Isarnus (Isarn, in French) was the Bishop of Grenoble from 950 until his death in 976 or later. During the reign of Conrad the Peaceful he was instrumental in re-asserting Christian political authority in the south of the Kingdom of Burgundy, overrun by Saracens, and in restoring the shattered Church in the region. His methods in expelling the Saracens from his diocese, were similar to those used by his successful contemporary, William the Liberator in Provence.
Isarn belonged to the family of the counts of Graisivaudan (Gravaisdun), a precursor district of the Dauphiné, whose patronage of abbeys and proprietary churches resulted in considerable control of the local church at the time. Isarn was loyal to the diocese, however, being one of the few noblemen of the region not to flee the conquest of Grenoble by the Saracens.[2] In 965 Isarn led a counterattack against the Saracens ("Moors") and removed them from his diocese.
In 972 a raiding party of Saracens from Fraxinetum captured Mayeuil, abbot of Cluny, while he was returning from a visit to Rome. According to Archibald Lewis, "it was this action which probably at last forced action against them."[3] Isarn began a programme of encastellation to bring the Dauphiné back under Christian control. According to later sources, the bishop had in fact begun his castle-building programme not long after 950. Between that date and 974 Isarn had many castles constructed throughout his diocese, over all of which he maintained dominatio et servitia (lordship and service). He also pursued the re-cultivation of abandoned soil and the restoration of abandoned churches and monasteries.
In c. 976, Bishop Isarnus participated in Bishop Anno of Valence's excommunication of one Aikardus, who was holding property illegally.[4]
One document, from c. 1100, refers to the re-colonisation of some Alpine areas under Isarn's direction.[5] Charters of this period are rare. Only one, from 976, shows the bishop granting a small piece of land as a medium plantum. Another charter, c. 1040, details the foeff of Ainardus de Domena, including two mansi which had been given by Bishop Isarnus to his grandfather.[6] Elsewhere in a charter, but with no specifics, we are told that Isarn granted castles and land to nobiles, mediores et pauperes: noblemen, the middle class, and the poor. One method used to put uncultivated soil back into use was probably also used to resettle wasteland. A person could be charged with replanting a large tract of land or rebuilding a set of houses in return for his owning a precarium or usufruct on half of them for his lifetime.[7] This method of resettlement and redefence led to castles which were half owned by the bishop and half by those who occupied them.
In an eleventh-century dispute between Hugh of Châteauneuf and Guigues III of Albon over the possession of ecclesiastic lands in the Gravaisdun, Hugh, to reinforce what he judged to be his right, fabricated a story of Isarn reconquering by arms the diocese of Grenoble from the hands of the Saracens. That was the object of the preamble to a series of documents designed to establish the right of the diocese over those lands, documents known as the "Cartularies of Saint Hugh".[8]
There is no positive evidence of the date of Bishop Isoard's death.
↑ Marion, Cartulaires de l'église cathédrale de Grenoble dits cartulaires de Saint-Hugues., pp. 119-120, no. XLVI: "habeo Ainardus ego episcopum Gratianopolitanum omnes leges et batalas de cocha que vocatur de Tehes usque ad aquam que vocatur Domena, et habeo duos mansos, quos dedit episcopus Isarnus Radulfo, avo meo, pro filiatico."
↑ In a charter of 970 from the Abbey of Sauxillanges, one Gausbert, a plantario, agreed to rebuild the houses destroyed by fire in the village of Brioude in return for either a precarium for life or the usufruct of one half of the houses (Lewis, 281).
↑ For the pertinent text, in both Latin and English, see Versteegh, 376.
Sources
Addison, Agnes (1940). Review of La Cathédrale de Grenoble du IXe au XVIe Siècle, Pierre David, ed. American Journal of Archaeology, 44:2 (Apr.–Jun.), p.283.
Hauréau, Jean-Barthélemy (1865). Gallia christiana. (in Latin). vol. XVI, Paris 1865. pp. 226-228.
Versteegh, Kees (1990). "The Arab presence in France and Switzerland in the 10th century." Arabica, 37:359–388.
Related Research Articles
The Diocese of Digne is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected in the 4th century as the Diocese of Digne, the diocese has been known as the Diocese of Digne–Riez–Sisteron since 1922. The diocese comprises the entire department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The diocese was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles until 2002 and is now a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Marseille. The Bishop of Digne's cathedra is found in Digne Cathedral at the episcopal see of Digne-les-Bains.
The Abbey of Saint-Victor is a former abbey that was founded during the late Roman period in Marseille in the south of France, named after the local soldier saint and martyr, Victor of Marseilles.
The Diocese of Grenoble–Vienne-les-Allobroges is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in south-eastern France. The diocese, erected in the 4th century as the Diocese of Grenoble, comprises the department of Isère and the former canton of Villeurbanne (Rhône), in the Region of Rhône-Alpes. In 2006, the name was changed from the diocese of Grenoble to the diocese of Grenoble–Vienne. The current bishop is Jean-Marc Eychenne, appointed on September 14, 2022.
The Diocese of Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny), more simply known as the Diocese of Autun, is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the entire Department of Saone et Loire, in the Region of Bourgogne.
The Ancient Diocese of Vaison was a Roman Catholic diocese in France, suppressed in 1801, with its territory transferred to the diocese of Avignon. It had been one of nine dioceses in the ecclesiastical province presided over by the archbishop of Arles, but a later reorganization placed Vasio under the archbishop of Avignon. Jurisdiction inside the diocese was shared between the bishop and the Comte de Provence, higher justice and the castle belonging to the Comte, and civil justice and all other rights belonging to the bishop. The cathedral was served by a chapter which had four dignities: the provost (praepositus), the archdeacon, the sacristan, and the precentor. There were also six canons, each of whom had a prebend attached to his office.
William I, called the Liberator, was Count of Provence from 968 to his abdication. In 975 or 979, he took the title of marchio or margrave. He is often considered the founder of the county of Provence. He and his elder brother Rotbold I were sons of Boson II of Arles and his wife Constance, who, based on her name, has been speculated to be daughter of Charles Constantine of Vienne. They both carried the title of comes or count concurrently, but it is unknown if they were joint-counts of the whole of Provence or if the region was divided. His brother never bore any other title than count so long as William lived, so the latter seems to have attained a certain supremacy.
The Diocese of Valence (–Die–Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux) (Latin: Dioecesis Valentinensis ; French: Diocèse de Valence is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in southern France. The contemporary diocese is co-extensive with the department of Drôme.
The Diocese of Châlons is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Châlons-sur-Marne, France. The diocese comprises the department of Marne, excluding the arrondissement of Reims.
The former French Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, sometimes, just like the town, also known as the Diocese of Saint-Paul-en-Tricastin, existed from the sixth century to the French Revolution.
The County of Pallars or Pallás was a de facto independent petty state, nominally within the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia during the ninth and tenth centuries, perhaps one of the Catalan counties, originally part of the Marca Hispanica in the ninth century. It was coterminous with the upper Noguera Pallaresa valley from the crest of the Pyrenees to the village of Tremp, comprising the Vall d'Àneu, Vall de Cardós, Vall Ferrera, the right bank of the Noguera Ribagorçana, and the valley of the Flamicell. It roughly corresponded with the historic region of Catalonia called Pallars. Its chief city was Sort.
The Diocese of Le Mans is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo, but had previously been suffragan to Bourges, Paris, Sens, and Tours.
Châlons Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Châlons-en-Champagne, France, formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne.
The Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the entire department of Aude. It is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Montpellier.
The former French Catholic diocese of Die existed from the fourth to the thirteenth century, and then again from 1678 to the French Revolution. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801, its territory being assigned to the diocese of Grenoble. Its see was the Cathedral of the Assumption in Die.
Raymond I was the first independent count of Pallars and Ribagorza from 872 until his death. Early speculation made him a scion of the counts of Toulouse, but he is certainly the "Count Raymond, son of Count Lupus ... in the country of Pallars" of a 920 document. His father may have been the Basque Count Lupus I of Bigorre. During his lifetime Pallars represented the easternmost extent of the Basque language.
Isarn was the Count of Pallars from 920 until his death, and effectively a sovereign prince. He was the eldest of the four sons of Raymond I, Count of Pallars and Ribagorza. With his younger brother Lope he co-ruled Pallars after his father's death in 920. Their brothers Bernard and Miró co-governed Ribagorza. A fifth brother, Otto, was Bishop of Pallars, which allowed the counts, especially Isarn, to effectively control the Church in their territories.
Sal·la was the Bishop of Urgell from 981 to 1010, and "one of the first Catalan figures whose own words" survive sufficiently "to give colour to his personality and actions", although all of the words attributed to him were written down by scribes. He receives mention in some sixty-three surviving contemporary documents. As bishop, Sal·la dated documents by the reign of Hugh the Great. Although his episcopate largely preceded the Peace of God movement in Catalonia, his excommunication of high-ranking public figures during a church–state dispute in 991 anticipated it. He also pioneered feudal practices such as the granting of fiefs and was frequently "ahead of the feudalising wave".
Rostang of Arles was Archbishop of Arles from 870 to 913. He supported the coup d'état of Boso of Provence against the Carolingians in 879.
Laugier of Nice, known as the Roux, is also known as Laugier of Orange-Mévouillon or Laugier of Vence. He was co-lord of Nice, Gréolières, Cagnes and Vence. He held these titles in part through his wife Odile of Provence and his father-in-law, William I of Provence. Laugier seems to be related to the Mévouillon-Orange lineage. Some historians give him the title of viscount. He was a member of the first house of the counts of Orange-Nice. From 1023 Laugier was a monk of the order of Cluny.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
