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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.
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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.
Constitutional bishops were often priests with less or more moderate Gallican and partisan ideas, of a less or moderate nature. They were elected locally by the same body of electors that elected the députés of the future Legislative Assembly. They organised national councils in 1797 and 1801 to mark their independence from the pope, who usually called major ecclesiastical councils (unlike minor synods).
On the signature of the 1801 concordat, pope Pius VII and Napoleon I of France both demanded that the constitutional bishops and the remaining Ancien Régime bishops who had not sworn to uphold the Civil Constitution all resign their episcopal seats so that new holders could be appointed to the sees. 15 constitutional bishops refused to resign, feeling that their election to their episcopal seats were still valid (one such bishop, Henri Grégoire, signed himself as bishop of Loir-et-Cher right up until his death).
It is notable that a constitutional bishop's diocese was not named after his cathedra or episcopal seat (as was previous practise) but after the department (themselves mostly named after natural features like rivers or mountain ranges) corresponding to his diocese, following the re-drawing of the diocesan boundaries according to the department boundaries created in 1790.
Loir-et-Cher is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La Poste gave it the number 41.
Sarthe is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the Grand-Ouest of the country. It is named after the River Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers.
Henri Jean-Baptiste Grégoire, often referred to as the Abbé Grégoire, was a French Catholic priest, Constitutional bishop of Blois and a revolutionary leader. He was an ardent slavery abolitionist and supporter of universal suffrage. He was a founding member of the Bureau des longitudes, the Institut de France, and the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.
This gallery of French coats of arms shows the coats of arms of the Provinces, Regions, and Departments of France, and of certain French cities. They are used to visually identify historical and present-day regions, as well as cities, within France.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny), more simply known as the Diocese of Autun, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the entire Department of Saone et Loire, in the Region of Bourgogne.
The Diocese of Nancy and Toul is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. After a considerable political struggle between Louis XV, Louis XVI, and the Dukes of Lorraine, the diocese was erected by Pope Pius VI on 17 December 1777. The Diocese of Nancy is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Besançon.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarbes et Lourdes is a Roman Catholic Latin Rite diocese in France. Until 2002 Tarbes was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Auch. It is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toulouse.
Claude Le Coz (1740–1815) was a French Catholic bishop.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Luçon is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its see is Luçon Cathedral in the commune of Luçon. The diocese comprises the department of Vendée. Created in 1317 out of the diocese of Poitiers, its existence was interrupted during the French Revolution, but it was restored in 1821, along with the Bourbon restoration.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Laval is a Roman Catholic Latin Rite diocese in France. The episcopal see is Laval Cathedral in the city of Laval. Created in June 1855, the diocese was originally erected from the Diocese of Le Mans, and corresponds to the department of Mayenne. Under the Ancien Régime the diocese of Mans had an Archdeacon of Laval, whose responsibilities extended over the deaneries of Ernée, Évrun, Laval and Mayenne. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Moulins is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is located in the city of Moulins. The diocese comprises all of the department of Allier in the region of Auvergne.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Blois is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese lies in western France, and encompasses the department of Loir-et-Cher. Since 2002 it has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Tours.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dijon is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The archepiscopal see is Dijon Cathedral, which is located in the city of Dijon. The diocese comprises the entire department of Côte-d'Or, in the Region of Bourgogne. Originally established as the Diocese of Dijon in 1731, and suffragan to the Archdiocese of Lyon, the diocese was elevated to the rank of archdiocese in 2002. The most significant jurisdiction change occurred after the Concordat of 1801, when the diocese annexed the department of Haute-Marne. In 1821, a Papal Bull re-established the Diocese of Langres. The current archbishop is Roland Minnerath, appointed in 2004.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is the Arras Cathedral, in the city of Arras. The diocese encompasses all of the Department of Pas-de-Calais, in the Region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the département of Charente-Maritime and the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The bishop is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Bordeaux. The episcopal seat is in La Rochelle Cathedral. Saintes Cathedral is a co-cathedral.
Pierre Brugière was a French priest and Jansenist, who supported the French Revolution and the reforms it sought to bring to bear on the Catholic Church.
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