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Archdiocese of Reims

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Archdiocese of Reims
Archidiœcesis Remensis
Archidiocèse de Reims
The Cathedral of Reims, by Domenico Quaglio
The Cathedral of Reims, by Domenico Quaglio
Location
Country France
Ecclesiastical province Reims
Statistics
Area 6,931 km2 (2,676 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2022)
607,606
563,000 (guess) (92.7%)
Parishes 76 'new parishes'
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 3rd century (as Diocese of Reims)
4th century (as Archdiocese of Reims)
Cathedral Cathedral of Notre Dame of Reims
Patron saint Saint Remigius
Secular priests 69 (diocesan)
5 (religious orders)
36 permanent deacons
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Metropolitan Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort
Suffragans Amiens
Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis
Châlons
Langres
Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin
Troyes
Auxiliary Bishops Étienne Emmanuel Vetö
Bishops emeritus Thierry Jordan
Joseph Louis Jean Boishu
Map
Website
catholique-reims.fr

The Archdiocese of Reims or Rheims (Latin: Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: Archidiocèse de Reims) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Established as a diocese around 250 by Bishop Sixtus, it was elevated to an archdiocese around 750. In 1089, the archbishop received the title "primate of Gallia Belgica".

In 1023, Archbishop Ebles acquired the County of Reims, becoming a prince-bishop. Between 1060 and 1170, it was elevated to a duchy and a peerage.

The archdiocese includes the arrondissement of Reims and the département of Ardennes. Its province covers the former région of Champagne-Ardenne. The suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Reims are: Amiens, Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis, Châlons, Langres, Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin, and Troyes.

The archepiscopal see is located at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims, where the kings of France were traditionally crowned. As of 2022, the diocese had one priest for every 7,608 Catholics.

Pope Francis appointed Éric de Moulins-Beaufort as archbishop in 2018.

History

Reims was taken by the Vandals in 406.

According to Flodoard, on Holy Saturday, 497, Clovis was baptized and anointed by Archbishop Remigius of Reims in the cathedral of Reims.[1]

In 719 the city took up arms against Charles Martel, who besieged the city, took it by assault, and devastated it.

In 816, Pope Stephen IV crowned Louis the Pious as Emperor at Reims.

On 28 January 893, Charles III "the Simple' was crowned King of West Francia at Reims.

King Robert I was consecrated and crowned 'Rex Francorum' at Saint-Remi in Reims on 29 June 922 by Archbishop Hervée.[2]

Hugh Capet was crowned at Reims on Christmas Day 988, by Archbishop Adalberon.[3] In 990 the city was attacked by Charles of Lorraine, the rival of Hugues Capet, who seized the city and devastated the area.

In 1801, the archdiocese was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801 and its territory were divided between the diocese of Meaux (department of Marne) and Metz (department of Ardennes).

In 1822, the diocese of Reims was reestablished, with the territory once again restored, including the department of Marne and the department of Ardennes.

Councils of Reims

The First Council of Reims took place in 625, under the presidency of Archbishop Sonnatius. It produced at least twenty-five canons.[4]

In 1049, from 3 to 5 October, a Council of the Church took place at Reims under the presidency of Pope Leo IX, with twenty bishops and some fifty abbots in attendance. The Pope was in Reims for the dedication of the church of the monastery of Saint-Rémi, in fulfilment of a promise made to Abbot Herimar.[5]

Cathedral chapter

In 1657, the chapter of the Cathedral of Reims contained nine dignities and sixty-four canons.[6] The dignities included the major archdeacon (Archdeacon of Reims), the minor archdeacon (Archdeacon of Champagne), the provost,[7] the dean,[8] the cantor, the treasurer, the vicedominus, the scholasticus, and the poenitentiarius.[9] There were also a number of collegiate churches in the diocese, whose clergy were led by canons: Saint-Symphorien in Reims (a dean and 20 prebends); Saint-Timothée in Reims (12 prebends); Saint-Côme in Reims (4 prebends); Sainte-Nourrice in Reims (11 prebends); Saint-Pierre aux Dames in Reims (4 prebends); Mézières (a dean, a treasurer and 12 prebends); Braux (12 prebends); Montfaucon (a provost and canons); and Avenay (6 prebends).[10]

The two archdeacons were already in existence in 877, when they are mentioned at the head of the Capitulations issued by Archbishop Hincmar. They were both appointees of the archbishop.[11]

In addition to the right to nominate the archbishop of Reims (since the Concordat of Bologna in 1516), the King enjoyed the right to name the abbot of Haut-Villiers (O.S.B.), Sainte-Baste (O.S.B.), Mouson (O.S.B.), Saint-Nicaise de Reims (O.S.B.), Saint-Pierre-de-Reims (O.S.B.), Saint-Remi de Reims (O.S.B.), Saint-Thierry lez Reims (O.S.B.), Chery (O.Cist.), Elem (O.Cist.), Igny (O.Cist.), Signy (O.Cist.), Vau-le-Roy (O.Cist.), Saint-Denis-de-Reims (O.S.A.), Esparnay-sur-Marne (O.S.A.), Belle-Val (Praemonst.), Chaumont en Porcien (Praemonst.), Sept Fontaines (Praemonst.), and Vau-Dieu (Praemonst.).[12]

Bishops and archbishops

Bishops of Reims

  • St. Sixtus[13] (c. 260)
  • St. Sinicius (Sinice)[14] (c. 280)
  • St. Amantius (Amanse)[15] (c. 290)
  • Imbetausius[16] (before 300–c. 314)
  • Aprus (Aper)[17] (328–350)
  • Maternianus[18] (350–359)
  • Donatianus[19] (361–390)
  • Viventius[20] (390–394)
  • Severus[21] (394–400)
  • Nicasius of Rheims[22] (probably 400–407 but perhaps?-451)
  • Barucius[23]
  • Barnabas[24]
  • Bennagius[25] (?–459)
  • Saint Remigius (Remi)[26] (459–533)
  • Romanus[27] (c. 533–535)
  • Flavius[28] (c. 535)
  • Mappinus[29] (c. 549)
  • Egidius[30] (573–590) [31]
  • Romulph[32] (590–613)
  • Sonnatius[33] (613–c. 627)
  • Leudigisil[34]
  • Angelbert[35] (c. 630)
  • Lando[36]
  • Nivard[37] (before 657–673)
  • Reolus[38] (673–c. 689)
  • Rigobert[39] (c. 689 – after 720)
  • Milo (715–744)
  • Abel[40] (c. 743/744–748)

Archbishops of Reims

To 1000

  • Tilpin[41] (748–795)
  • vacant (795–812)[42]
  • Wulfaire (812–816)
  • Ebbo (816–835)
  • vacant[43] (835–840)
  • Ebbo (840–841), again
  • vacant (841–845)
  • Hincmar[44] (845–882)
  • Fulk the Venerable (882–900)
  • Hervaeus[45] (900–922)
  • Seulf (922–925)
  • Hugh of Vermandois[46] (925–931)
  • Artaud (931–940)
  • Hugh of Vermandois (940–946), again
  • Artaud (946–961), again
  • Odelric (962–969)
  • Adalberon[47] (969–988)
  • Arnoul (988–991; son of Lothair of France)
  • Gerbert of Aurillac (991–996); later Pope Sylvester II
  • Arnoul (996–1021), again

1000–1300

  • Ebles I of Roucy (1021–1033; count of Roucy, count of Reims, 1023–1033)
  • Guy of Châtillon (1033–1055)
  • Gervaise of Bellême[48] (1055–1067)
  • Manasses I[49] (1069–1080)
  • Renaud du Bellay[50] (1083–1096)
  • Manasses II (1096–1106)
  • Gervaise of Rethel[51] (1106)
  • Raoul le Vert (1106–1124)[52]
  • Rainaldus de Martigny[53] (1125–1138)
  • Samson de Mauvoisin (1140–1161)[54]
  • Henry (1162–1175; son of Louis VI of France)[55]
  • Guillaume de Blois (Guillaume aux Blanches Mains)[56] (1176–1202)
  • Guy Paré (1204 – 30 July 1206)[57]
  • Albericus de Humbert (1207 – 24 December 1218)[58]
  • Guillaume de Joinville (24 April 1219 – 6 November 1226)[59]
  • Henry of Dreux (18 April 1227 – 6 July 1240)[60]
  • Juhel de Mathefelon (20 March 1245 – 18 December 1250)[61]
  • Thomas de Beaumes (4 March 1251 – 15 February 1263)[62]
  • Jean de Courtenay-Champignelles (15 July 1266 – 17 August 1270)[63]
  • Pierre Barbet (17 April 1273 – 3 October 1298)[64]
  • Robert de Courtenay-Champignelles (10 April 1299 – 3 March 1324)[65]

1300–1500

  • Guillaume de Trie[66] (1324–1334)
  • Jean de Vienne[67] (1335–1351)
  • Hugues d'Arcy[68] (1351–1352)
    • Humbert, O.P.[69] (1352–1355) (Administrator)
  • Jean de Craon[70] (1355–1373)
  • Louis Thesart[71] (14 April 1374 – 12 October 1375)
  • Richard Picque[72] (12 November 1375 – 6 December 1389)
  • Ferry Cassinel[73] (29 January 1390 – 26 May 1390) (Avignon Obedience)
  • Guy de Roye[74] (1391–1409)
  • Simon of Cramaud[75] (2 July 1409 – 1413)
  • Pierre Trousseau[76] (2 May 1413 - 16 December 1413)
  • Renaud of Chartres[77] (2 January 1414 – 1444)
  • Jacques Juvenal des Ursins (9 October 1444 – 3 March 1449)[78]
  • Jean Juvenal des Ursins (3 March 1449 – 14 July 1473)[79]
  • Pierre de Montfort-Laval (1474–1493)[80]
  • Robert Briçonnet (1493–1497)[81]
  • Guillaume Briçonnet (1497–1507)[82]

1500–1800

  • Cardinal Charles Dominique de Carreto[83] (16 September 1507 – 28 March 1509)
  • Cardinal Robert de Lenoncourt[84] (28 March 1509 – 25 September 1532)
  • Cardinal Jean de Lorraine[85] (1533–1550)
  • Cardinal Charles of Guise[86] (1538–1574)
  • Cardinal Louis I of Guise[87] (1574–1588)
  • Cardinal Nicolas de Pellevé[88] (1588–1594)
  • Philippe du Bec[89] (1594–1605)
  • Cardinal Louis II of Guise[90] (1605–1621)
  • Gabriel de Sainte-Marie OSB (William Gifford)[91] (1623–1629)
  • Henry of Guise[92] (1629–1641)
  • Léonore d'Étampes de Valençay (1641–1651)
  • Henri de Savoie[93] (1651–1659)
  • Cardinal Antonio Barberini[94] (1657/1667 – 4 August 1671)
  • Charles Maurice Le Tellier[95] (1668/1671 – 22 February 1710)
  • François de Mailly[96] (1 December 1710 – 13 September 1721)
  • Armand Jules de Rohan-Guéméné[97] (6 July 1722 – 28 August 1762)
  • Charles Antoine de La Roche-Aymon[98] (1763–1777)
  • Alexandre-Angélique de Talleyrand-Périgord[99] (1777–1816)

From 1800

Auxiliary bishops

See also

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church.[109]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Archdiocese of Reims (RHEMENSIS)

The Archdiocese of Reims comprises the district of Reims in the Department of Marne (Châlons-sur-Marne) and the whole Department of Ardennes. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1802, which put the district of Reims in the Diocese of Meaux, and the Department of Ardennes in that of Metz, while two episcopal councils were established at Reims and Charleville to assist the Bishops of Meaux and Metz in their administration. The archdiocese was re-established in theory by the Concordat of 1817, and in fact in 1821; it was given Amiens and Soissons as suffragans in 1821, and Châlons-sur-Marne and Beauvais in 1822. The Remi (as the Gauls of this region were called), whose capital was Durocortorum, the present Reims, were early reduced to submission by Caesar. In the third century Reims was the capital of Belgium Secundum: the Roman governors resided there, and there Valentinian sojourned in 367. As a centre of culture, it was then considered comparable to Athens, and a beautiful Gallo-Roman gate (the Porte Mars) is still to be seen there. When Christianity was introduced is not known; it may have developed locally, from the earliest centuries, by the coalition of different groups of Christians; but the true ecclesiastical organization and the succession of bishops began only with the mission of Sts. Sixtus and Sinicius, who established their see in the upper part of the city during the second half of the third century. Late traditions have represented St. Sixtus as a disciple of St. Peter, but Archbishop Hincmar, in the ninth century, considered him as a disciple of Pope St. Sixtus II.

Tradition gives to the Church of Reims a certain number of martyrs during the persecution of Diocletian; among others, Timotheus, Appolinaris, the priest Maurus, and the virgin Macra, whose relics were gathered by the Roman Eusebius. The chapel erected over their tomb afterwards became a collegiate church under the invocation of St. Timotheus. Imbetausius, who assisted the Council of Arles (314), was the fourth Bishop of Reims; he transferred his cathedral to the centre of the city. It was much exposed to the barbarian invasions. Victoriously defended, about 366, by the consul Jovinus, a Christian, it had for bishops, St. Maternian (c. 349-70) and St. Donatian (379-89), the patron of Bruges and of West Flanders. It saw the Vandals behead the archbishop, St. Nicasius, on the threshold of his church, in 406 or 407, and at the same time kill his sister St. Eutropia, his deacon St. Florens, his lector St. Jucundus, and, a short time after, his disciple St. Oriculus, and Sts. Oricula and Basilica, the sisters of St. Oriculus.

St. Remigius (Remi), b. about 440, of a distinguished Gallo-Roman family, and whom St. Sidonius Appolinaris appreciated very highly as a rhetorician, became Bishop of Reims at the age of twenty-two. His history is known through a short biography, falsely attributed to Fortunatus, and a longer one, of a legendary character, written by Hincmar in 878. St. Remigius directed the Christianization of the neighboring regions, sending Antimond into the country about Terouanne and Boulogne, St. Vaast into the Arras district, and creating the Bishopric of Laon; he brought about the marriage of Clovis with St. Clotilda, and baptized Clovis on 24 December, 496. His success had immense political and religious results; the Gallo-Roman populations would not have submitted to Clovis the Frank, had he remained a pagan, and his conversion made him the protector of the Catholics of Burgundy and Aquitaine, whose princes were Arians. The "Testament" of St. Remigius is apocryphal, as is the letter by which Pope Hormisdas was supposed to have appointed him Apostolic legate for the whole of Gaul. But it is true that St. Remigius laid the foundations of the political authority and religious power of the See of Reims, and that from his time the name of Reims was well esteemed and respected at Rome. He died 10 January, 535.

Among the bishops of Reims who followed him were: St. Nivard (649-72), who caused the monastery of Hauvillers to be rebuilt and established St. Bercarius there; Sr. Rieul (672-98), who built the monastery of Orbais; St. Rigobert (698-743), who baptized Charles Martel, was afterwards brutally driven from the see and replaced by a certain Milo, the king's favourite, and took refuge first in Aquitaine and then at Gernicourt, in the Diocese of Soissons, where he died; Tilpin (or Turpin, 753-800), a friend of Charlemagne, whose name was afterwards, not later than the end of the eleventh century, forged to a chronicle of Charlemagne and Roland, very popular in the Middle Ages.

The political importance of the See of Reims, situated geographically between France and Germany, was manifested in the ninth century during the episcopates of Ebbo (816-35), whose disagreements with Louis the Debonnaire are matters of history; of Hincmar (845-82), the most illustrious of the archbishops of Reims; of Fulk (883-900), chancellor of Charles the Simple, who maintained the rights of the Carlovingians against Eudes, Count of Paris, ancestor of the House of Capet; of Hervé (900-922), who laboured for the conversion of the Normans and, enentually rallying to the Capetians, crowned Robert king in 922. In 925 Count Herbert of Vermandois had his son Hugh, a boy of less than five years of age, consecrated Archbishop of Reims, but in 932 King Raoul caused Artaud (932-61) to be consecrated, and Hugh, who insisted upon his archepiscopal rights, was excommunicated by a council in 948 and by Pope Agapetus in 949. The decisive part taken by Archbishop Adalbero (969-88) in the elevation of the Capets to the throne, the political part played by Archbishop Arnould (988-91 and 995-1021), as a partisan of the Carlovingians, and the brief occupancy of the see by Gerbert (991-95), afterwards Sylvester II, are treated in the articles HUGH CAPET and SYLVESTER II, POPE. Manasses de Gournay (1069-80) was deposed for simony at the behest of Gregory VII in the Council of Lyons. Henry of France, second son of King Louis VI (1162-75), did much to secure the recognition in France of Pope Alexander III against the antipope Octavian, and resisted the attempts of the burghers to form themselves into a commune. William of the White Hands (1176-1202), uncle to Philip Augustus and cousin of Henry II of England, was made a cardinal in 1179, and was legate in France and Germany under Innocent III. It was he who granted to the burghers of Reims in 1182 the Wilhelmine Charter, a concession to the communal movement. Cardinal Gui de Paray (1204-06), formerly Abbot of Cîteaux, suppressed Manichaeism in his diocese. Albéric de Humbert (1206-18) took part in the Albigensian War and, in 1211, laid the first stone of the present cathedral. In 1250, Johel de Mathefelon (1244-50), conferred the office of Grand Archdeacon of Reims on Cardinal Ottoboni nephew of Innocent IV, who became pope under the name of Adrian V. Pierre Babette (1274-98) petitioned Gregory X in 1276 for the canonization of St. Louis, and obtained it from Boniface VIII in 1297. The Dominican Humbert, Dauphin of Viennois, occupied the see of Reims from 1352 to 1355. Guy de Roye (1390-1409), who was killed in Italy on his way to the Couicil of Pisa, was the author of the "Dortrinale Sapientiae". Simon de Cramaud (1409-13), created cardinal in 1413, had an important share in putting an end to the Great Schism. Renaud de Chartres (1414-44), made cardinal in 1439, chancellor to Charles VII, showed himself very unfavourable to the mission of Joan of Arc; when the heroine was captured (23 May, 1430) he wrote a letter to the inhabitants of Reims in a spirit hostile to her, and he took no steps to rescue Joan from his suffragan, Bishop Cauchon of Beauvais. Reynaud was one of the plenipotentiaries who signed the Treaty of Arras between Charles VII and the Duke of Burgundy. Jacques Juvenel des Ursins (1444-9) was commissioned by Charles VII, in 1447, to notify Amadeus of Savoy that he must abdicate the papal throne, and to treat with Nicholas V for the restoration of peace to the Church. Jean Juvenel des Ursins (1449-73) was ordered by Callistus III to revise the process of Blessed Joan of Arc; he also wrote a history of the reign of Charles VI. Guillaume Briconnet was created cardinal in 1493 and occupied the See of Reims from 1497 to 1507. His successor, Charles Dominique de Carrette (1507-8) was Cardinal of Final after 1505. Robert de Lenoncourt (1508-32) enriched the cathedral with sumptuous tapestries representing the life and death of the Blessed Virgin, and the Church of St. Remigius with tapestries on the life of its titular saint.

In 1553 the House of Lorraine began to acquire a hold on the See of Reims, where it was first represented by John V of Lorraine (1533-8), next by Cardinal Charles of Lorraine (1538-74), and then by Cardinal Louis de Guise (1574-88). In 1585 Reims had taken sides with the League, and the Duke of Mayenne and the Maréchal de St. Paul ruled as masters in the city until 1594. The "Journalier" of Jean Pussot, the carpenter, is even now a capital source of information on the League spirit which animated the people of Reims, showing at the same time how they gradually rallied to Henry IV. Philippe du Bec, one of the prelates who had laboured most earnestly for Henry IV's conversion, was by him nominated Archbishop of Reims in January, 1595. The see was next occupied by another Guise, Louis of Lorraine, made a cardinal in 1615. At his death the see was given to William Gifford, an Englishman by origin. This personage, who had been successively canon-theologian of the cathedral of Milan under St. Charles Borromeo, dean of St. Peter's at Lille, rector of the University of Reims, a monk in the monastery of St-Benoît en Voivre, at Metz, and founder of two Benedictine houses at St. Malo and Paris, spent his whole life helping the expatriated English Catholics in France and the apostles who were going thence, with all caution, to strengthen persecuted Catholicism in England. He wrote a treatise on predestination and a work against the Calvinists entitled "Calvino-Furcismus". His successor, in 1629, Henry of Lorraine, the adventurous Guise who afterwards attempted an expedition against Naples, never received Holy Orders, and in 1641 Richelieu compelled him to give up the emoluments of the archbishopric. In the course of the seventeenth century two religious women who belonged to the House of Guise had also been abbesses at St-Pierre-les-Dames at Reims, and Mary Stuart, at the age of six, had spent some time and received a part of her education there.

Among the later archbishops of Reims may be mentioned: Antonio Barberini (1657-71), cardinal in 1627; Charles-Maurice Le Tellier (1671-1710), who, unhappily, caused to be demolished the superb archepiscopal palace raised by men of preceding ages, distinguished himself by his hatred of the Jesuits and his antipathy to Roman doctrines, and bequeathed his magnificent library to the Abbey of Ste-Geneviêve at Paris; François de Mailly (1710-31), cardinal in 1698; Charles-Antoine de La Roche Aymon (1762-77), cardinal in 1771; Alexandre-Angélique de Tallyrand-Périgord (1777-1801), who was a deputy in the States-General of 1789, combated the project of the civil constitution of the clergy in several of his writings, emigrated under the Revolution, refused to resign after the Concordat, remained near Louis XVIII after 1803, returned with him to France in 1814, accepted his dismissal from the Archbishopric of Reims in 1816, and in 1817 was made a cardinal and Archbishop of Paris; Jean-Baptiste-Marie-Antoine de Latil (1824-39), chaplain to the future Charles X from 1804, cardinal in 1826, joined Charles X in England, and spent the last nine years of his life away from his diocese; the theologian Thomas Gousset (1840-66), cardinal in 1851; the writer and preacher Landriot (1867-74), famous during the Franco-German War through his protest against the military execution of Abbé Miroy, one of his parish priests, by the Germans in the middle of an armistice; Benoît-Marie Langénieux (1874-1905), one of the most illustrious prelates of the end of the nineteenth century, who took the initiative of leading pilgrimmages of Christian workmen to the Holy See, and thus played a part in the great social movement which culminated in the encyclical "Rerum Novarum". He presided in 1893, as papal legate, at the Eucharistic Congress in Jerusalem, when all the Eastern Churches, whether united with Rome or separated, bore testimony to their faith in the Eucharist. He was the first cardinal to visit the Holy Land since the Cuusades. In 1896 he organized the festival to celebrate the fourteenth centenary of the baptism of Clovis.

In the Merovingian period, Reims apparently enjoyed ecclesiastical supremacy over the eleven cities of Soissons, Châlons, Vermand, Arras, Cambrai, Tournai, Senlis, Beauvais, Amiens, Terouanne, and Boulogne; and when St. Remigius detached a part of his own diocese to form that of Laon, it made one more suffragan for Reims. The erection of the Bishopric of Cambrai into an archepiscopal see by a Bull dated 12 May,1559, took from the metropolitan jurisdiction of Reims the Dioceses of Cambrai, Arras, and Tournai. At the same time the See of Terouanne was suppressed, and out of its territory three new dioceses were made: one of them, Boulogne, dependent on Reims; the other two, St. Omer and Ypres, dependent on Cambrai and Mechlin. The archbishops of Reims, legati nati of the Holy See, had, as primates, jurisdiction over the other metropolitans of Gaul. From the time of Louis IV D'Outre-Mer they had been counts. They were entitled to coin money, had their town guard, and levied armies. As soon as a new archbishop was elected he made a visitation of his suffragans; in each city, on the arrival of the metropolitan, business was suspended, the people and the clergy, magistrates, even princes, went to meet him, prisons were thrown open, and exiles were recalled from banishment. The inhabitants of Saint-Quentin and Saint-Valéry were under his judicial jurisdiction, and had to bring their pleas to the archepiscopal court of Reims. In 999 a Bull of Sylvester II recognized the right of the archbishops of Reims to crown the kings, and, at the coronation of Philip I, Archbishop Gervais took advantage of the presence of the papal legates to proclaim once more this right, which right Alexander III, by a Brief of 1179, prohibited any other archbishop from arrogating to himself. Louis VII, at his coronation, raised the Countship of Reims to the rank of a duchy and peerage of the kingdom.

On the tomb of St. Remigius, as built by Archbishop Robert de Lenoncourt, there are niched figures representing the twelve peers who carry the symbols of the coronation: on the right, the six spiritual peers - the Archbishop of Reims, who anointed the king; the Bishop-Duke of Laon, who held the sacred ampulla; the Bishop-Duke of Langres, with the sceptre; the Bishop-Count of Beauvais, with the emblazoned surcoat; the Bishop-Count of Châlons, with the royal ring; the Bishop-Count of Noyon, with the baldric - and on the left the six temporal peers - the Duke of Burgundy, holding the crown; the Dukes of Guyenne and Normandy, and the Counts of Champagne, Flanders, and Toulouse. The ceremonies of the coronation at Reims presented two characteristic features: the use of the sacred ampulla and the touching for scrofula (king's evil). According to the legend - of which, however, St. Avitus, a witness of the baptism of Clovis, was ignorant in the fifth century, and the first trace of which appears in Hincmar - the holy ampulla was brought by a dove to St. Remigius when he was in the act of crowning Clovis. This ampulla was a small crysral vial, two-thirds full of balm; its supurb ornamentation was added later. It was kept at Saint-Remi, in a reliquary which also contained a golden needle and a silver paten. When needed for a coronation, the Abbot of Saint-Remi brought it to the cathedral. The golden needle was used to mix the balm, taken from the ampulla, with charism on the silver paten. The holy ampulla left Reims only once, when Louis XI, being sick at Plessis-les-Tours in 1483, hoped that an unction from it would cure him. The authenticity of the sacred ampulla began to be questioned when Henry IV could not be crowned at Reims because the Guises occupied Champagne; on this occasion an ampulla was used which was preserved at the abbey of Marmoutiers, and which had cured St. Martin. Jean-Jacques Chifflet, first physician to Philip IV of Spain, in 1651 wrote a book expressly to disprove the authenticity of the Reims ampulla. In 1793 the vial was broken in the public square of Reims; but a few days before this was done, a Constitutional parish priest had taken out some of the balm and put it in a place of safety; it was from this portion that Charles X was anointed. The legendary privilege of healing scrofula on the day of the coronation was supposed to have been given by St. Remigius to the kings of France and confirmed to them by St. Marcoul, Abbot of Nanteuil (d. 552), whose remains rested after the ninth century at Corbeny, in the Diocese of Laon - hence the pilgrimages made by several kings, after their concecration, to Corbeny. Louis XIII was the last king to make this pilgrimage (in 1610); Louis XVI had the relics of St. Marcoul brought to the Abbey of Saint-Remi, so as to avoid going out of Reims. Louis XVIII did not touch for the scrofula, but Charles X did, the day after his consecration, at the hospital of Saint-Marcoul, changing the formula, "Le roi te touche, Dieu te guérit" (The king touches thee, God heals thee), to "Le roi te touche, Dieu te guerisse" (The king touches thee, may God heal thee).

Several of the popes visited Reims. In the early days of the Carlovingian dynasty it was the scene of two famous interviews: between Stephen III and Pepin the Short, and between Leo III and Charlemagne. In 816 Louis the Debonnaire was crowned by Stephen V in the cathedral of Reims, and the pope conferred the title of Augusta on Queen Ermengarde. Pope Leo IX came to Reims in September, 1049, during the episcopate of Guy de Chatillion; he consecrated the church of St. Remigius, and decreed that thenceforward the feast of that saint should be kept of the first day of October, throughout the whole kingdom. During the episcopate of Raoul de Verd, Pope Callistus II presided at a council held at Reims from 20 to 30 October, 1119. St. Norbert came thither barefoot and in penitential garb, and Callistus confirmed the authority granted to him by Pope Galasius, to preach the Gospel in all places. The council drew up a decree for the Truce of God, and excommunicated Bourdin, the antipope, and the Emporer Henry. Pope Innocent II, on 19 October, 1131, in the episcopate of Renard de Martigné, opened at Reims a council at which St. Bernard appeared, and the antipope Anacletus was excommunicated. While this council was sitting, the pope crowned (25 October) Louis the Younger, afterward Louis VII, in the presence of his father Louis VI. Lastly, at the request of Bernard, Bishop of Hildesheim, he canonized St. Godehard. Pope Eugene III, on 22 March, 1148, opened at reims a council at which St. Bernard forced Gilbert de La Porrée to retract his errors on the essence of God, and Samson de Mauvoisin, Archbishop of Reims, caused Eon de l'Etoile to be condemned.

From the ninth century to the eleventh, the buildings of a monastery for women founded by St. Gombert were used by poor children who desired to learn, who lived on alms, prayed in the chapel of St. Patrick, and attended the chapter schools. This was the origin of the "Collège de Bons Enfants", the functions of which were regulated by Juhel's Charter, in 1245, and which prepared a certain number of boys for the priesthood. Between 1544 and 1546, Paul Grand Raoul, the scholasticus of Reims, had the college rebuilt, and it was in this building, by that time still further enlarged, that Cardinal Charles of Lorraine installed the university, for which he had obtained from Paul III a Bull of erection (5 January, 1548) and the foundation of which was sanctioned by Henry II in March, 1548. It was to comprise the four faculties of arts, theology, law, and medicine. The faculty of theology was completed through the liberality of Antoine Fournier (b. at Reims, 1532), who administered the Diocese of Metz for another Charles of Lorraine. The university was the stronghold of the League in Champagne, and in 1588 it adhered to the solemn declaration by which the Sorbonne declared the French people to be absolved from their oath of allegance to Henry III after the assassination of the Duke of Guise. But when Henry IV had had himself crowned at Chartres, and the most fiery Leaguers of Reims were contemplating going into exile, the faculty of theology gave the signal for submission. In 1606, when, through the favour of Archdeacon François Brulart, the Jesuits set up a college at Reims, they asked to be incorporated in the university, and in 1609 they obtained their request. Repeated conflicts, however, arose between the Jesuits and the university, first in 1617, then in 1660 and 1664, again in 1722 on the question of Jansenism, and again in 1752. In 1682 the theological faculty of Reims adhered to the Four Articles, and in 1688, when Innocent excommunicated Lavardin, Louis XIV's ambassador, it voted by acclamation in favour of an appeal to a council. Until 1723 it refused to submit to the Bull "Unigenitus", and one of its doctors, Jean Lacourt, was even sent to the Bastille at this time for six months. (On the foundations at the University of Reims made in the sixteenth century with a view to the Catholic apostolate in England, see ALLEN, WILLIAM.)

The chapter of Reims possessed rights over 150 villages of the diocese. History records as having been members of that chapter 5 popes, 23 archbishops, 53 cardinals, and a considerable number of bishops; pursuant to what was known as the "Jouanine privilege". Obtained under Jean de Craon, its members were exempt from all jurisdiction except the pope's. Among them may be mentioned: St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusians ((1030-1101), who was at one time scholasticus of Reims; Otton of Châtillon, who became pope in 1088 under the name of Urban II; Guillaume Coquillart, who died about 1490, in his younger days, as a law student, the author of celebrated jocose poems; Maucroix (1619-95), the friend of Boileau and La Fontaine. A very curious festival which the chapter used to hold in the Middle Ages was the procession of the herrings. At the beginning of Lent, they went in Indian file from the cathedral to St-Remi, each dragging a herring after him by a thread - a symbol of the Lenten abstinence - and each trying to put his foot on the herring dragged by the next canon ahead of him.

The celebrated cathedral of Reims is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The edifice raised by Hincmar having been destroyed by a fire in 1211, Bishop Albéric de Humbert undertook to build the present cathedral in its place. It was completed in 100 years - from 1211 to 1311 - and hence the admirable unity of design and execution which characterize it as an example of Gothic architecture. Jean d'Orbais seems to have been the first architect, originating the plan and building the apse; the great doorway, crowned with the famous gallery containing forty-two statues of kings of France, is chiefly the work of Robert de Coucy, in the beginning of the fourteenth century. In the treasury of the cathedral is preserved the chalice of St. Remigius (see illustration to CHALICE), from which the kings of France used to communicate under the species of wine at the end of the coronation ceremonies, and which, according to tradition, was cut from the gold of the celebrated vase of Soissons broken by one of Clovis's soldiers. On 1 Feb., 1886, the Cathedral of Reims was affiliated to the illustrious Lateran Basilica, thereby participating in the privilege of all the indulgences and spiritual favours attached to the cathedral of Rome. In 1891 the canons of St. Peter at Rome presented to the chapter at Reims a portion of the relics of St. Petronilla; the translation of these sacred bones to Reims took place on Whitsunday, 1892.

The Benedictine monastery of St-Remi was long independent of the archbishops. The present church of St-Remi was begun in 1005 by Airard, abbot of the monastery, and some of the capitals date from that period. The work was resumed on a simpler plan by Abbot Thierry in 1039, when the south transept was built; the apse dates from 1170, in the time of Abbot de Celles. Carloman, Louis IV D'Outre-Mer, Lothair, and Hincmar wished to be buried in this church. Its treasure, made up of the offerings of kings and princes who visited the tomb of St. Remigius, would be of considerable value if it had not been brought into requisition on several occasions of public necessity - now to ransom a royal prisoner, now to supply money for the purposes of war. Then, acting at the king's behest, the archbishop issued an order that the gold and silver reliquaries (chasses) should be sent to the mint; the abbey received specie to the amount of one-fourth the value of the metal coined, and the balance in promissory notes which were rarely redeemed. The church of St-Remi has been a "minor basilica" since 28 June, 1870.

The church of Ste-Clotilde, the foundation stone of which was laid on 26 June, 1898, on the centenary of the baptism of Clovis, was opened in March, 1901, and raised to the rank of a basilica by Leo XIII on 5 March, 1902. At present it possesses 70 chasses and nearly 1000 relics. The centenary celebration drew together an attendance of 77 prelates and 69 pilgrimages, and was the occasion of seven congresses. Leo XIII sent Mgr. Ciocci, pontifical master of ceremonies, to preside at the solemn recognition of the relics of St. Remigius and their transfer to a new chasse. The same pope granted to France the privilege of a national jubilee, and wrote a Latin "Ode to France", which was the inspiration of Theodore Dubois's oratorio "The Baptism of Clovis". The hospital of Saint-Marcoul was founded in 1645 by Marguerite Rousselet for cases of contagious scrofula - i.e. tuberculosis. It was the first institution to practise isolation of tuberculosis patients.

The coronation of Charles VII at Reims (17 July, 1429), brought about by Joan of Arc, is an historical event of especial importance. Joan's father was present at the ceremony, and had his lodgings at Reims in the "Hôtel de l'Ane Rayé"; the archives of the city still preserve the accounts of expenses incurred for his entertainment. Joan wrote from Reims (17 July) a letter to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, inviting him to make peace; in August, 1429, and March, 1430, she wrote from Bray-sur-Seine and from Sully three letters to her "very dear and good friends and loyal Frenchmen, dwelling in the city of Reims", exhorting them not to lose heart under the renewed menaces of the Duke of Burgundy and the English.

The Abbey of Hautvilliers, in the Diocese of Reims, was the original home of the heretic Gottschalk. Besides the saints already mentioned, the following are especially honoured in the diocese: St. Gertrude, virgin and martyr (d.362); St. Paul of Reims, solitary at Glanum (now Saint-Remy) in Provence, then Bishop of Trois Châteaux (second half of the fourth century); St. Victor of Mouzon and his sister Suzanne, martyrs in 420; St. Emilius, father of St. Remigius; St. Celina, his mother; St. Principius, his brother; St. Balsamia, his nurse; St. Celsinus, his foster brother; Sts. Lupus, Bishop of Soissons, and Genebald, Bishop of Laon, his nephews; St. Latrow, his grandnephew (all sixth-century); the saints of the little Irish colony which St. Remigius established in the valley of the Marne; St. Gibrien, his brothers Sts. Hélan, Trésain, Germanus, Véran, Abran, and Pétran, and his sisters Sts. Francle, Prompta, and Posenna (sixth century); St. Thierry, St. Remigius's deacon, and Abbot of Mount d'Hor near Reims (d.c. 533); St. Rogatian, Count of Réthel, converted by St. Remigius, and his son St. Arnould, who was perhaps Bishop of Tours, and was assassinated at Reims; St. Leonard, a disciple of St. Remigius, who refused a bishopric offered to him by Clovis and died a solitary in the Diocese of Limoges (sixth century; St. Bertaud (472-545), a Scotchman (Scotus) by origin, solitary at Chaumont - Porcien, his friend St. Aumond, Bishop of Térouane, and his disciples Sts. Olive and Libérète (sixth century); St. Attolus, disciple of St. Remigius, founder of twelve hospitals, his son St. Elan, and his daughter St. Euphrasia (sixth century); St. Theodulph (d. 590), Abbot of Mont d'Hor, who left among the neighboring populations such a reputation as a ploughman that his plough was preserved as a relic; St. Basle the hermit, a great protector of animals, and his disciple St. Sindulph (sixth century); St. Wolfroy, monk at Ivois (sixth century); St. Baudry and his sister St. Bode, children of Sigebert, King of Austrasia, founders of the monastery of Saint-Pierre-les-Dames at Reims, and their niece St. Dode, abbess of the monastery (seventh century); St. Gombert, missionary in Scotland and martyr, and his wife St. Bertha, foundress of the Abbey of Avenay, who was assassinated (seventh century); St. Mérolilain, Irish priest, killed near Reims (eighth or ninth century); the shepherd of St. Juvinus, solitary (d. 961); St. Flotilda, ecstatic (tenth century); Blessed Odo, Canon of Reims, b. 1042, at Châtillon sur Marne, prior of Binson (a priory the chapel of which still exists and was restored by Cardinal Langénieux), afterwards pope under the name Urban II, whose cultus, existing from time immemorial, was recognized by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 12 July, 1881, at the petition of Cardinal Langénieux; St. Maurilis of Reims, Archbishop of Rouen (1055-67); St. Gervinus, Canon of Reims, Abbot of S. Riquier (d. 1073); Ven. Richard (d. 1046), Canon of Reims, Abbot of Saint Vanne at Verdun, ambassador from the Emperor Henry to King Robert, and to whom, in concert with St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, is due the adoption in Neustria of the "Peace of God"; St. Albert, Bishop of Liège, assassinated at Reims in 1192 by partisans of the Emperor Henry Vi; St. Gerard, Canon of Reims, Bishop of Cambria (d. 1048); Blessed Roger, an Englishman by origin, first abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Elan (d. 1175); Bllessed Roland, Cistercian monk of Chéhéry (d. 1160); Blessed Humbert (d. 1148), Guerric (d. 1157), and Minoculus (d. 1186), abbots of the Cistercian Abbey of Igny, the last-named of whom was sent by Pope Lucian as ambassador to the Emporer of Germany and died Abbot of Clairveaux; St. John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1719), b. at Reims, Canon of Reims, founder of the Institute of Christian Brothers; Ven. Jacques Lion (1671-1738), a native of Fumay, Hieronymite monk.

Among the distinguished persons connected with this diocese may also be mentioned: Dom Marlot (1596-1667), the Benedictine, b. at Reims, and the author of a history of the city which is still authoritative: Pétau (1583-1652), the first to be honoured with a professorship of rhetoric in the Jesuit college at Reims; Colbert (1619-83), the famous minister, b. at Reims; Mabillon (1632-1707), b. at St. Pierremont; Ruinart (1657-1709), author of the "Acta Martyrum", b. at Reims; the Abbé Pluche (1688-1761), b. at Reims, professor in the college of Reims, author of the "Spectacle de la Nature" and the "Histoire du Ciel"; Tronson Ducoudray (1750-98), who defended Marie Antoinette; Linguet (1736-94), the controversialist who publicly defended the Jesuits after their expulsion from France; Anquetil, director of the Seminary of Reims, and author of a history of the city (1756).

Besides the tomb of St. Remigius, the principal pilgrimages of the diocese are: Our Lady of Hope, or of Mercy, at Mézières, dating back to 930; Our Lady Help of Christians (Notre Dame de Bon Secours), at Neuvizy, dating from 1752; the Virgin at the Oak, a pilgrimage organized by Archbishop Langénieux, in 1880, to a little image which had been venerated by pious souls since the fourteenth century; the pilgrimage to the relics of St. Helena, the empress, at Hautevilliers. Before the Law of Congregations of 1901 was put into effect, there were in the Diocese of Reims Capuchins, Jesuits, Sulpicians, and various orders of teaching brothers; there are still Trappists, White Fathers of Our Lady of Africa, and Lazarists. Many orders of women have had their origin in the diocese; the Canonesses of the Hôtel Dieu, dating from the sixth century; the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus, founded in 1670 by Canon Roland for the gratuitous instruction of poor girls, with the mother-house at Reims, a foundation which suggested to St. John Baptist de La Salle, a friend of Canon Roland, the idea of accomplishing a similar work for boys; the Sisters of the Divine Providence, a nursing and teaching institute, founded in 1850, with mother-house at Reims; the Sisters of St-Marcoul, who care for patients afflicted with cancer, paralysis, and scrofula, in the hospital of St-Marcoul at Reims. At the close of the nineteenth century the religious congregations in the diocese had the direction of 3 crèches, 52 nurseries, 14 orphanages, 2 workshops, 2 professional schools, 14 hospitals or hospices, 11 houses of religious women devoted to the care of the sick in their own homes, 2 houses of retreat. At the end of 1909 the Diocese of Reims contained 520,650 Catholics, 47 parishes, 545 succursal parishes, and 67 curacies, (of which, under the Concordat, the salaries of 9 had been paid by the State).

Gallia christiana (nova, 1751), IX, 1-332, instrum., 1-94, FISQUET, La France pontificale (Reims, Paris, 1864); FLODOARD, Histoire de l'eglise de Reims, Fr. tr. (3 vols., Reims, 1854-55); MARLOT, Histoire de la ville, cite et universite de Reims, Fr. tr. (4 vols., Reims, 1843-6); Polyptique de l'abbaye S. Remi de Reims, ed. GUERARD (Paris, 1853); PUSSOT, Journalier ou Memoires, ed. HENRY AND LORIQUET (Reims, 1858); CERF, Vie des saintes du diocese de Reims (2 vols., Reims, 1898); DEMAISON AND JADART, Apercu de l'histoire de Reims (Reims, 1907); CAULY, Histoire du college des Bons Enfants (Reims, 1885); IDEM, Etudes sur la faculte de theologie de l'universite de Reims (Reims, 1898); LANDOUZY, Le toucher des ecrouelles, l'hopital S. Marcoul (Paris, 1907); BAZIN, Une vieille cite de France, Reims, monuments et histoire (Reims, 1900); GOSSET, La cathedrale de Reims (Reims, 1894).

References

  1. Back to citation Regnault, chanoine de Saint-Symphorien de Reims (1722). Histoire des sacres et couronnemens de nos rois, faits à Reims, á commencer par Clovis, jusqu'á Louis XV.: Avec un recueil du formulaire le plus moderne qui s'observe au sacre & couronnement des rois de France; contenant toutes les prieres, cérémonies, & oraisons (in French). Reims: Regnaud Florentain. pp. 2–3. Godefroid Kurth (1896). Clovis (in French). Vol. Tome I. Manne fils. pp. 326–358, esp. 340–349.
  2. Back to citation The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 916–966, eds & trans. Steven Fanning: Bernard S. Bachrach (New York; Ontario, Can: University of Toronto Press, 2011), pp. 6–7. Regnault, Histoire des sacres et couronnemens de nos rois..., pp. 50–52.
  3. Back to citation Léo Hamon (1988). L'élection du chef de l'Etat en France de Hugues Capet à nos jours: Entretiens d'Auxerre 1987 (in French). Editions Beauchesne. pp. 26–29. ISBN 978-2-7010-1163-9.
  4. Back to citation C. J. Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church Volume IV (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark 1895), pp. 444–447.
  5. Back to citation J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XIX, pp. 727–746. C. J. Hefele, Histoire des conciles Tome VI (Paris: Adrien Le Clerc 1871), pp. 299–312.
  6. Back to citation Ritzler, V, p. 332, note 1.
  7. Back to citation Gallia christiana IX, pp. 165–172. The provost was appointed by the archbishop.
  8. Back to citation Gallia christiana IX, pp. 171–176. The dean was elected by the chapter.
  9. Back to citation The "Pouille of 1362" names the dignities, and also states that there were sixty-four prebends: Longdon, p. 55. The canons were appointed by the archbishop. Pouille general, pp. 1–2. Gallia christiana IX, pp. 163–164.
  10. Back to citation Longdon, pp. 56–57.
  11. Back to citation Longdon, p. xiii.
  12. Back to citation Pouille Royal (1648), pp. 136–137.
  13. Back to citation Sixtus: Flodoard Canon of Reims (894–966) states that Sixtus was consecrated Archbishop by Saint Peter the Apostle and head of the Church, and sent along with his friends Sinicius and Memmius. Flodoard, "Historia ecclesiae Remensis", Book I, chapter 3, in: J. P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CXXXV (Paris 1853), p. 32. Fisquet, p. 5-6. Duchesne, p. 80, no. 1.
  14. Back to citation Fisquet, p. 6. Duchesne, p. 80, no. 2.
  15. Back to citation Fisquet, pp. 6–7. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 3.
  16. Back to citation Imbertus: Fisquet, p. 7. C. Munier, Concilia Galliae, A. 314 – A. 506 (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 14 line 37: Inbetausius episcopus, Primigenius diaconus, de civitate Remorum. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 4.
  17. Back to citation Aper: Fisquet, p. 7. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 5.
  18. Back to citation Maternianus: Fisquet, pp. 7–8. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 6.
  19. Back to citation Donatianus: Fisquet, p. 8. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 7.
  20. Back to citation Viventius: Fisquet, p. 8. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 8.
  21. Back to citation Severus: Fisquet, p. 8. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 9.
  22. Back to citation Nicasius killed by the Vandals or Huns, either in 407 or 451. He founded the first cathedral. Fisquet, p. 9. Duchesne, p. 81, no. 10.
  23. Back to citation Barucius: Duchesne, p. 81, no. 11-12.
  24. Back to citation Barnabas: Duchesne, p. 81, no. 13.
  25. Back to citation Bennagius: Duchesne, p. 81, no. 14.
  26. Back to citation Remigius: Fisquet, pp. 10–17. Duchesne, pp. 81–82, no. 15.
  27. Back to citation Fisquet, pp. 17–18.
  28. Back to citation Flavius was present in 535 at the Council of Auvergne (Clermont). C. De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, A. 511 – A. 695 (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 111: Flavus in Christi nomine episcopus ecclesiae Reminse. Duchesne, p. 82, no. 17.
  29. Back to citation Fisquet, p. 18.
  30. Back to citation Fisquet, pp. 19–22.
  31. Back to citation Ivan Gobry, Clotaire II, (Pygmalion, 2005)
  32. Back to citation Fisquet, p. 22.
  33. Back to citation Sonnatius had been Archdeacon of Reims before his elevation to the episcopacy. Fisquet, pp. 22–23.
  34. Back to citation Leudegisilus is known from Flodoard, Historia ecclesiae Remensis, Book II, chapter 6, where he is made a contemporary of King Dagobert, who died in 639. Duchesne, p. 84, no. 22.
  35. Back to citation Angelbertus is known from Flodoard, Historia ecclesiae Remensis, Book II, chapter 6. Duchesne, p. 84, no. 23.
  36. Back to citation Lando is known from Flodoard, Historia ecclesiae Remensis, Book II, chapter 6. Duchesne, p. 84, no. 24.
  37. Back to citation Nivardus (or Nivo) is attested in 657, 664, 667, and 673. Duchesne, p. 84, no. 23.
  38. Back to citation Reolus had been Count of Champagne before becoming Archbishop. He is attested in 674, 678, and 687. Duchesne, p. 85, no. 26.
  39. Back to citation Rigobertus was exiled to Gascony by Charles Martel in 717. Duchesne, p. 85-86, no. 27
  40. Back to citation Duchesne, p. 86, no. 28.
  41. Back to citation In legend, Tilpinus became the Turpin of the Chanson de Roland. Before his elevation, Tulpin had been a monk and Treasurer of Saint-Denis. Duchesne, pp. 86–87, no. 29.
  42. Back to citation Hincmar of Reims says that Charlemagne left the See of Reims vacant for nine years. Duchesne, p. 87.
  43. Back to citation Archbishop Ebo was deposed at the Council of Thionville on 4 March 835 because of his participation in the revolt of the sons of the Emperor Louis the Pious. He was rehabilitated by Lothair at the Council of Engelheim in August 840. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XIV (Venice 1769), pp. 773–780. Duchesne, p. 87.
  44. Back to citation Rachel Stone and Charles West, ed. (2015). Hincmar of Rheims: Life and work. Manchester University Press. pp. 44–59. ISBN 978-1-78499-188-3. Jean Devisse (1976). Hincmar, archevêque de Reims. 1: 845–882 (in French). Vol. 2 vols. Paris: Librairie E. Droz.
  45. Back to citation Hervée was the son of Ursus, Count of Champagne. He was consecrated on 6 July 900 by Riculfus, Bishop of Soissons. He consecrated King Robert I of France at Saint-Remi in Reims on 29 June 922. Fisquet, pp. 49–52.
  46. Back to citation Hugh was the son of Herbert II of Vermandois, who had taken Charles the Simple a prisoner and seized the ecclesiastical principality of Reims. It was an easy task to have his son elected Archbishop. Paul Collins (2014). The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century. PublicAffairs. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-61039-368-3.
  47. Back to citation M. Bur, "Adalbéron, archévêque de Reims reconsidéré," in: M. Parisse and X. Barral i Altet (edd.), Le roi de France et son royaume autour de l' an mil: Actes du colloque, Hugues Capet 987-1987 (Paris 1992), 55–63.
  48. Back to citation John S. Ott (2015). Bishops, Authority and Community in Northwestern Europe, c.1050–1150. Cambridge University Press. pp. 160–171. ISBN 978-1-107-01781-8. Fisquet, pp. 72–74.
  49. Back to citation Manasses de Gournay, not the son of Manasses le Chauve, Vidame de Reims. He purchased the Archbishopric. In 1077, after many complaints, Gregory VII ordered his Apostolic Legate Hugues de Die to conduct an inquiry. Manasses was summoned to the Council of Autun, but he did not appear, and was suspended from his functions. He appealed to Pope Gregory, who ordered Hugues de Die and Abbot Hugues of Cluny to investigate further. Manasses was summoned to the Council of Lyon in 1078 to demonstrate his innocence, but instead he attempted to bribe Bishop Hugues to make a favorable report to the Pope. He was deposed in 1080, and Pope Gregory approved the sentence. Manasses died in Rome in 1092. Fisquet, pp. 74–76.
  50. Back to citation Renaud was the son of Bellay III, Seigneur de Montreuil. His widowed mother married Geoffrey Martel, Comte d'Anjou. Renaud had been Treasurer of Saint-Martin-de-Tours and Archdeacon of Reims. Shortly after his election at Terracina on 12 March 1088, Pope Urban II, who had been a Canon of Reims, invited Archbishop Renaud to Italy to discuss the problems of the French church; he returned in 1090. In 1092 he presided at the Council of Soissons. On 20 March 1093, he held another Council at Reims, which received complaints against the Count of Flanders, who was seizing the property of deceased clerics. Another Council was held at Reims between 17 and 20 September 1094, attended by twenty-three bishops. He also subscribed the acts of the Council of Soissons (Mont-Saint-Marie) in 1095, and he was present at the celebrated Council of Clermont in November 1095. He died on 21 January 1096. Fisquet, pp. 76–78.
  51. Back to citation Gervais, a younger brother of Baldwin du Bourg, who became King of Jerusalem. He was nominated by Philip I of France over the Provost of Reims, Raoul le Vert, but condemned by the Council of Troyes in 1107. William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea Book XII, chapter 1, states that Gervais inherited the County of Rethel after Baldwin had given it to his brother Manasses and Manasses had died. Gervais resigned the Archbishopric of Reims and married, which was contrary to Canon Law. Sainte-Marthe and the Benedictines of Saint-Maur do not admit Gervais into the list of the Archbishops of Reims in Gallia christiana Tome IX, pp. 80–81.
  52. Back to citation Raoul le Vert was finally permitted to take his oath to the King on Christmas Day, 1108, thanks to the intervention of Ivo of Chartres and Lambert of Arras, thereby ending the conflict over the See of Reims. Gallia christiana Tome IX, pp. 80–82. Cusimano, p. 184, n. 5.
  53. Back to citation Martigny: Gallia christiana Tome IX, pp. 82–84
  54. Back to citation The Court of Champagne as a Literary Center, John F. Benton, Culture, Power and Personality in Medieval France, ed. Thomas N. Bisson, (Bloomsbury, 1991), 6 n9.
  55. Back to citation Gislebertus of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut, transl. Laura Napran, (The Boydell Press, 2005), 68 note 288.
  56. Back to citation Guillaume was the son of Theobald II of Champagne. Gislebertus (of Mons) (1904). Leon Vanderkindere (ed.). La chronique de Gislebert de Mons (in Latin and French). Bruxelles: Commission royale d'histoire. pp. 40–41, and Tableau XVII.
  57. Back to citation Guy Paré (or Paray) was born at Paray-le-Monial (diocese of Autun). He was abbot of Notre-Dame du Val (Paris). He was elected Abbot of Citeaux in April 1193. In 1199 he was named a cardinal by Pope Innocent III. He was Suburbicarian Bishop of Palestrina (1200-1204), and was sent as Apostolic Legate to Emperor Otto IV. He took possession of the diocese of Reims in 1205. Sent on a mission to Flanders, he died at Gand on 30 July 1206 of the pestilence. Fisquet, pp. 97–98. Eubel, I, pp. 3 no. 3; 419.
  58. Back to citation Alberic, Archdeacon of Paris, was preferred by Pope Innocent III after a contested election, at the plea of Eudes de Sully, Archbishop of Paris. He took possession of the diocese on 1 July 1207, and was consecrated on 8 July. Fisquet, pp. 99–101. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  59. Back to citation Guillaume was the son of Geoffrey IV, and nephew of Guy de Joinville, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne. He had been Bishop of Langres and Peer of France. He took possession of the diocese of Reims on 10 June 1219. Fisquet, pp. 101–103. Eubel, I, pp. 307, 419.
  60. Back to citation The Crusade of Theobald of Champagne and Richard of Cornwall: 1239-1241, Sidney Painter, A History of the Crusades, Vol. 2, ed. Kenneth M. Setton, Robert Lee Wolff and Harry W. Hazard, (University of Wisconsin Press, 1969), p. 466. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  61. Back to citation Juhel de Mathefelon (not Yves de St._Martin) had been Archbishop of Tours. Fisquet, pp. 106–110. Eubel, I, pp. 419, 503.
  62. Back to citation Thomas de Beaumes (Beaumetz) was a cousin of his predecessor Henri de Dreux. He was consecrated in May 1249 by Itier de Mauni, Bishop of Laon. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  63. Back to citation Jean de Courtenay: Fisquet, pp. 111–113. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  64. Back to citation Pierre Barbet (or Barbette) had been Archdeacon of Dunois in the Church of Chartres, and Canon of Noyon. He attended the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. On 24 July 1275 he crowned Queen Marie de Brabant in the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. On 7 April 1278 he held a provincial council against the pretensions of Canons to issue interdicts. Fisquet, pp. 113–116. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  65. Back to citation Robert de Courtenay was nephew of Jean de Courtenai, Archbishop of Reims, and of Robert de Courtenai, Bishop of Orléans. Robert had been Canon and Archdeacon of Reims before being named Archbishop. He took possession of the See on 8 September 1299. He held a council in Reims on 30 September 1302 to address a letter of Boniface VIII against Canons of cathedrals who abused their authority. On 3 January 1304 he held a Council at Compiegne for the reform of the clergy. Fisquet, pp. 116–120. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  66. Back to citation Guillaume de Trie was the son of Thibaud de Trie, Seigneur de Vaumain; his brother Matthieu became a Marshal of France. Guillaume had been Preceptor of King Philip IV of France. Fisquet, pp. 118–120.
  67. Back to citation Jean de Vienne: Fisquet, pp. 120–122.
  68. Back to citation Hugues d'Arcy: Fisquet, pp. 122–123
  69. Back to citation Humbert, Dauphin de Viennois, sold his inheritance to Philip VI, King of France, and entered the Dominican Order. On December 25, 1350 he was ordained a priest at Avignon by Pope Clement VI. On 1 January 1351 he was consecrated a bishop, and given the title of Patriarch of Alexandria. In March 1352 he was named Administrator of the diocese of Reims; he was never the Archbishop. He resigned his functions on 22 February 1355. He died in the Dominican convent at Clermont on 25 May 1355. His memorial inscription names him Patriarch of Alexandria, not Archbishop of Reims. Gallia christiana IX, pp. 127–129. Fisquet, pp. 124–126.
  70. Back to citation Fisquet, pp. 126–128.
  71. Back to citation Thesart: Eubel, I, p. 419.
  72. Back to citation Picque: Eubel, I, p. 419.
  73. Back to citation Cassinel: Eubel, I, p. 419.
  74. Back to citation Guy de Roye: Gallia christiana IX, pp. 132–133. Fisquet, pp. 132–135. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  75. Back to citation Simon Cramaud had been Patriarch of Alexandria, and Administrator of the diocese of Carcassonne. He was appointed Archbishop of Reims by the Pisan pope Alexander V. He was created a cardinal priest by John XXIII 14 April 1413. Fisquet, pp. 136–139. Eubel, I, p. 419.
  76. Back to citation Pierre had been Canon of Bourges. He became Archdeacon of Paris and Master of Requests of Charles VI. He was appointed Bishop of Poitiers on 25 July 1409, and granted his bulls on September 11 by Pope Alexander V. He was granted his bulls for Reims on 2 May 1413, following the promotion of Simon Cramaud to the cardinalate. He died on 16 December 1413. Fisquet, p. 139. Eubel, I, pp. 399, 419.
  77. Back to citation Renaud had been Dean of the Cathedral Chapter of Beauvais. From 28 March to 6 August 1424 he served as Chancellor of France by Charles VII. Charles sent him as ambassador to Pope Martin V in 1425. On 8 November 1428 he was again named Chancellor of France. On 17 July 1429 he consecrated Charles VII as King of France. On the king's request Pope Eugene created Archbishop Renaud of Chartres a cardinal on 18 December 1439. He died on 4 April 1444. Auguste Vallet de Viriville (1863). Histoire de Charles VII: roi de France et de son époque 1403-1461 (in French). Vve J. Renouard. pp. 95–100. Fisquet, pp. 139–143. Eubel, I, p. 419; II, pp. 7 no. 4; 222 note 1.
  78. Back to citation Jacques Juvenal was transferred to the titular See of Antioch on 3 March 1449: Eubel, II, pp. 89, 222.
  79. Back to citation Jean Juvenal: Eubel, II, p. 222-223.
  80. Back to citation Pierre de Montfort: Eubel, II, p. 222.
  81. Back to citation Robert Briçonnet: Eubel, II, p. 222.
  82. Back to citation Guillaume Briçonnet was named a cardinal by Pope Alexander VI on 16 January 1495: Eubel, II, pp. 23, 222.
  83. Back to citation On 28 March 1509 Carreto was transferred to the diocese of Tours (1509-1514). Eubel, III, p. 284, 321.
  84. Back to citation Lenoncourt had been Archbishop of Tours. Eubel, III, p. 284, 321.
  85. Back to citation Jean was the son of René II, Duke of Lorraine. Eubel, III, p. 284.
  86. Back to citation Charles de Guise was a son of Claude, Duke of Guise), and nephew of his predecessor, Jean de Lorraine. He was named a cardinal by Pope Paul III on 27 July 1547. Eubel, III, p. 30, no. 65; p. 284.
  87. Back to citation Louis de Guise was a son of Francis, Duke of Guise, and a nephew of his predecessor, Charles of Guise. He was named a cardinal by Pope Julius III on 22 December 1553. Eubel, III, p. 33, no 18; p. 284.
  88. Back to citation Pellevé was named a cardinal by Pope Pius V on 17 May 1570. Eubel, III, p. 44, no 17; p. 284.
  89. Back to citation Eubel, III, p. 284.
  90. Back to citation Louis de Guise was a son of Henry I, Duke of Guise, and nephew of Louis I, Archbishop of Reims. He was created a cardinal by Pope Paul V on 2 December 1615. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 12 no. 32; p. 295.
  91. Back to citation Gifford was already an auxiliary bishop of Reims and titular Bishop of Arcadiopolis (Thrace); he had been consecrated in September 1618 at Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris by Bishop Charles de Balzac of Noyon. It is said that his promotion was in part due to the influence of Abbess Marie de Lorraine and Archbishop Louis de Guise: S. Ropartz, "Un livre de controverse contre les Calvinistes," Revue de Bretagne. (serie 5, Vol. 11) (in French). Vol. Tome 42. 1877. pp. 194–203, at 202. On 17 June 1619 he resigned his position of Prebend and Theologian of the Church of St. Malo. E. Hautcoeur (1899). Histoire de l'Église collegiale et du Chapitre de Saint-Pierre de Lille. Mémoires Société d'études de la province de Cambrai, Tome VI (in French). Vol. Tome troisieme. Paris: A. Picard. pp. 25–36. L. Hicks, "The Exile of Dr William Gifford from Lille in 1606," Recusant History 1 (1964), 214-238. Joseph Bergin (1996). The Making of the French Episcopate, 1589-1661. Yale University Press. pp. 21, 441–442, 630–631. ISBN 978-0-300-06751-4. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, pp. 91 and 295.
  92. Back to citation Henri de Guise-Lorraine was a nephew of Louis II, son of Charles, Duke of Guise. He was 14 years old when appointed, and was neither ordained nor consecrated. He resigned the diocese in order to inherit the dukedom.
  93. Back to citation Fisquet, pp. 186–188.
  94. Back to citation Cardinal Barberini was a nephew of Pope Urban VIII, and had spent years in exile in France during the reign of Pope Innocent X (Pamphili). He had been named Bishop of Poitiers on 16 August 1652 by King Louis XIV, but he never was granted his bulls by the Pope. He returned to Rome for the Conclave of 18 January–7 April 1655, where he played his part as Cardinal Camerlengo and French agent. The new Pope, Alexander VII (Chigi) named Barberini Bishop of Frascati (1655–1661). On 24 June 1657 Louis XIV named him Archbishop of Reims, but Barberini did not obtain his bulls during Alexander VII's lifetime because he was unwilling to resign the office of Camerlengo in favor of the Pope's nephew. He finally received his bulls from Pope Clement IX on 18 July 1667. Barberini took possession of the diocese of Reims on 4 October by proxy, took his oath to the King on 2 November, and made his solemn entry into his diocese on 22 December. He died on 3/4 August 1671. Fisquet, pp. 188–190. Gauchat, IV, p. 295, with note 8. Ritzler, V, p. 332 with note 3.
  95. Back to citation Le Tellier was the second son of Michel Le Tellier, Secretary of State and Chancellor of France. He was named titular Bishop of Nazianzus (Turkey) and Coadjutor Archbishop for Cardinal Barberini on 3 September 1668. Joseph Gillet (1881). Charles-Maurice Le Tellier: archevêque-duc de Reims; étude sur son administration et son influence (in French). Paris: Hachette et cie. p. 360. Jean, p. 306. Ritzler, V, p. 332 with note 4.
  96. Back to citation De Mailly had previously been Archbishop of Arles. He was created a cardinal by Pope Clement XI on 29 November 1719. Jean, p. 306. Ritzler, V, p. 333 with note 5.
  97. Back to citation Rohan had two suffragan bishops (Auxiliary bishops): François-Joseph Robuste (1728–1729), and Henri Hachette des Portes (1753-1771). Jean, p. 306. Ritzler, V, p. 333 with note 6.
  98. Back to citation La Roche-Aymon was born in the diocese of Limoges in 1696, and had a doctorate in theology (Paris 1724). He was a Canon of Mâcon, and served as Vicar-General of Limoges. He had been titular Bishop of Sarepta and Auxiliary Bishop of Limoges (1725–1730), Bishop of Tarbes (1730–1740), Archbishop of Toulouse (1740–1752), and Archbishop of Narbonne (1752–1763). He was nominated Archbishop of Reims by King Louis XV on 5 December 1762, and was approved (preconized) on 24 January 1763 by Pope Clement XIII. He was created a cardinal on 16 December 1771 by Pope Clement XIV. He died on 27 October 1777. Jean, p. 307. Ritzler, V, p. 345 with note 3; VI, pp. 27 no. 6; 301 with note 3; 356, with note 2; 392 with note 2.
  99. Back to citation Alexandre de Talleyrand was a younger brother of Charles-Daniel, Comte de Perigord; and uncle of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun and sometime French Foreign Minister. Alexandre de Talleyrand refused the oath to the Constitution, and his See was determined to be vacant from 1790; he emigrated, and refused to resign in 1801. On the return of the Bourbons he was named Archbishop of Paris, from 1817–1821). Jean, p. 307-308. Ritzler, VI, p. 356, with note 3.
  100. Back to citation Coucy: A. Frézet, in: Société bibliographique (France) (1907), L'épiscopat français... pp. 498–499.
  101. Back to citation Latil was born in 1761 at îles Sainte-Marguerite en Provence. He studied at Saint-Sulpice in Paris. During the French Revolution the Comte de Latril fled, but was arrested at Montfort-l'Amaury in 1792 and imprisoned for some time; released, he sought refuge in Colmar. In 1798 he became Chaplain to the Comte d'Artois. After his return he was named titular Bishop of Amyclae, and Coadjutor Bishop of Chartres, and on 1 October 1817 Bishop of Chartres. Fisquet (1864), La France pontificale: Chartres, pp. 221–224. A. Frézet, in: Société bibliographique (France) (1907), L'épiscopat français... pp. 499–500.
  102. Back to citation Gousset: J. Gousset (1903). Le cardinal Gousset: sa vie, ses ouvrages, son influence (in French). Besançon: Henri Bossanne. A. Frézet, in: Société bibliographique (France) (1907), L'épiscopat français... pp. 500–503.
  103. Back to citation Landriot: A. Frézet, in: Société bibliographique (France) (1907), L'épiscopat français..., pp. 503–505.
  104. Back to citation Langénieux was born at Villefranche (Rhône) in 1824. He studied in the Minor Seminary in Paris under Dupanloup, and at Saint-Sulpice. He served as curé in several Parisian parishes, until being named Vicar General and Archdeacon of Notre-Dame by Archbishop Guibert in 1871. He was appointed Bishop of Tarbes on 19 June 1873, and approved (preconized) on 25 July. He was nominated to be Archbishop of Reims by the French government on 11 November 1874, and approved (preconised) by Pope Pius IX on 21 December 1874. He was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in the consistory of 7 June 1886. A. Frézet, in: Société bibliographique (France) (1907), L'épiscopat français..., pp. 503–505; 613-614.
  105. Back to citation Louis Luçon was born in the village of Maulevrier, near Angers. In 1853, he entered the Collège de Cholet. He was named Chaplain of Saint-Louis-des-Français in Rome in 1873, where he obtained a doctorate in theology and in Canon Law. He returned to two successive curateships. He was appointed Bishop of Belley (Ain) by decree of 8 November 1887, which was approved (preconized) on 25 November. He was consecrated at Notre-Dame de Cholet (in French) on 8 February 1888 by Bishop Charles-Emile Freppel of Angers. He was enthroned on 24 February. His most notable achievement was the elevation of the Curé of Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney, to sainthood. He was named Archbishop of Reims on 1 January 1905, during the conflict between Church and State that led to the Law of Separation of 1905. He was expelled from his episcopal palace in December 1906. He was named a cardinal in 1907 by Pope Pius X, and participated in the Conclave of 1914 to elect his successor. He was absent from Reims when the Cathedral, struck by German bombs, was set afire and heavily damaged. He died on 28 May 1930. François Cochet (2001). Première Guerre mondiale: dates, thèmes, noms (in French). Levallois-Perret: Studyrama. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-2-84472-117-4. François Cochet (1993). Rémois en guerre: 1914-1918 (in French). Nancy: Presses Universitaires de Nancy. pp. 117–124. ISBN 978-2-86480-660-8. Martin Bräuer (2014). Handbuch der Kardinäle: 1846-2012 (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 1906. ISBN 978-3-11-026947-5.
  106. Back to citation Maury was born in 1907 and ordained in 1932. He served as Apostolic Delegate in Africa (1959), Internuncio in Senegal from 1961 to 1965, and then Nuncio in the ex-Belgian Congo, Ruanda and Burundi from 1965 to 1968.
  107. Back to citation Balland was born at Bué (Cher) near Sancerre in the diocese of Bourges in 1934. He studied at the French Seminary in Rome. He was named Vicar General of Bourges in 1980, and Bishop of Dijon in 1982. He was Archbishop of Reims from 1988 to 1995, when he was transferred to Lyon. He died of lung cancer on 1 March 1998, ten days after having been named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, and a week after his reception of the gold ring and title of San Pietro in Vincoli. See: François Wenz-Dumas, in the journal Libération, 2 March 1998 mort-de-mgr-balland-cardinal, retrieved: 2017-01-31.
  108. Back to citation David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy, "Bishop Abel de Saint-Brieuc, O.P."; retrieved January 30, 2016.
  109. Back to citation Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims, official website

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