The Diocese of Tournai is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

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

Catholic Church in Belgium The Catholic Church in Belgium, part of the global Catholic Church in Belgium, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome and the Episcopal Conference of Bishops. Dioceses There are eight dioceses, including one archdioces ...

. The diocese was formed in 1146, upon the dissolution of the Diocese of Noyon & Tournai, which had existed since the 7th Century. It is now suffragan in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

of the metropolitan

Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels 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 associate ...

. The cathedra is found within the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Tournai, which has been classified both as a major site for

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

's heritage since 1936 and as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

since 2000.

History

As early as the second half of the 3rd century

St. Piat Piatus of Tournai (also Piaton, Platon, Piat, Piato) (died c. 286) was a Belgian saint. He was a native of Benevento, Italy, and is traditionally said to have been sent by the pope to evangelize the cities of Chartres and Tournai. Tradition also ...

evangelized Tournai; some sources name him as the first bishop, but this remains unsubstantiated. At the end of the 3rd century

Emperor Maximian Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...

rekindled persecutions, and St. Piat was martyred as a result.Warichez, Joseph. "Tournai." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 7 September 2019 Barbarian invasions began shortly afterwards. These lasted from the end of the 3rd century till the end of the 5th century. St. Remigius used the good-will of the Frankish monarchy to organize the Catholic hierarchy in the North of Gaul. He confided the Diocese of Arras and Cambrai to

St. Vaast Vedast or Vedastus, also known as Saint Vaast (in Flemish, Norman and Picard) or Saint Waast (also in Picard and Walloon), Saint Gaston in French, and Foster in English (died ) was an early bishop in the Frankish realm. After the victory of T ...

(Vedastus), and founded the See of Tournai (c. 500), appointing as its titular Eleutherius. It was probably its status of royal city which secured Tournai's early rise, only to lose its position as capital upon the departure of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

court. Nevertheless, it maintained its own bishops for nearly a century. Then, at about 626 or 627, under the episcopate of St. Achar, the sees of Tournai and Noyon were reunited, retaining however their separate structures. Tournai lost its privileges and was relegated to level of the neighbouring dioceses, such as Boulogne and Therouanne, Arras and Cambrai. The same ordinary held both sees for five hundred years. It was only in 1146 that Tournai received its own bishop. Belgian Medieval Dioceses

Notable bishops are: St. Eleutherius (beginning of 6th century); St. Achar (626/27 – 1 March 637/38); St. Eloi (641–660); Simon de Vermandois (1121–1146); Walter de Marvis (1219–1251), the great founder of schools and hospitals; Etienne of Tournai (1192–1203), godfather of Louis VII of France and minister to the queen;

Andrea Chini Malpiglia Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

(1334–42), cardinal and papal legate; Guillaume Fillastre (1460–1473), chancellor of the

Golden Fleece In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece ( el, Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, ''Chrysómallon déras'') is the fleece of the golden-woolled,, ''Khrusómallos''. winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where ...

; Michel de Warenghien (1283–1291), a very erudite doctor; Michel d'Esne (1597–1614), the author of several works.

Raphael de Mercatellis Raphael de Mercatellis, also known as Raphael of Burgundy (1473–3 August 1508), was a church official, imperial counsellor and bibliophile. He was the illegitimate son of Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy and a woman of Venetian origins, the w ...

(1487–1507), illegitimate son of Philip the Good and noted

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

, was auxiliary bishop of Tournai. During Spanish rule (1521–1667) the see continued to be occupied by natives of the country, but the seize of Tournai by

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 ...

in 1667 caused it to have a number of Frenchmen for bishop:

Gilbert de choiseul duplessis praslin Gilbert Choiseul du Plessis-Praslin (born 1613; died at Paris, 31 December 1689) was a French bishop. Early life He was a descendant of the noble family of Plessis (disambiguation), du Plessis. He devoted himself from his earliest youth to the e ...

(1670–1689); François de La Salle de Caillebot (1692–1705); Louis Marcel de Coëtlogon (1705–1707); François de Beauveau (1708–1713). After the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...

(1713) the French were replaced by Germans: Johann Ernst, Count of

Löwenstein-Wertheim Löwenstein-Wertheim was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, part of the Franconian Circle. It was formed from the counties of Löwenstein (based in the town of Löwenstein) and Wertheim (based in the town of Wertheim am Main) and from 1488 until ...

(1713–1731); Franz Ernst, Count of

Salm-Reifferscheid Salm is the name of several historic countships and principalities in present Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. History Origins The County of Salm arose in the tenth century in Vielsalm, in the Ardennes region of present Belgium. It was ...

(1731–1770); Wilhelm Florentine, Prince of

Salm-Salm The Principality of Salm-Salm (german: Fürstentum Salm-Salm; french: Principauté de Salm-Salm) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was located in the present-day French departments of Bas-Rhin and Vosges; it was one of a number of partitions ...

(1776–1794). The reunion of the see with Noyon and the ensuing removal of the seat of the bishopric bolstered the chapter. The chapter's requirement to appoint only nobility and scholars, as set forth by the old régime, tended to attract the highly born and educated. Illustrious French and Belgian names are inscribed in the archive's registers and on the cathedral's tombstones. The cathedral, long by wide, is surmounted by 5 towers high. The nave and transept are Romanesque (12th century), while the choir is primary Gothic, begun in 1242 and completed in 1325. Originally, the borders of the diocese arguably were those of the ''Civitas Turnacensium'', as mentioned in the "Notice des Gaules". The prescriptions of councils and the interest of the Church both favoured such borders, and they were retained throughout the Middle Ages. The diocese then further extended along the left bank of the river Schelde, from the river Scarpe to the North Sea, with the exception of the Vier-Ambachten (Hulst, Axel, Bouchaute, and Assenede), which are said to have always belonged to the Diocese of Utrecht. The Schelde thus formed the natural border between the Dioceses of Tournai and Cambrai, cutting through the towns of Termonde, Ghent, Oudenarde, and Tournai itself. The North Sea seaboard between the Schelde and the Yser was wholly part of this perimeter. On the far side of the Yser resided the

Diocese of Thérouanne 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 ...

, which bordered Tournai as far as Ypres. There began the

Diocese of Arras The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Atrebatensis (–Bononiena–Audomarensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer)'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church i ...

, which bordered Tournai as far as the confluence of the Scarpe and the Schelde at Mortgne, France. This vast diocese was for a long time divided into three archdeaneries and twelve deaneries. The archdeanery of Bruges comprised the deaneries of Bruges, Ardenbourg, and Oudenbourg; the archdeanery of Ghent, the deaneries of Ghent, Roulers, Oudenarde, and Waes; the archdeanery of Tournai, the deaneries of Tournai, Seclin, Helchin, Lille, and Courtrai. In 1559, to support the war against Protestantism, King Philip II of Spain obtained from

Paul IV Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...

the foundation of a series of new dioceses. The ancient Diocese of Tournai was split up, with nearly two-thirds of its territory being cut away. The outlines of the archdeaneries of Bruges and Ghent formed the new diocese of Bruges and

diocese of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel ...

, and six parishes passed to the new diocese of Ypres. This situation lasted until the beginning of the 19th century. The French Revolution created the Department of Jemappes, which in 1815 became the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, whose borders coincided with those of the Diocese of Tournai, after a concordat between the plenipotentiaries of Pius VI and the consular government of the republic. The Bishop of Tournai retained only two scores of the parishes formerly under his jurisdiction, but received on the right bank of the Schelde a number of parishes which, prior to the Revolution, had belonged to the Diocese of Cambrai (302), Namur (50), and Liège (50).

Bishops

To 1146

* 540 : St. Eleutherius of Tournai (Eleuthere) * c. 549 and 552 : Agrecius * 545 : Medardus *Then jointly with Noyon * c. 626–c. 638 : Acarius * 641–660 : Saint Eligius, Eligius * c. 661–c. 686 : Mommolin of Noyon, Mummolenus * Gondoin * c. 700 : Antgaire * c. 715 : Chrasmar * c. 721 : Garoul * c. 723 : Framenger * c. 730 : Hunuan * c. 740 : Gui et Eunuce * c. 748 : Elisée * c. 756/765 : Adelfred * ? : Didon * 769–c. 782 : Giselbert * c. 798/799 : Pleon * c. 815 : Wendelmarus * c. 830/838 : Ronegaire * c. 830/838 : Fichard * 840–860 : Immon * 860–879 : Rainelme * 880–902 : Heidilon * 909 : Rambert * 915–932 : Airard * †936 : Walbert * 937–950 : Transmar, Transmarus * 950–954 : Rudolf * 954–955 : Fulcher * 955–977 : Hadulphe * 977–988 : Liudolf of Vermandois * 989–997 : Radbod I * 1000–1030 : Hardouin * 1030–1044 : Hugo * 1044–1068 : Balduin * 1068–1098 : Radbod II * 1099–1112 : Baldric of Noyon * 1114–1123 : Lambert * 1123–1146 : Simon of Vermandois * Diocese split

1146 to 1500; bishops of Tournai

* 1146–1149 : Anselm * 1149–1166 : Gerard * 1166–1171 : Walter * 1173–1190 : Everard * 1193–1203 : Stephen of Tournai * 1203–1218 : Gossuin * 1219–1251 : Walter of Marvis * 1252–1261 : Walter of Croix * 1261–1266 : Johann I. Buchiau * 1267–1274 : John of Enghien * 1275–1282 : Philipp Mus * 1283–1291 : Michael von Warenghien * 1292–1300 : Johann III. von Vassogne * 1301–1324 : Guy of Boulogne (also Bishop of Cambrai) * 1324–1326 : Elie de Ventadour * 1326–1333 : Guillaume de Ventadour * 1333 : Theobald of Saussoire * 1334–1342 : André Ghini * 1342–1349 : Jean IV. des Prés * 1349–1350 : Pierre de Forest (also Bishop of Paris) * 1351–1377 : Pierre d'Arbois * 1379–1388 : Pierre d'Auxy ** 1380–1384 : Jean de West * 1388–1410 : Louis de la Trémouille * 1410–1433 : Jean de Thoisy * 1433–1437 : Jean d'Harcourt * 1437–1460 : Jean Chevrot * 1460–1473 : Guillaume Fillastre * 1474–1483 : Ferry de Clugny * 1483–1505 : ''Schism''

1500 to 1800

* 1505–1513 : Charles de Hautbois * 1514–1518 : Thomas Wolsey * 1519–1524 : Louis Guillard, bishop-elect from 1513 but displaced by Wolsey until 1519 * 1524–1564 : Charles de Croÿ * 1564–1574 : Gilbert d'Oignies * 1574–1580 : Pierre Pintaflour * 1580–1586 : Maximilien Morillon * 1586–1592 : Jean Vendeville (Jean Venduille) * 1592–1597 : ''Vacant'' * 1597–1614 : Michel D'Esne * 1614–1644 : Maximilien Villain * 1644–1660 : François Villain * 1660–1689 : Gilbert de Choiseul * 1689–1705 : François de Caillebot de La Salle * 1705–1707 : Louis-Marcel de Coëtlogon-Méjusseaume * 1707–1713 : René de Beauveau (then Bishop of Toulouse) * 1713–1731 : Johann Ernst von Löwenstein-Wertheim * 1731–1770 : Franz Ernst von Salm-Reifferscheid * 1770–1776 : ''Vacant'' * 1776–1793 : Wilhelm Florentin von Salm-Salm (then Archbishop of Prague) * 1793–1802 : ''Vacant''

From 1800

* 1802–1819 : François-Joseph Hirn * 1819–1829 : ''Vacant'' * 1829–1834 : Jean Joseph Delplancq * 1835–1872 : Gaspard-Joseph Labis * 1873–1880 : Edmond Dumont :fr:Edmond Dumont * 1881–1897 : Isidore-Joseph du Rousseaux * 1897–1915 : Carolus Gustavus Walravens * 1915–1924 : Amédée Crooy * 1924–1939 : Gaston-Antoine Rasneur * 1940–1945 : Luigi Delmotte * 1945–1948 : Etienne Carton de Wiart * 1948–1977 : Charles-Marie Himmer * 1977–2002 : Jean Huard * 2003–present : Guy Harpigny

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Tournai Bishops of Tournai, Roman Catholic dioceses in Belgium, Tournai Religious organizations established in the 1140s 1146 establishments in Europe Roman Catholic dioceses established in the 12th century History of Christianity in Belgium, Tournai