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Ancient Diocese of Dol

Coordinates: 48°33′N 1°46′W / 48.55°N 1.76°W / 48.55; -1.76
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Cathedral of S. Samson, Dol

The Breton and French Catholic diocese of Dol, situated in the northern part of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, 6 km (3.8 mi) from the English Channel coast and 22 km (14 mi) southeast of Saint-Malo, existed from 848 until the French Revolution. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801.[1]

The seat of the bishop was the cathedral of Saint Samson. Its scattered territory (deriving from the holdings of the Celtic monastery, and including an enclave at the mouth of the Seine) was shared mainly by the Diocese of Rennes and the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc.

History

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The Life of St. Samson,[2] which cannot be of earlier date than the seventh century, mentions the foundation of the monastery of Dol by Samson of Dol. Georges Goyau speculates that Samson was most likely already a bishop when he arrived in Armorica from Great Britain, but finds no evidence in the Life that Samson founded the See of Dol or became its first bishop.[3]

In the twelfth century, to support its claim against the Metropolitan of Tours, the Church of Dol produced the names of a long list of archbishops: St. Samson, St. Magloire, St. Budoc, St. Génevée, St. Restoald, St. Armel, St. Jumael, St. Turian. Louis Duchesne discounted and doubted this list. He was of the opinion that the abbey of Dol may have had at its head from time to time abbots with episcopal jurisdiction, but that Dol was not the seat of a diocese.[4][3]

Under Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, the Vicariate of Dol and the monastery of St. Méen were still included in the Diocese of Aleth; so that the first Bishop of Dol was Festianus (Festgen) mentioned for the first time between 851 and 857, and installed by King Nomenoë. Among the bishops of Dol are:[3]

  • Baudri (1107–30), author of a poem on the conquest of England by William the Conqueror
  • Alain de Coëtivy (1456–74), as legate of Callistus III, brought Charles VII to assist the Greeks against the Turks who were besieging Constantinople
  • Urban René de Hercé (1767–95), emigrated to England during the Revolution, but accompanied to Brittany the royalist troops who attempted to land at Quiberon. He was arrested with his brother, and shot at Vannes, 3 July 1795.[3]

Metropolitans

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There was a struggle from the ninth to the eleventh century to free the Church of Brittany from the Metropolitan of Tours. From a comparison made by Duchesne between the Life of St. Conwoïon, the Indiculus de episcoporum Britonum depositione, and an almost completely restored letter of Pope Leo IV, it would appear that shortly before 850, Nomenoë wishing to be anointed king, and finding opposition among the prelates of Brittany, sought to get rid of them by charging them with simony.[5] Their only real fault was perhaps that they demanded eulogia from their priests when the latter came to synods. After listening to a deputation of Breton bishops and to St. Conwoïon, founder of the Abbey of St-Sauveur at Redon, who had been sent to Rome by Nomenoë, Leo IV declared that the charge of simony must be adjudicated by a competent tribunal of twelve bishops, and must be attested by seventy-two witnesses,[6] thereby disputing Nomenoë's claim to a right to depose bishops. But Nomenoë did depose, and in a brutal manner, the four bishops of Vannes, Aleth, Quimper, and St. Pol de Léon, and made seven dioceses out of their four.[7] One of the new dioceses had its seat in the abbey of Dol and became straightway an archdiocese. The other two dioceses were established in the monasteries of St. Brieuc and Tréguier (Pabu-Tutual).[3]

In Autumn 849, the bishops of the four provinces of Tours, Sens, Reims, and Rouen, wrote a letter of reprimand to Nomenoë and threatened him with excommunication.[8] He paid no heed to them, and died 7 March 851.

Salomon, Nomenoë's second successor, requested Pope Benedict IV to regularize the situation of the Breton hierarchy, but was unsuccessful. He tried again in 865 with Pope Nicholas I, who replied on 26 May 865 that he would not send the pallium to Bishop Festinianus of Dol, unless he could prove that it had been granted to his predecessors.[9] In the name of the Council of Savonnières (859)[10] the seven metropolitans of the three kingdoms of Charles the Bald, of Lothair II, and of Charles of Provence, wrote to the Bishop of Rennes and to the bishops occupying the new Sees of Dol, St. Brieuc, and Tréguier, reproaching them with lack of obedience to the Metropolitan of Tours.[11] This letter was not sent to the Bishops of Vannes, Quimper, Aleth, and St. Pol de Léon who wrongly occupied the sees of the legitimate bishops illegally deposed by Nomenoë. It achieved nothing.[3]

In 862 Salomon dealt directly with Pope Nicholas I, and at first tried to mislead the pope by means of false allegations and forgeries; then he restored Felix of Quimper and Liberalis of Léon to their sees, but still kept Susannus of Vannes and Salocon of Aleth in exile. Nicholas I died in 867. Pope Adrian II (867-72) and Pope John VIII (872-82) continued to uphold the rights of the Metropolitan of Tours. Following the deaths of Salomon and of Susannus, a conciliatory atmosphere developed.[3]

12th century struggle

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There was never a formal act on the part of the Holy See recognizing Dol as a new metropolitan church. Dol never had control over Rennes or Nantes, and it was mainly over the new Sees of St. Brieuc and Tréguier that it exercised ascendancy, if not canonical authority. On 15 May 1144, Pope Lucius II issued yet another bull, "Quae iudicii veritate," in which he repeated the rulings of his predecessors Nicholas, John, Leo IX, Gregory VII, and Urban II, that Dol and all the other dioceses of Brittany must recognize Tours as their metropolitan. After the death of Bishop Roland of Dol, no bishop of Dol should aspire to the use of the pallium.[12] Pope Lucius was generous to Bishop Gaufridus, the current bishop of Dol, however, ruling that he could keep the pallium, but that none of his successors should have it. On the same day, Lucius II issued an order to the bishops of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier, releasing them from any obedience to the bishop of Dol, and ordering their obedience to the metropolitan of Tours.[13] On 3 March 1154, Pope Anastasius IV made the same ruling in favor of the metropolitan of Tours.[14]

Finally in a bull of 1 June 1199,[15] Pope Innocent III restored the old order of things, and subordinated anew all the dioceses of Brittany to the metropolitan of Tours;[16] he did not, however, interfere with the diocesan boundaries set up by Nomenoë, which remained in force until the Revolution.[17] The Bishop of Dol retained until 1789 the title and insignia of an archbishop, but without an archbishop's privileges or an ecclesiastical province.[3]

Concordat of Bologna

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In 1516, following the papal loss of the Battle of Marignano, Pope Leo X signed a concordat with King Francis I of France, removing the rights of all French entities which held the right to elect to a benefice, including bishoprics, canonicates, and abbeys, and granting the kings of France the right to nominate candidates to all these benefices, provided they be suitable persons; each nominee was subject to confirmation by the pope. This concordat removed the right of cathedral chapters to elect their bishop, or even to request the pope to name a bishop. The Concordat of Bologna was strongly protested by the University of Paris and by the Parliament of Paris.[18]

Seminary

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The diocesan major seminary was established by Archbishop Jean-François de Chamillart (1692–1702) in 1701. It was abolished by the National Constituent Assembly in 1790, and its property seized and sold "for the benefit of the people." The buildings survived, however, and became a hospital, staffed after the restoration, by the Dames de Saint-Thomas-de-Villeneuve.[19]

French Revolution

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The Assembly ordered the replacement of political subdivisions of the ancien régime with subdivisions called "departments", to be characterized by a single administrative city in the center of a compact area. The decree was passed on 22 December 1789, the boundaries fixed on 26 February 1790, with the institution to be effective on 4 March 1790.[20] The territory of Dol was assigned to the Departement d' Ille-et-Vilaine, with its administrative center at Rennes. The National Constituent Assembly then, on 6 February 1790, instructed its ecclesiastical committee to prepare a plan for the reorganization of the clergy. At the end of May, its work was presented as a draft Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which, after vigorous debate, was approved on 12 July 1790. There was to be one diocese in each department,[21] requiring the suppression of approximately fifty dioceses.[22] The diocese of Dol was an obvious target, given the relatively small population, its scattered territories, and its strongly royalist stance. The suppression of ecclesiastical dioceses by the state was uncanonical.[23]

In 1801, when Pope Pius VII restored the hierarchy in France, the diocese of Dol was not restored.[24] Its territory was distributed among the dioceses of Rennes and other dioceses.[25]

Modern survival

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By a papal brief of Pope Leo XIII, dated 13 February 1880, the archbishops of Rennes were permitted to add to their title the titles of Dol and Saint-Malo.[26]

Bishops

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To 1000

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  • 548?: Samson of Dol
  • c. 567?: Magloire
  • c. 568?: Budoc
  • Geneve
  • End of the 6th century.: Leucher or Leucherus
  • 7th century.: Tiernmael or Tigerinomal
  • c. 640: Restoald
  • c. 650: Wral
  • c. 700: Turiau, Thuriau or Thurian
  • Geneve
  • Restoald
  • Armael
  • c. 770: Jumel, Jumael or Junemenus
  • c. 842: Haelrit
  • c. 848: Salacon or Salocon
  • c. 859–869: Festien or Festianus[27]
  • c. 874–878: Mohen[28]
  • Lowenan[29]
  • c. 930: Agan[30]
  • c. 950–952: Jutohen, Juthoven or Wichoen[31]
  • c. 990: Mayn II

1000 to 1300

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  • c. 1030–1032 : Jungoneus
  • 1040–c. 1076 : Juhel[32]
  • c. 1076: Gilduin [fr]
  • 1076–1081 : Ivon[33]
  • 1082–1092: Johannes[34]
  • c. 1093 to c. 1100: Roland (I.)[35]
  • c. 1106: Johannes (II)
  • c. 1107: Ulgrin or Vulgrin
  • 1107–1130 : Baldric of Dol[36]
  • 1130–1146 : Geoffroi Le Roux [fr]
  • c. 1147–1154: Olivier[37]
  • 1154–1161: Hugues Le Roux [fr][38]
  • 1161–1163: Roger du Homet [fr]
  • 1163–c. 1177: Jean (III)
  • 1177–c. 1187: Rolandus (II).
  • c. 1187–1188: Henri I.
  • 1189–1190: Jean de Vaulnoise[39]
  • 1190–1199: Jean de La Mouche[40][41]
  • c. 1200 (probably 1203) to 13 November 1231: Jean (VI) de Lizaunet[42][43]
  • 1231 to c. 1242: Clément de Coetquen
  • c. 1242 to 16. November 1265: Etienne (I)
  • 1266 to 13. May 1279: Jean VII. Mahé

1300 to 1500

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  • 1280 to 30. March 1301 : Thibaud I. de Pouencé
  • 1301–1312 : Thibaud II. de Moréac
  • 1312–1324 : Jean (VIII) du Bosc[44]
  • 1324–1328 : Guillaume (I) Meschin[45]
  • 1328–1340 : Jean (IX) d'Avaugour[46]
  • 1340– c. 1350 : Henri II. Dubois
  • c. 1350– c. 1357 : Simon Le Mayre
  • c. 1358– 16. March 1366 : Nicolas
  • 1366 or 1367–1373: Jean X. des Pas
  • 1373 or 1374 to c. 1377: Geoffroi II. de Coëtmoisan
  • c. 1378–1381: Pierre
  • 1381–1382: Guy de Roye
  • 1382–1386: Everard de Trémignon
  • 27 August 1386 to 2 February 1390: Guillaume II. de Brie
  • 1390 to 20. May 1405: Richard de Lesmenez
  • 1405 to 6. December 1429: Etienne II. Cœuvret
  • 8. January 1431 to 1437: Jean XI. de Bruc
  • 11. December 1437 to 24. August 1444: Alain I. L'Epervier
  • 1444 to 16. April 1456: Raoul de La Moussaye
  • 17 June 1456 to 22. July 1474: Cardinal Alain II. de Coëtivy
  • 1474 to 14. January 1478: Christophe de Penmarch
  • 1478 to 29. March 1482: Michel Guibé
  • 29. March 1482 to 5. April 1504: Thomas I. James

From 1500

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  • 12 June 1504 to 10 December 1521: Mathurin de Plédran
  • 1522–1524: Thomas Le Roy
  • 30 June 1524 to 2 July 1556: François de Laval
  • 25 September 1556 to 12 September 1557: Jean XII. de Matthefélon
  • 1558–1591: Charles d'Espinay
  • 1606–1629: Edmond Revol
  • 1630–1644: Hector Douvrier
  • 1645–1648: Antoine-Denis Cohon[47]
  • 1653–1660: Robert Cupif
  • 1660–1692: Matthieu Thoreau
  • 1692–1702: Jean-François de Chamillart
  • 1702–1715: François Elie de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson
  • 1715–1748: Jean-Louis du Bouchet de Sourches
  • 1749–1767: Jean-François-Louis Dondel
  • 1767–1790: Urbain-René de Hercé[48]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dol (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy][self-published source]
  2. ^ Thomas Taylor, The Life of St. Samson of Dol (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1925), pp. xi-xii.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Goyau, Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges (1911). "Archdiocese of Rennes". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  4. ^ Duchesne, p. 387: "En somme, il semble bien que les communautés bretonnes de Dol et de Pental aient eu souvent à leur tête, après saint Samson comme de son temps , des abbés revêtus du caractère épiscopal . Mais il n'y a pas lieu d'en conclure qu'il existât à Dol une succession épiscopale régulière, ni que Dol fût le chef-lieu d'un diocèse délimité. Dol était un monastère et non une cité ."
  5. ^ A. W. Haddon; W. Stubbs, Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 2, part 1 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1873), pp. 91-92.
  6. ^ J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin) Vol. 14 (Venice: A. Zatta 1769), pp. 882-883.
  7. ^ "Quomodo Nomenoius tyrannus Brittonum de quatuor episcopatibus fecit septem, tempore Karoli Calvi Regis Francorum," (in Latin), in: Étienne Baluze, Capitularia Regum Francorum: Additae sunt Marculsi monachi & aliorum formulae veteres, & Notae doctissimorum virorum, Volume 2 (Paris: Muguet 1677), pp. 822-823.
  8. ^ J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin) Vol. 14 (Venice: A. Zatta 1769), pp. 923-925. Haddon & Stubbs, p. 92. Charles Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles, (in French), Vol. 4 (Paris: Letouzey 1911), pp. 162-164.
  9. ^ J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CXIX (Paris 1852), p. 925: "Igitur deprecamini nos ut pallium fratri et coepiscopo nostro Festiniano, qui ecclesiae S. Saxonis praesse dignoscitur, dirigamus, quod interim ideo non facimus, quia, sicut olim nos scripsisse meminimus, ut pro tantae dignitatis gratia nulla solemnis videtur fuisse emissa petitio."
  10. ^ Charles Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles, (in French), Vol. 4 (Paris: Letouzey 1911), pp. 216-219.
  11. ^ J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin) Vol. 15 (Venice: A. Zatta 1770), pp. 532-533.
  12. ^ "...ut tam Dolensis episcopus, quam caeteri deinceps Britannorum episcopi Turonensem Ecclesiam suam esse metropolim recognoscerent... nec ullo ulterius tempore post Rolandi obitum, qui tunc Dolensi episcopus praesidebat, ad pallii usum Dolensis episcopus aspiraret."
  13. ^ J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLXXIX (Paris: Garnier 1899), pp. 875-878. Haddan & Stubbs, pp. 93-94.
  14. ^ J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLXXXVIII (Paris: Garnier 1855), pp. 1040-1041. Haddan & Stubbs, p. 95.
  15. ^ J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CCXIV (Paris: Garnier 1890), pp. 625-634.
  16. ^ Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 257. Haddan & Stubbs, p. 96.
  17. ^ Tresvaux, L'église de Bretagne..., p. 257-258.
  18. ^ Jules Thomas, Le Concordat de 1516: Deuxième partie. Les documents concordataires, (in French and Latin), (Paris: A. Picard, 1910), pp. 60–65. The right had to be exercised by the king within six months of the occurrence of the vacancy of a benefice.
  19. ^ Tresvaux, L'église de Bretagne..., p. 259. John McClintock, James Strong (edd.), Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Volume 10 (New York: Harper & brothers, 1889), pp. 785-786.
  20. ^ Pisani, pp. 10-11. Departement de Puy-de-Dôme, "Création du département"; retrieved 15 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Civil Constitution," Title I, "Article 1. Chaque département formera un seul diocèse, et chaque diocèse aura la même étendue et les mêmes limites que le département."
  22. ^ Ludovic Sciout, Histoire de la constitution civile du clergé (1790-1801): L'église et l'Assemblée constituante, (in French and Latin), Vol. 1 (Paris: Firmin Didot 1872), p. 182: Art. 2 "...Tous les autres évêchés existant dans les quatre-vingt-trois départements du royaume, et qui ne sont pas nommément compris au présent article, sont et demeurent supprimés."
  23. ^ Pisani, pp. 10-12. Jean-de-Dieu-Raimond de Boisgelin de Cucé, Exposition des principes sur la Constitution civile du clergé, par les évêques députés á l'Assemblée nationale, (in French), (Paris: Chez Guerbaert, 1791), p. 11: "C'est une maxime incontestable, que toute jurisdiction ne peut cesser, que par la puissance qui la donne. C'est de l'église seule, que les évêques tiennent leur jurisdiction; c'est l'église seule, qui peut les en priver."
  24. ^ J.B. Duvergier (ed.), Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglemens et avis du Conseil d'état, (in French and Latin), Volume 13 (Paris: A. Guyot et Scribe, 1826), pp. 372; 382.
  25. ^ Tresvaux, p. 259.
  26. ^ Duine (1923), Annales de Bretagne Vol. 35, p. 99.
  27. ^ Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., pp. 263-264. Duchesne, p. 388-389, no. 1.
  28. ^ Mayn (I) was the recipient of two letters from Pope John VIII. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 264. Duchesne, p. 389, no. 2.
  29. ^ Louenan was a contemporary of the English King Edward the Elder (899–924). Duchesne, p. 390, no. 4.
  30. ^ Agan: Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., [https://books.google.com/books?id=yr0AAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA264 p. 264
  31. ^ Juthoven: Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., pp. 264-265.
  32. ^ Bishop Juhel, a simoniac, was condemned along with his "suffragans" by the Council of Reims in 1049, and excommunicated by Pope Leo IX in 1050. He was expelled from Dol in 1076. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 265-267.
  33. ^ Ivon died on 17 November 1081, Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 267-269.
  34. ^ Archbishop Johannes died in Rome on 10 December 1092. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 269. Duine (1923), Annales de Bretagne Vol. 35 (1921–1923), p. 98.
  35. ^ Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 269-270.
  36. ^ 24 November 1107 to 6 January 1130
  37. ^ On the death of Archbishop Olivier, the cathedral Chapter of Dol elected the Cistercian monk, Guillaume. The General Chapter of the Cistercian Order, however, at the request of the archbishop of Tours, voided his election, on the canonical grounds that he had not made application to accept a prelacy from his Order. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 274.
  38. ^ Archbishop Hugues resigned in 1161, due to blindness. He retired to Mont Saint-Michel. Hauréau, Gallia christiana 14, pp. 1050-1051.
  39. ^ Hauréau, Gallia Christiana XIV, p. 1052.
  40. ^ His toponym suggests he may have been a kinsman of the de Subligny. Hauréau, Gallia Christiana XIV, p. 1052.
  41. ^ Richard Allen, "Five charters concerning the early history of the chapter at Avranches;" in: Tabularia: Sources écritrs des mondes normands médiévaux. [Open Edition Journals]; 10 March 2008.
  42. ^ The origins of his cognomen are unknown. It is rendered in many different ways, including Lysenech, Lesenech, Lizannet, Lisanet and Lesonet.
  43. ^ Richard Allen, "Five charters concerning the early history of the chapter at Avranches;" in: Tabularia: Sources écritrs des mondes normands médiévaux. [Open Edition Journals]; 10 March 2008.
  44. ^ Bishop Jean died on 25 January 1324. Eubel I, p. 225.
  45. ^ Guillaume had been bishop of Troyes (1317-1324). Because of a reservation placed on the next vacancy to the see of Dol, Pope John XXII transferred him to Dol on 26 April 1324. Guillaume died on 15 March 1328. G. Mollat, Jean XXII: Lettres communes, (in Latin), (Paris: Fontemoing 1909), p. 115, no. 19441. Eubel I, pp. 225, 493.
  46. ^ Pope John XXII exercised his reservation on the appointment of the next bishop of Dol, and, on 27 April 1328, he transferred Bishop Jean from the diocese of Saint-Brieuc to Dol. Archbishop Jean died on 8 May 1340. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 274. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 281. G. Mollat, Jean XXII: Lettres communes, Vol. 7 (Paris: E. de Boccard 1919), p. 235, no. 41001. Eubel I, p. 225.
  47. ^ François Duine, Cohon, évêque de Nîmes et de Dol, (in French), (Rennes: Impr. F. Simon, 1902), pp. 1-3.
  48. ^ De Hercé emigrated to Jersey, and then to England. He returned to France, in the royalist Invasion of France (1795), was captured, and executed at Vannes, on 30 July 1795. Jean, pp. 436-437. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 198 with note 3.

Bibliography

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Reference works

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Studies

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48°33′N 1°46′W / 48.55°N 1.76°W / 48.55; -1.76

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