Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montpellier
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montpellier is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church
in south-western France
. It was probably created in the 3rd century AD. The current Archbishop is Pierre-Marie Carré
; the immediate past Archbishop Emeritus is Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau
. On September 16, 2002, as part of the reshuffling of the map of the French ecclesiastical provinces, the diocese
of Montpellier ceased to be a suffragan of Avignon and was elevated to archdiocese and metropolitan of a new ecclesiastical province, with the dioceses of Carcassonne, Mende, Nimes (-Uzès e Alès) and Perpignan-Elne as suffragans
.
. A Papal Brief of 16 June 1877, authorized the bishops of Montpellier to style themselves bishops of Montpellier, Béziers
, Agde
, Lodève
and Saint-Pons
, in memory of the different dioceses united in the present diocese of Montpellier.
Maguelonne was the original diocese. Local traditions, recorded in 1583 by Abbé Gariel in his Histoire des évêques de Maguelonne, affirm that St. Simon the Leper, having landed at the mouth of the Rhône
with St. Lazarus
and his sisters
, was the earliest apostle of Maguelonne. Gariel invokes in favour of this tradition a certain manuscript brought from Byzantium
. But the chronicler, Bishop Arnaud de Verdale (1339–1352) was ignorant of this alleged Apostolic origin of Maguelonne. It is certain that the tombstone of a Christian woman named Vera was found at Maguelonne; Le Blant assigns it to the 4th century.
The first historically known Bishop of Maguelonne, Boetius, assisted at the Council of Narbonne in 589. Maguelonne was completely destroyed in the course of the wars between Charles Martel
and the Saracen
s. The diocese was then transferred to Substantion, but Bishop Arnaud (1030–1060) brought it back to Maguelonne which he rebuilt.
Near Maguelonne had grown up by degrees the two villages of Montpellier and Montpellieret. According to legend, they were in the tenth century the property of the two sisters of St. Fulcran
, Bishop of Lodève. About 975 they gave them to Ricuin, Bishop of Maguelonne. It is certain that about 990 Ricuin possessed these two villages; he kept Montpellieret and gave Montpellier in fief to the family of the Guillems. In 1085 Pierre, Count of Substantion and Melgueil, became a vassal of the Holy See for this countship, and relinquished the right of nomination to the diocese of Maguelonne. Urban II
charged the Bishop of Maguelonne to exercise the papal suzerainty, and he spent five days in this town when he came to France to preach the First Crusade
. In 1215 Pope Innocent III
gave the countship of Melgueil in fief to the Bishop of Maguelonne, who thus became a Prince-bishop
.
From that time the Bishop of Maguelonne had the right of coinage. Pope Clement IV
reproached (1266) Bishop Bérenger de Frédol with causing to be struck in his diocese a coin called "Miliarensis", on which was rend the name of Mahomet; in fact at that date the bishop, as well as the King of Aragon and the Count of Toulouse, authorized the coinage of Arabic money, not intended for circulation in Maguelonne, but to be sold for exportation to the merchants of the Mediterranean.
In July, 1204, Montpellier passed into the hands of Peter II of Aragon
, son-in-law of the last of the Guillems; Jaime I of Aragon, son of Peter II
, united the city to the Kingdom of Majorca
. In 1282 the King of Majorca paid homage to the King of France for Maguelonne. Bérenger de Frédol, Bishop of Maguelonne, ceded Montpellier to Philip IV of France
(1292). Jaime III of Majorca sold Montpellier to Philip VI
(1349); and the city, save for the period from 1365 to 1382, was henceforth French.
Urban V had studied theology and canon law at Montpellier and was crowned pope by Cardinal Ardouin Aubert, nephew of Innocent VI
, and Bishop of Maguelonne from 1352 to 1354; hence the attachment of Pope Urban for this diocese which he favoured greatly. In 1364 he founded at Montpellier of a Benedictine monastery under the patronage of St. Germain, and came himself to Montpellier to see the new church (9 January - 8 March 1367). He caused the city to be surrounded by ramparts, in order that the scholars might work there in safety; and finally he caused a large canal to be begun by which Montpellier might communicate with the sea.
At the request of King Francis I
, who pleaded the epidemics and the ravages of the pirates which constantly threatened Maguelonne, Pope Paul III
transferred the see to Montpellier (27 March 1536). Montpellier, into which Calvinism
was introduced in February, 1560, by the pastor, Guillaume Mauget, was much troubled by the wars of religion. Under Henry III of France
a sort of Calvinistic republic was installed there. The city was reconquered by Louis XIII (October, 1622).
Among the 54 bishops of Maguelonne, and the 18 bishops of Montpellier, may be mentioned: Blessed Louis Aleman
(1418–1423), later Bishop of Arles; Guillaume Pellicier
(1527–68), whom king Francis I of France sent as an ambassador to Venice, and whose leaning as a humanist and naturalist made him after Scévole de Sainte-Marthe "the most learned man of his century"; the preacher Pierre Fenouillet (1608–52); François de Bosquet (1657–76), whose historical labours were very useful to the celebrated Baluze; the bibliophile Colbert de Croissy (1696–1738), who induced the Oratorian Pouget to compose in 1702 the famous "Catechism of Montpellier", condemned by the Holy See in 1712 and 1721 for Jansenistic tendencies; Fournier (1806–34), who in 1801 was confined for a time in the madhouse at Bicêtre at the command of Napoleon I Bonaparte, for a sermon against the Revolution.
Among the numerous councils and synods held at Montpellier, the following merit mention: the council of 1162 in which Pope Alexander III
excommunicated the antipope, Victor; the provincial synod of 1195, which was occupied with the Saracens of Spain and the Albigenses; the council of 1215, which was presided over by Peter of Benevento
, legate of the Holy See and passed important canons concerning discipline, and declared also that subject to the approval of the pope, Toulouse and all the other towns taken from the Albigenses should be given to Simon de Montfort; the council of 1224, which rejected the request of Raymond, Count of Toulouse. who promised to protect the Catholic Faith and demanded that Amaury de Montfort
withdraw his claims to the countship of Toulouse; the council of 1258, which by permitting the seneschal of Beaucaire to arrest ecclesiastics taken in the act of crime, in order to hand them over to the bishop, made way for royal magistrates to exercise a certain power within the limits of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and thus inaugurated the movement as a result of which, under the name of "privileged cases", a certain number of offences committed by ecclesiastics became amenable to lay justice.
; Sts. Tiberius and Modestus and St. Florence, martyrs at Agde
under Diocletian
; St. Severus, Abbot of St. André, at Agde (d. about 500); Saint Maxentius
, a native of Agde
and founder of the Abbey of St-Maixent, in Poitou
(447-515); St. Benedict of Aniane, and his disciple and first historian, Saint Ardo Smaragdus (d. in 843); St. Guillem
, Duke of Aquitaine
, who in 804, founded near Lodève, on the advice of St. Benedict of Aniane, the monastery of Gellone (later St-Guillem du Désert), died there in 812, and under the name of "Guillaume au Court Nez" became the hero of a celebrated epic chanson; St. Etienne, Bishop of Apt (975-1046), born at Agde; Blessed Guillaume VI, Lord of Montpellier from 1121 to 1149 and who died a Cistercian at Grandselve Abbey
; Peter of Castelnau, Archdeacon of Maguelonne, inquisitor (d. in 1208); Gérard de Lunel (St. Gerard), Lord of Lunel
(end of thirteenth century); the celebrated pilgrim, St. Roch
, who was born at Montpellier about the end of the thirteenth century, saved several cities of Italy from the pest, and returned to Montpellier to live as a hermit, where he died in 1325.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in south-western France
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...
. It was probably created in the 3rd century AD. The current Archbishop is Pierre-Marie Carré
Pierre-Marie Carré
Pierre-Marie Carré is a French Bishop of the Catholic Church.He was ordained to the priesthood on September 7, 1974. On 8 Oct 2000, he was ordained Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Albi by Pope John Paul II. On May 14, 2010 he was appointed coadjutor Archbishop to the Archdiocese of Montpellier by...
; the immediate past Archbishop Emeritus is Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau
Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau
Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau was the Archbishop of Montpellier from 2002 to 2011. He was earlier Bishop of Beauvais, Bishop of Noyon, Bishop of Senlis, and auxiliary bishop of Meaux. Coming from a prominent business family, he served as 'vicaire' at Notre-Dame de Passy and subsequently as 'curé'...
. On September 16, 2002, as part of the reshuffling of the map of the French ecclesiastical provinces, the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Montpellier ceased to be a suffragan of Avignon and was elevated to archdiocese and metropolitan of a new ecclesiastical province, with the dioceses of Carcassonne, Mende, Nimes (-Uzès e Alès) and Perpignan-Elne as suffragans
Suffragan Diocese
A suffragan diocese is a diocese in the Catholic Church that is overseen not only by its own diocesan bishop but also by a metropolitan bishop. The metropolitan is always an archbishop who governs his own archdiocese...
.
History
When the Concordat of 1802 reestablished this diocese, it accorded to it also the département of Tarn, which was detached from it in 1822 by the creation of the Archdiocese of Albi; and from 1802 to 1822, Montpellier was a suffragan of ToulouseToulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. A Papal Brief of 16 June 1877, authorized the bishops of Montpellier to style themselves bishops of Montpellier, Béziers
Béziers
Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
, Agde
Agde
Agde is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.-Location:Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris...
, Lodève
Lodève
Lodève is a commune in the Hérault département in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:...
and Saint-Pons
Saint-Pons-de-Thomières
Saint-Pons-de-Thomières is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.-History:It is named after its patron saint, St...
, in memory of the different dioceses united in the present diocese of Montpellier.
Maguelonne was the original diocese. Local traditions, recorded in 1583 by Abbé Gariel in his Histoire des évêques de Maguelonne, affirm that St. Simon the Leper, having landed at the mouth of the Rhône
Rhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
with St. Lazarus
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
and his sisters
Mary, sister of Lazarus
Mary of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of John and Luke in the Christian New Testament...
, was the earliest apostle of Maguelonne. Gariel invokes in favour of this tradition a certain manuscript brought from Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
. But the chronicler, Bishop Arnaud de Verdale (1339–1352) was ignorant of this alleged Apostolic origin of Maguelonne. It is certain that the tombstone of a Christian woman named Vera was found at Maguelonne; Le Blant assigns it to the 4th century.
The first historically known Bishop of Maguelonne, Boetius, assisted at the Council of Narbonne in 589. Maguelonne was completely destroyed in the course of the wars between Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
and the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s. The diocese was then transferred to Substantion, but Bishop Arnaud (1030–1060) brought it back to Maguelonne which he rebuilt.
Near Maguelonne had grown up by degrees the two villages of Montpellier and Montpellieret. According to legend, they were in the tenth century the property of the two sisters of St. Fulcran
Fulcran
Saint Fulcran was a French saint. He was bishop of Lodève.-Life:According to the biography by Bernard Guidonis, himself bishop of Lodève , Fulcran came of a distinguished family, consecrated himself at an early age to the service of the Church, became a priest, and from his youth led a pure and...
, Bishop of Lodève. About 975 they gave them to Ricuin, Bishop of Maguelonne. It is certain that about 990 Ricuin possessed these two villages; he kept Montpellieret and gave Montpellier in fief to the family of the Guillems. In 1085 Pierre, Count of Substantion and Melgueil, became a vassal of the Holy See for this countship, and relinquished the right of nomination to the diocese of Maguelonne. Urban II
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II , born Otho de Lagery , was Pope from 12 March 1088 until his death on July 29 1099...
charged the Bishop of Maguelonne to exercise the papal suzerainty, and he spent five days in this town when he came to France to preach the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
. In 1215 Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
gave the countship of Melgueil in fief to the Bishop of Maguelonne, who thus became a Prince-bishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
.
From that time the Bishop of Maguelonne had the right of coinage. Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV , born Gui Faucoi called in later life le Gros , was elected Pope February 5, 1265, in a conclave held at Perugia that took four months, while cardinals argued over whether to call in Charles of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France...
reproached (1266) Bishop Bérenger de Frédol with causing to be struck in his diocese a coin called "Miliarensis", on which was rend the name of Mahomet; in fact at that date the bishop, as well as the King of Aragon and the Count of Toulouse, authorized the coinage of Arabic money, not intended for circulation in Maguelonne, but to be sold for exportation to the merchants of the Mediterranean.
In July, 1204, Montpellier passed into the hands of Peter II of Aragon
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.He was the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile...
, son-in-law of the last of the Guillems; Jaime I of Aragon, son of Peter II
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.He was the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile...
, united the city to the Kingdom of Majorca
Kingdom of Majorca
The Kingdom of Majorca was founded by James I of Aragon, also known as James The Conqueror. After the death of his first-born son Alfonso, a will was written in 1262 which created the kingdom in order to cede it to his son James...
. In 1282 the King of Majorca paid homage to the King of France for Maguelonne. Bérenger de Frédol, Bishop of Maguelonne, ceded Montpellier to Philip IV of France
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...
(1292). Jaime III of Majorca sold Montpellier to Philip VI
Philip VI of France
Philip VI , known as the Fortunate and of Valois, was the King of France from 1328 to his death. He was also Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois from 1325 to 1328...
(1349); and the city, save for the period from 1365 to 1382, was henceforth French.
Urban V had studied theology and canon law at Montpellier and was crowned pope by Cardinal Ardouin Aubert, nephew of Innocent VI
Pope Innocent VI
Pope Innocent VI , born Étienne Aubert; his father was Adhemar Aubert seigneur de Montel-De-Gelas in Limousin province. His niece was Catherine Aubert, Dame de Boutheon, also the wife of Randon II baron de Joyeuse; she is La Fayette's ancestor...
, and Bishop of Maguelonne from 1352 to 1354; hence the attachment of Pope Urban for this diocese which he favoured greatly. In 1364 he founded at Montpellier of a Benedictine monastery under the patronage of St. Germain, and came himself to Montpellier to see the new church (9 January - 8 March 1367). He caused the city to be surrounded by ramparts, in order that the scholars might work there in safety; and finally he caused a large canal to be begun by which Montpellier might communicate with the sea.
At the request of King Francis I
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...
, who pleaded the epidemics and the ravages of the pirates which constantly threatened Maguelonne, Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
transferred the see to Montpellier (27 March 1536). Montpellier, into which Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
was introduced in February, 1560, by the pastor, Guillaume Mauget, was much troubled by the wars of religion. Under Henry III of France
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
a sort of Calvinistic republic was installed there. The city was reconquered by Louis XIII (October, 1622).
Among the 54 bishops of Maguelonne, and the 18 bishops of Montpellier, may be mentioned: Blessed Louis Aleman
Louis Aleman
Louis Aleman was a French cardinal.He was born of a noble family at the castle of Arbent near Bugey. A relative was the Papal Chamberlain. He was successively bishop of Maguelonne , archbishop of Arles and Cardinal Priest of S...
(1418–1423), later Bishop of Arles; Guillaume Pellicier
Guillaume Pellicier
Guillaume Pellicier was a French prelate and diplomat.Born at Melgueil in Languedoc, he was educated by his uncle, the bishop of Maguelonne, whom he succeeded in 1529...
(1527–68), whom king Francis I of France sent as an ambassador to Venice, and whose leaning as a humanist and naturalist made him after Scévole de Sainte-Marthe "the most learned man of his century"; the preacher Pierre Fenouillet (1608–52); François de Bosquet (1657–76), whose historical labours were very useful to the celebrated Baluze; the bibliophile Colbert de Croissy (1696–1738), who induced the Oratorian Pouget to compose in 1702 the famous "Catechism of Montpellier", condemned by the Holy See in 1712 and 1721 for Jansenistic tendencies; Fournier (1806–34), who in 1801 was confined for a time in the madhouse at Bicêtre at the command of Napoleon I Bonaparte, for a sermon against the Revolution.
Among the numerous councils and synods held at Montpellier, the following merit mention: the council of 1162 in which 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:...
excommunicated the antipope, Victor; the provincial synod of 1195, which was occupied with the Saracens of Spain and the Albigenses; the council of 1215, which was presided over by Peter of Benevento
Peter of Benevento
Peter of Benevento was an Italian canon lawyer, papal legate and Cardinal.He was closely associated with Pope Innocent III, and produced in 1209/10 a collection of his decretals, the Compilatio tertia, as an active editor and competing with that of Bernard of Pavia..He was sent in 1214 by ...
, legate of the Holy See and passed important canons concerning discipline, and declared also that subject to the approval of the pope, Toulouse and all the other towns taken from the Albigenses should be given to Simon de Montfort; the council of 1224, which rejected the request of Raymond, Count of Toulouse. who promised to protect the Catholic Faith and demanded that Amaury de Montfort
Amaury de Montfort
Amaury VI de Montfort was the son of the elder Simon de Montfort and Alice of Montmorency, and the brother of the younger Simon de Montfort.He participated in the Albigensian Crusade under his father's command...
withdraw his claims to the countship of Toulouse; the council of 1258, which by permitting the seneschal of Beaucaire to arrest ecclesiastics taken in the act of crime, in order to hand them over to the bishop, made way for royal magistrates to exercise a certain power within the limits of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and thus inaugurated the movement as a result of which, under the name of "privileged cases", a certain number of offences committed by ecclesiastics became amenable to lay justice.
Saints
Special honour is paid in the present diocese of Montpellier to Saint Pons (Pontius) de Cimiez, martyr under Emperor Valerian, patron of Saint-Pons-de-ThomièresSaint-Pons-de-Thomières
Saint-Pons-de-Thomières is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.-History:It is named after its patron saint, St...
; Sts. Tiberius and Modestus and St. Florence, martyrs at Agde
Agde
Agde is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.-Location:Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris...
under Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
; St. Severus, Abbot of St. André, at Agde (d. about 500); Saint Maxentius
Saint Maxentius
Saint Maxentius was born in Agde, France, and originally had the name Adjutor. He was trained by Saint Severus and became a monk in his abbey.Butler's Lives of the Saints offers the following remarks:...
, a native of Agde
Agde
Agde is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.-Location:Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris...
and founder of the Abbey of St-Maixent, in Poitou
Poitou
Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
(447-515); St. Benedict of Aniane, and his disciple and first historian, Saint Ardo Smaragdus (d. in 843); St. Guillem
William of Gellone
Saint William of Gellone was the second Count of Toulouse from 790 until his replacement in 811. His Occitan name is Guilhem, and he is known in French as Guillaume d'Orange, Guillaume Fierabrace, and the Marquis au court nez.He is the hero of the Chanson de Guillaume, an early chanson de geste,...
, Duke of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, who in 804, founded near Lodève, on the advice of St. Benedict of Aniane, the monastery of Gellone (later St-Guillem du Désert), died there in 812, and under the name of "Guillaume au Court Nez" became the hero of a celebrated epic chanson; St. Etienne, Bishop of Apt (975-1046), born at Agde; Blessed Guillaume VI, Lord of Montpellier from 1121 to 1149 and who died a Cistercian at Grandselve Abbey
Grandselve Abbey
Grandselve Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in south-west France, at Bouillac, Tarn-et-Garonne. The original foundation existed from 1114 to the time of the French Revolution. It was one of the most important Cistercian abbeys in the south of France.Iniitially, in 1114, it was a Benedictine...
; Peter of Castelnau, Archdeacon of Maguelonne, inquisitor (d. in 1208); Gérard de Lunel (St. Gerard), Lord of Lunel
Lunel
Lunel is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Lunel is located east of Montpellier and southwest of Nîmes .-History:The ancient Roman site of Ambrussum is located nearby. The troubadour Folquet de Lunel was from Lunel....
(end of thirteenth century); the celebrated pilgrim, St. Roch
St. Roch
St. Roch is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America, and the second sailing vessel to complete a voyage through the Northwest Passage...
, who was born at Montpellier about the end of the thirteenth century, saved several cities of Italy from the pest, and returned to Montpellier to live as a hermit, where he died in 1325.
Bishops of Maguelonne
- Boèce (Boecio) 589
- Geniès (Genesio) 597–633?
- Gumild 672 oder 673
- Vincent 683
- Johann I. 791
- Ricuin I. 812–817
- Argemire 818 or 819
- Stabellus 821–823
- Maldomer 867
- Abbo 875–897
- Gontier 906–909
- Pons 937–947
- Ricuin II. 975
- Peter I. de Melgueil 988–1030 or 1004–1019
- Arnaud I. 1030–1060
- Bertrand I. 1060 or 1061–1079 or 1080
- Godefroi (Geoffroi) 1080–1104
- Walter von Lille 1104–1129
- Raimond I. 1129–1158
- Jean de Montlaur 1158–1190
- Guillaume de Raimond 1190–1195
- Guillaume de Fleix 1195–1202
- Guillaume D`Autignac (Antignac) 1203 or 1204–1216
- Bernard de Mèze 1216–1230 or 1232
- Jean de Montlaur II 1232–1247
- Reinier Saccoin 1247–1249
- Pierre de Conques 1248–1256
- Guillaume Christophe 1256–1263
- Bérenger de Frédol 1263–1296
- Gaucelin de La Garde 1296–1304 or 1305
- Pierre de Lévis de Mirepoix 1305 or 1306–1309
- Jean Raimond de Comminges 1309–1317
- Gaillard Saumate 1317–1318
- André de Frédol 1318–1328
- Jean de Vissec 1328–1334
- Pictavin de Montesquiou 1334–1339
- Arnaud de Verdale 1339–1352
- Aldouin Alberti 1352–1353
- Durand de Chapelles 1353–1361
- Pierre de Canillac 1361
- Dieudonné de Canillac 1361–1367
- Gaucelin de Déaux (Dreux) 1367–1373
- Pierre de Vernols 1373–1389
- Antoine de Lovier 1389–1405
- Pierre Adhémar 1405 or 1408–1415
- Louis Allemand 1418–1423
- Guillaume Forestier 1423–1429
- Léger Saporis D'Eyragues 1429–1430
- Bertrand Robert 1431–1433
- Robert de Rouvres 1433–1453
- Maur de Valleville 1453–1471
- Jean Bonald 1471 oder 1472–1487
- Guillaume Le Roy de Chavigny 1487–1488
- Izarn Barrière 1487 or 1488–1498
- Guillaume Pellicier I. 1498–1527 or 1529
Bishops of Montpellier
- Guillaume Pellicier IIGuillaume PellicierGuillaume Pellicier was a French prelate and diplomat.Born at Melgueil in Languedoc, he was educated by his uncle, the bishop of Maguelonne, whom he succeeded in 1529...
1527 or 1529–1568 (of Montpellier from 1535) - Antoine de Subjet de Cardot 1573–1596
- Guitard de Ratte 1596–1602
- Jean Garnier 1603–1607
- Pierre Fenolliet (Fenouillet) 1607–1652
- Rinaldo d'Este 1653–1655 (Cardinal)
- François Bosquet 1655–1676
- Charles de Pradel 1676–1696
- Charles-Joachim Colbert de CroissyCharles-Joachim Colbert de CroissyCharles-Joachim Colbert de Croissy was a bishop of Montpellier from 1697. He was a nephew of Jean-Baptiste Colbert. As an ardent Jansenist he had père François-Aimé Pouget edit the noted Catéchisme de Montpellier. His writings were condemned by Rome.-Source:...
1696–1738 - Georges-Lazare Berger de Charency 1738–1748
- François Renaud de Villeneuve 1748–1766
- Raymond de Durfort Léobard 1766–1774
- Joseph-François de Malide 1774–1790
- Dominique Pouderous 1791–?
- Alexandre Victor Rouanet
- Jean-Louis-Simon Rollet 1802–1806
- Nicolas Marie Fournier de La Contamine 1806–1834
- Charles-Thomas Thibault 1835–1861
- François-Marie-Joseph Lecourtier 1861–1873
- François-Marie-Anatole de Rovérié de Cabrières 1873–1921
- René-Pierre Mignen 1922–1931 (also Archbishop of Rennes)
- Gabriel Brunhes 1932–1949
- Jean Duperray 1949–1957
- Cyprien-Louis-Pierre-Clément Tourel 1958–1976
- Louis-Antoine-Marie Boffet 1976–1996
- Jean-Pierre Ricard 1996–2001 (appointed Archbishop of Bordeaux)
Archbishops
- Guy Marie Alexandre ThomazeauGuy Marie Alexandre ThomazeauGuy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau was the Archbishop of Montpellier from 2002 to 2011. He was earlier Bishop of Beauvais, Bishop of Noyon, Bishop of Senlis, and auxiliary bishop of Meaux. Coming from a prominent business family, he served as 'vicaire' at Notre-Dame de Passy and subsequently as 'curé'...
2002–2011 - Pierre-Marie CarréPierre-Marie CarréPierre-Marie Carré is a French Bishop of the Catholic Church.He was ordained to the priesthood on September 7, 1974. On 8 Oct 2000, he was ordained Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Albi by Pope John Paul II. On May 14, 2010 he was appointed coadjutor Archbishop to the Archdiocese of Montpellier by...
(since 2011); named as Special Secretary of the 2012 World Synod of Bishops meeting on the New Evangelization on Monday, October 24, 2011, by the Holy FatherHoly FatherHoly Father may refer to:*God the Father, the title given to the god of many monotheistic religions*The Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church*The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the head of that church...
, His HolinessHis HolinessHis Holiness is the official style or manner of address in reference to the leaders of certain religious groups. In Christianity, specifically the Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Roman Catholic...
, Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVIBenedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
See also
- Maguelone CathedralMaguelone CathedralMaguelone Cathedral was the cathedral of the former Bishop of Maguelone until 1563, when the see was transferred to the newly-created Bishopric of Montpellier...