The Roman Catholic Diocese of Viviers ( la, Dioecesis Vivariensis; french: Diocèse de Viviers ) 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 associa ...
of the
Latin Rite
Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...
of 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 ...
in France. Erected in the 4th century, the diocese was restored in the Concordat of 1822, and comprises the department of Ardèche, in the
Region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...
. Currently the diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lyon. Its current bishop is Jean-Louis Marie Balsa, appointed in 2015.
History
Saint Andéol, disciple of Saint Polycarp, evangelized the Vivarais under Emperor
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
and was martyred in 208.
The "Old Charter", drawn up in 950 by Bishop Thomas, the most complete document concerning the primitive Church of Viviers, mentions five bishops who lived at Alba Augusta (modern Alba-la-Romaine):
Januarius
Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later ...
, Saint Septimus, Saint Maspicianus, Saint Melanius and Saint Avolus. The last was a victim of the invasion of the barbarian Chrocus (the exact date of which is unknown).
In consequence of the ravages suffered by Alba Augusta, the new bishop, Saint Auxonius, transferred the see to Viviers about 430. Promotus was probably the first Bishop of Viviers; the document also mentions later several canonized bishops: Saints Lucian and Valerius (fifth and sixth centuries); Saint Venantius, disciple of Saint
Avitus
Eparchius Avitus (c. 390 – 457) was Roman emperor of the West from July 455 to October 456. He was a senator of Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.
He o ...
, who was present at the councils held in 517 and 535; Saint Melanius II (sixth century); saints Eucherius, Firminus, Aulus, Eumachius, and Longinus (seventh century); St. Arcontius, martyr (date unknown, perhaps later than the ninth century.
It seems that the Diocese of Viviers was disputed for a long time by the metropolitan Sees of
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
. From the eleventh century its dependence on Vienne was not contested. John II, cardinal and Bishop of Viviers (1073–1095), had the abbatial church of
Cruas
Cruas (; oc, Cruàs) is a commune near the river Rhône in the Ardèche department in southern France.
The village has a Romanesque abbey with a crypt.
Population
Sights and monuments
Cruas has two notable '' monuments historiques''
* Ab ...
consecrated by
Urban II
Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...
and accompanied him to the
Council of Clermont
The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine.
Pope Urban's speech ...
.
Afterwards, it is said that Conrad III gave Lower Vivaraisas to Bishop William (1147) as an independent suzerainty. In the thirteenth century, under the reign of St. Louis of France, the Bishop of Viviers was obliged to recognize the jurisdiction of the Seneschal of Beucaire. By the treaty of 10 July 1305 Philip IV of France obliged the bishops of Viviers to admit the suzerainty of the kings of France over all their temporal domain.
Viviers was often troubled by religious conflicts: the Albigensian Crusade in the thirteenth century; the revolt of the Calvinists against
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
(1627–1629), which ended in the capture of Privas by the royal army; the Dragonnades under
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
; the
war of the Camisards
The War of the Camisards (french: guerre des Camisards) or the Cévennes War (french: guerre des Cévennes) was an uprising of Protestant peasants known as Camisards in the Cévennes and Languedoc during the reign of Louis XIV. The uprising was ...
.
It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1802, and united to the See of Mende. Re-established in 1822, the diocese then included almost all the ancient Diocese of Viviers and some part of the ancient Diocese of Valence,
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Le Puy and
Uzès
Uzès (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. In 2017, it had a population of 8,454. Uzès lies about north-northeast of Nîmes, west of Avignon and south-east of Alès.
History
Originally ''Uc ...
Archdiocese of Avignon
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the te ...
.
Bishops
To 1000
* Januarius
* Septimius
* Maspicianus
* Melanius I
* c. 407–c. 411: Avolus
* c. 411–c. 431: Auxonius
* c. 452–c. 463: Eulalius
* c. 486–c. 500: Lucianus
* c. 507: Valerius
* c. 517–c. 537: Venantius
* Rusticus
*(attested 549) Melanius II
* Eucherius
* Firminus
* Aulus
* Eumachius
* c. 673: Longinus.
* Joannes I.
* Ardulfus
* c. 740: Arcontius
* Eribaldus
* c. 815: Thomas I.
* c. 833: Teugrinus
* c. 850: Celse
* c. 851: Bernoin
* c. 875: Etherius (Ætherius)
* c. 892: Rostaing I
* c. 908: Richard
* c. 950: Thomas II
* c. 965–c. 970: Rostaing II
* c. 974: Arman I
* c. 993: Pierre
From 1000 to 1300
* 1014–1041: Arman II.
* 1042–1070: Gérard
* 1073–1095: Giovanni di Toscanella.
* 1096–1119: Leodegarius
* 1119–1124: Hatto (Atton)
* 1125–1131: Pierre I
* 1133–1146: Josserand de Montaigu
* 1147–1155: Guillaume I
* 1157–1170: Raymond d'Uzès
* 1171–1173: Robert de La Tour du Pin
* 1174–1205: Nicolas
* 1205–1220: Bruno (Burnon)
* 1220–1222: Guillaume II.
* 1222–1242: Bermond d'Anduze
* 1244–1254: Arnaud de Vogüé
* 1255–1263: Aimon de Genève
* 1263–1291: Hugues de La Tour du Pin
* 1292–1296: Guillaume de Falguières
* 1297–1306: Aldebert de Peyre
Giuliano della Rovere
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
* 1542–1550: Charles de Tournon
* 1550–1554: Simon de Maillé-Brézé
* 1554 : Cardinal Alessandro Farnese
* 1554–1564: Jacques-Marie Sala
* 1564–1571: Eucher de Saint-Vital
* 1571–1572: Pierre V. d'Urre
* 1575–1621: Jean V. de L'Hôtel
* 1621–1690: Louis-François de la Baume de Suze
* 1692–1713: Antoine de La Garde de Chambonas
* 1713–1723: Martin de Ratabon
* 723: Etienne-Joseph I. de La Fare-Monclar* 1723–1748: François-Renaud de Villeneuve
* 1748–1778: Joseph-Robin Morel de Mons
* 1778–1802: Charles de La Font de Savine