its influence ran over much of south-western France and into Catalon ...

Gilles I Aycelin de Montaigu :''This article is not about Gilles II Aycelin de Montaigu (d.1378)'' Gilles I Aycelin de Montaigu or Montaigut (1252 – 23 June 1318), was a French Archbishop and diplomat who became Lord Chancellor of France. Biography Gilles I Aycelin de M ...

.Mediaeval France from the Reign of Hugues Capet to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century
Philip IV tried to obtain from the pope the canonical degradation of Saisset that was necessary before proceeding against him. Boniface VIII, instead, ordered the king to free the bishop, in order that he might go to Rome to justify himself, which opened a new stage in the quarrel between the pope and king that had been simmering since the Bull ''

Clericis laicos ''Clericis laicos'' was a papal bull issued on February 5, 1296 by Pope Boniface VIII in an attempt to prevent the secular states of Europe, in particular France and England, from appropriating church revenues without the express prior permission ...

'' of 1296. In the heat of the new struggle, Saisset was fortunately forgotten. He had been turned over in February 1302 into the keeping of Jacques des Normands, the papal legate, and was ordered to leave the kingdom at once. He lived at Rome until after the incident at

Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and '' comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appea ...

. In 1308, with a more tractable new pope (

Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

) in residence at Avignon, the king pardoned Saisset, and restored him to his see. He died in Pamiers, still bishop of Pamiers, about 1314.

References

Bibliography

* Jeffrey H. Denton, "Bernard Saisset and the Franco-papal Rift of December 1301", in ''Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique'', 102/2, 2007, . *

Joseph R. Strayer Joseph Reese Strayer (1904–1987) was an American medievalist historian. He was a student of and mentored by Charles Homer Haskins, America's first prominent medievalist historian. Life Strayer taught at Princeton University for many decades, s ...

, ''The Reign of Philip the Fair'', Princeton, 1980. * Julien Théry, "The Pioneer of Royal Theocracy. Guillaume de Nogaret and the conflicts between Philip the Fair and the Papacy", i
''The Capetian Century, 1214-1314''
ed. by

William Chester Jordan William Chester Jordan (born April 7, 1948) is an American medievalist, in which field he is a Haskins Medal winner. He is currently the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University. He is also a former Director of the Program i ...

, Jenna Rebecca Phillips, Turnhout, Brepols, 2017, p. 219-259. * Jean-Marie Vidal, "Bernard Saisset, évêque de Pamiers (1232-1311)", ''Revue des Sciences religieuses'' 5 (1925), et 565-590, 6 (1926), , 177-198 et 371-393, réimpr. en volume sous le titre ''Bernard Saisset (1232-1311)'', Toulouse, Paris, 1926. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saisset, Bernard 1232 births 1314 deaths Philip IV of France Occitan people Bishops of Pamiers