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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

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.

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 Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

. A new monastery and cloister were built by the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

to the north of the

Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine. The grotto holds a prominent religious significance to Christianity, Christians of various denominations as the Nativity of Jesus, ...

, 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 Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

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

king of Jerusalem The king or queen of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conquered in ...

in Bethlehem — that same year, at Baldwin's request,

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II (; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Raniero Raineri di Bleda, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was creat ...

established Bethlehem (never before an episcopal see) as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishopric, a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem () is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the archbishop of Latin Church Catholics of th ...

. In 1187 the Ayyubid Sultan

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

(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'', 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 ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') 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. ...

, see below - rare but not unique, compare the

Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Nazareth The Archdiocese 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 Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Latin and a Maronite successor as titular sees, the first ...

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

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

and

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

briefly returned to the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

under a treaty between

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (, , , ; 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 Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...

and the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

Sultan

Al-Kamil Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad (; – 6 March 1238), titled Abu al-Maali (), was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Franki ...

, 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 or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...

' 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 with the Catholics and the

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Residential bishops of Bethlehem in Palestine

* Aschetinus (1110 – after 1123)Du Cange (1869), pp. 784–93 * Anselm (before 1132 – after 1142) * Gerald (before 1147 – after 1152) *

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

I, (1155De Sandoli (1974), pp. 233–37 – death 1173) * Albert, (1177 - 1181) * Peter (before 1204 – killed in 1205 at the battle of Adrianopolis) * Thomas (before 1207–?) * Rainier (before 1210–1233) * Tommaso Agni da

Lentini Lentini (; ; ; ) is a town and in the Province of Syracuse, southeastern Sicily (Southern Italy), located 35 km (22 miles) north-west of Syracuse. History The city was founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 729 BC, which in its beginning ...

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

(O.P.), (1258–1263), in 1272 elected Latin patriarch of Jerusalem

Exile in Burgundy

The crusading

William IV, Count of Nevers William IV, (French: ''Guillaume IV'', c. 1130 – Acre, 24 October 1168) was count of Nevers, Auxerre, and Tonnerre from 1161 until his death. Family William was a son of William III, Count of Nevers and Ida of Sponheim, and the older brother o ...

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

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 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, King 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 granted them an annual pension. Christopher d'Authier of Sisgau, 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 nam ...

''.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 () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...

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 (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 Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

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 The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

, 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, ''Les familles d'outre-mer'', Paris, Imprimerie Impériale 869 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
''England and the Crusades, 1095–1588''
Chicago, University of Chicago Press

988 Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangians (the future Varangian Guard), organiz ...

1996. , * Bruno Figliuolo
''Chiesa e feudalità nei principati latini d'Oriente durante i X–XII secolo''
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. * Piers Paul Read, ''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 '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 June 21, 2024, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,172 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 archdioceses and 2,249 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic administrations, apost ...

Christianity in Bethlehem