Ancient Diocese of Tarentaise
Encyclopedia
The Archdiocese of Tarentaise was a Roman Catholic diocese and archdiocese in France
, with its see in Moûtiers
, in the Tarentaise Valley
in Savoie
. It was established as a diocese in the 5th century, elevated to archdiocese in 794, and disbanded in 1801. The diocese of Tarentaise was again formed in 1825, and united with the diocese of Chambéry and diocese of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
to form the Archdiocese of Chambéry, Maurienne and Tarentaise in 1966.
were evangelized in the fifth century by James the Assyrian, secretary to St. Honoratus, Archbishop of Arles. He became the first Bishop of Darantasia or Tarentaise, the metropolis of the Centrones, and named St. Marcellus as his successor.
The first document in which the Diocese of Tarentaise is reliably mentioned is a letter of Leo the Great (5 May, 450) which assigns to the Archdiocese of Vienne, among other suffragans, the Bishop of Tarentaise. The first historically known bishop is Sanctius, who in 517 assisted at the Council of Epaon. A plea was brought before the Council of Frankfort (794) against the decision of Leo I that had been confirmed by Popes Symmachus and Gregory the Great. Leo III partly acceded to this plea, and made Darantasia a metropolis with three suffragans, Aosta
, Sitten (Sion in French), and Maurienne
, but maintained the primacy
of Vienne. For four centuries this primacy was the cause of conflicts between the archbishops of Tarentaise and those of Vienne; subsequently Maurienne was again attached to the metropolis of Vienne.
The city of Darantasia was destroyed by the Saracens in the tenth century, whereupon the archbishops moved their residence to the right bank of the Isére, calling it their moutier (monastery), and it was at this place that the town of Moutiers began to be built in the second half of the tenth century.
In the twelfth century the archbishops of Tarentaise were powerful sovereigns. In 1186 a bull of Frederick Barbarossa recognized the Archbishop of Tarentaise as immediate vassal of the empire and prince of the Holy Roman Empire, in disregard of the pretensions of Humbert III, Count of Savoy; but in 1358 a transaction between Archbishop Jean de Bertrand and the Count of Savoy, Amadeus VI, fixed the respective rights of the archbishops and the counts.
Tarentaise belonged to France from 1536 to 1559, and from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century was on four occasions wrested for a time by France from the House of Savoy. In 1792 it formed the Department of Mont Blanc. The Treaty of Paris (30 May 1814) gave it to the King of Sardinia, while the Plebiscite of 22 and 23 April 1860 returned it to France. The Archdiocese of Moutiers in Tarentaise was suppressed in 1792 by the French Revolution. In 1825 a diocese was re-established at Moutiers, suffragan of Chambéry
, and was maintained in 1860 in virtue of a special clause in the treaty ceding Savoy to France.
Among the archbishops of Moutiers in Tarentaise may be mentioned: St. Peter I (around 1130) the first Cistercian raised to the episcopate, who founded in a defile
the Cistercian Abbey of Tamié, to serve as a shelter for pilgrims and travellers; the Cistercian monk St. Peter II (1141–74) founded the charity of the pain de Mai ('May bread'), which until the second half of the eighteenth century distributed bread at Moutiers at the expense of the archdiocese during the first twenty-eight days of May; it was he who upheld Alexander III against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the antipope Victor IV
, and maintained in obedience to pope Alexander III
the seven hundred abbeys of the Cistercian Order. Alexander decided (3 February 1171) that thenceforth the metropolitan See of Tarentaise should depend only on Rome; St. Peter III (1271–83); Cardinal Antoine de Chalant (1402–18), to whom has been ascribed "Le livre du Roi Modus et de la reine Ratio", a much-esteemed treatise on hunting; Cardinal Jean d'Arces' (1438–54), who at the Council of Basle in 1440 supported Duke Amadeus of Savoy, antipope under the name of Felix V, against pope Eugene IV
; Cardinals Christopher and Dominic de la Rovére (1472–78 and 1478–83), whose tomb erected at Rome in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo
is a splendid monument of the Renaissance; Germonio (1607–27), who played an important part in the seventeenth-century reform of the clergy and whose "Commentaries" and "Acta Ecclesiæ Tarentasiensis" are important documents for the history of the time.
As natives of the diocese may be mentioned: Pope Nicholas II (1059), born at Chevron-Villette of the family of the lords of Miolans; Pierre d'Aigueblanche, who in 1240 became Archbishop of Hereford in England, and for twenty-five years was councillor and minister to Henry III of England
; Blessed Peter of Tarentaise
, who became pope in 1276 under the name of Innocent V.
The chief pilgrimages of the diocese are: Notre Dame de Briançon, which dates from the victory over the Saracens in the tenth century; kings Francis I of France
and Henry IV of France
visited this shrine; Notre Dame des Vernettes, at Peisey, created in the eighteenth century near a miraculous fountain; Notre Dame de la Vie at St. Martin de Belleville; Notre Dame de Beaufort; St. Anne at Villette dating from 1248.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, with its see in Moûtiers
Moutiers
Moutiers and Les Moutiers is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:*Moutiers, in the Eure-et-Loir département*Moutiers, in the Ille-et-Vilaine département*Moutiers, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département...
, in the Tarentaise Valley
Tarentaise Valley
The Tarentaise Valley is a valley of the Isère River in the heart of the French Alps, located in the Savoy region of France. The valley is named for the ancient town of Darantasia, the capital of the pre-Roman Centrones tribe.-Description:...
in Savoie
Savoie
Savoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860...
. It was established as a diocese in the 5th century, elevated to archdiocese in 794, and disbanded in 1801. The diocese of Tarentaise was again formed in 1825, and united with the diocese of Chambéry and diocese of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Diocese of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
The French Catholic diocese of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has since 1966 been formally united with the archdiocese of Chambéry. While it has not been suppressed, and is supposed to be on a par with Chambéry and the diocese of Tarentaise, it no longer has a separate bishop or existence.-Bishops:Saint...
to form the Archdiocese of Chambéry, Maurienne and Tarentaise in 1966.
History
Legend relates that the CentronesCentrones
The Ceutrones were a pre-Roman Celtic tribe of ancient Gaul that controlled regions of the Graian Alps....
were evangelized in the fifth century by James the Assyrian, secretary to St. Honoratus, Archbishop of Arles. He became the first Bishop of Darantasia or Tarentaise, the metropolis of the Centrones, and named St. Marcellus as his successor.
The first document in which the Diocese of Tarentaise is reliably mentioned is a letter of Leo the Great (5 May, 450) which assigns to the Archdiocese of Vienne, among other suffragans, the Bishop of Tarentaise. The first historically known bishop is Sanctius, who in 517 assisted at the Council of Epaon. A plea was brought before the Council of Frankfort (794) against the decision of Leo I that had been confirmed by Popes Symmachus and Gregory the Great. Leo III partly acceded to this plea, and made Darantasia a metropolis with three suffragans, Aosta
Aosta
Aosta is the principal city of the bilingual Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes...
, Sitten (Sion in French), and Maurienne
Maurienne
Maurienne is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.-Location:...
, but maintained the primacy
Primacy
Primacy Effect may refer to:The tendency to form impressions of people based on the first information we receive about them. The primacy effect has most effect during repeated message when there is little or no delay between the messages....
of Vienne. For four centuries this primacy was the cause of conflicts between the archbishops of Tarentaise and those of Vienne; subsequently Maurienne was again attached to the metropolis of Vienne.
The city of Darantasia was destroyed by the Saracens in the tenth century, whereupon the archbishops moved their residence to the right bank of the Isére, calling it their moutier (monastery), and it was at this place that the town of Moutiers began to be built in the second half of the tenth century.
In the twelfth century the archbishops of Tarentaise were powerful sovereigns. In 1186 a bull of Frederick Barbarossa recognized the Archbishop of Tarentaise as immediate vassal of the empire and prince of the Holy Roman Empire, in disregard of the pretensions of Humbert III, Count of Savoy; but in 1358 a transaction between Archbishop Jean de Bertrand and the Count of Savoy, Amadeus VI, fixed the respective rights of the archbishops and the counts.
Tarentaise belonged to France from 1536 to 1559, and from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century was on four occasions wrested for a time by France from the House of Savoy. In 1792 it formed the Department of Mont Blanc. The Treaty of Paris (30 May 1814) gave it to the King of Sardinia, while the Plebiscite of 22 and 23 April 1860 returned it to France. The Archdiocese of Moutiers in Tarentaise was suppressed in 1792 by the French Revolution. In 1825 a diocese was re-established at Moutiers, suffragan of Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
, and was maintained in 1860 in virtue of a special clause in the treaty ceding Savoy to France.
Among the archbishops of Moutiers in Tarentaise may be mentioned: St. Peter I (around 1130) the first Cistercian raised to the episcopate, who founded in a defile
Defile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
the Cistercian Abbey of Tamié, to serve as a shelter for pilgrims and travellers; the Cistercian monk St. Peter II (1141–74) founded the charity of the pain de Mai ('May bread'), which until the second half of the eighteenth century distributed bread at Moutiers at the expense of the archdiocese during the first twenty-eight days of May; it was he who upheld Alexander III against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the antipope Victor IV
Antipope Victor IV
Antipope Victor IV may refer to:* Antipope Victor IV * Antipope Victor IV...
, and maintained in obedience to pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
the seven hundred abbeys of the Cistercian Order. Alexander decided (3 February 1171) that thenceforth the metropolitan See of Tarentaise should depend only on Rome; St. Peter III (1271–83); Cardinal Antoine de Chalant (1402–18), to whom has been ascribed "Le livre du Roi Modus et de la reine Ratio", a much-esteemed treatise on hunting; Cardinal Jean d'Arces' (1438–54), who at the Council of Basle in 1440 supported Duke Amadeus of Savoy, antipope under the name of Felix V, against pope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV , born Gabriele Condulmer, was pope from March 3, 1431, to his death.-Biography:He was born in Venice to a rich merchant family, a Correr on his mother's side. Condulmer entered the Order of Saint Augustine at the monastery of St. George in his native city...
; Cardinals Christopher and Dominic de la Rovére (1472–78 and 1478–83), whose tomb erected at Rome in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo
Santa Maria del Popolo
Santa Maria del Popolo is an Augustinian church located in Rome, Italy.It stands to the north side of the Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The Piazza is situated between the ancient Porta Flaminia and the park of the Pincio...
is a splendid monument of the Renaissance; Germonio (1607–27), who played an important part in the seventeenth-century reform of the clergy and whose "Commentaries" and "Acta Ecclesiæ Tarentasiensis" are important documents for the history of the time.
As natives of the diocese may be mentioned: Pope Nicholas II (1059), born at Chevron-Villette of the family of the lords of Miolans; Pierre d'Aigueblanche, who in 1240 became Archbishop of Hereford in England, and for twenty-five years was councillor and minister to Henry III of England
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
; Blessed Peter of Tarentaise
Pope Innocent V
Pope Blessed Innocent V , born Pierre de Tarentaise, was Pope from January 21 to June 22, 1276.He was born around 1225 near Moûtiers in the Tarentaise region of the County of Savoy, then part of the Kingdom of Arles in the Holy Roman Empire, but now in southeastern France...
, who became pope in 1276 under the name of Innocent V.
The chief pilgrimages of the diocese are: Notre Dame de Briançon, which dates from the victory over the Saracens in the tenth century; kings Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
and Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
visited this shrine; Notre Dame des Vernettes, at Peisey, created in the eighteenth century near a miraculous fountain; Notre Dame de la Vie at St. Martin de Belleville; Notre Dame de Beaufort; St. Anne at Villette dating from 1248.