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Diocese of Verdun

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Diocese of Verdun
Dioecesis Virodunensis
Diocèse de Verdun
Verdun Cathedral and Cloister
Verdun Cathedral and Cloister
Location
Country France
Ecclesiastical province Besançon
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Besançon
Statistics
Area 6,211 km2 (2,398 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2022)
194,100
170,120 (87.6%)
Parishes 515
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established Restored on 6 October 1822
Cathedral Cathedral of Notre Dame de Verdun
Patron saint Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed in Heaven
Secular priests 41 (Diocesan)
1 (Religious Orders)
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop vacant
Metropolitan Archbishop Jean-Luc Bouilleret
Bishops emeritus François Maupu, Jean-Paul Gusching
Website
catholique-verdun.cef.fr

The Diocese of Verdun (Latin: Dioecesis Virodunensis; French: Diocèse de Verdun) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Besançon. The Diocese of Verdun corresponds to the département of Meuse in the région of Lorraine. The diocese is subdivided into 577 parishes.

History

The beginnings of Christianity in Verdun is associated with the name Sanctinus.

Contradictions in Sanctius legends

One legend, recorded by Bertarius of Verdun (early 10th century), states that Saint Denis (mid-3rd cent.) sent Sanctinus, Bishop of Meaux, and the priest Antoninus to Rome to Pope Clement (c. 91–c. 101) with a report on their sufferings, and that their journey passed through Verdun, both going and returning, where they preached Christianity.[1] This legend, like many similar ones referring to a diocese's earliest connection with the Apostle Peter or one of his disciples, hardly needs refutation.[2]

Bertarius also reports that he read in a "Life of Saint Servatius the bishop" that Sanctinus, Clavorum episcopus was present at the Council of Cologne (Colonia Agrippinensis[3]), summoned to depose its archbishop. It has been argued that there was no such council.[4]

In another tradition, the city was first evangelized around 332 by St Sanctinus, Bishop of Meaux, who became the first bishop.[5] Sanctinus erected the first Christian oratory dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul.[6][7]

The diocese dates to the 4th century.[8]

The first bishop known to history is Polychronius (Pulchrone) who lived in the fifth century and was a relative and disciple of St. Lupus de Troyes.[9] "Other noteworthy bishops are: Vitonus (Vanne) (502–529); St. Agericus (Airy) (554–591), friend of St. Gregory of Tours and of Fortunatus; Paulus of Verdun (630–648), formerly Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of Tholey in the Diocese of Trier; and Madalvaeus (Mauve) (753–776)."[10]

In 916 or 917, the 37th year of Bishop Dado, the cathedral suffered a major fire, and nearly all the ancient records of the church were destroyed, according to the chronicler Bertarius of Verdun.[11]

Cathedral and Chapter

Bishop Polychronius is credited with the establishment of the cathedral dedicated to Nôtre-Dame, after the middle of the fifth century.[12] This cathedral burned to the ground in a fire in the time of Bishop Madalveus (753–c. 775), and was rebuilt immediately, with enlargements made by Bishop Hatto (847–870) in 865. It was burned again twice, under the Normans[13] and by Duke Boso, in the episcopate of Bishop Dado (880–923). It was damaged again by the Hungarians in 923,[14] and rebuilt by Bishop Heimon (990–1024). Duke Godefroy burned it in 1047, and Bishop Theirry repaired it in 1050. Count Renaud de Bar reduced it to ruins in 1114.[15]

The new cathedral of Verdun, built by Bishop Adalbero of Chiny, was consecrated on 11 November 1147, by Pope Eugenius III.[16]

The cathedral was served and administered by a corporation called the Chapter. Until the 10th century, the canons of the Chapter lived in common with the bishop at his expense. Bishop Dado (880–923) divided the diocesan income into two portions, one of which was given to the canons.[17] The Chapter consisted of ten dignities (the Princerie, the Dean, the Archdeacon of Argonne, the Archdeacon of the Woëvre, the Archdeacon of la Rivière, the Cellerer, the Treasurer, the Cantor, the Scholasticus and the Chancellor) and forty-two prebends.[18] The office of Princerie was abolished by a bull of Pope Clement VII on 9 February 1385.[19] Until 1695, the deans were elected by the Chapter; thereafter, the kings of France made the appointment. The last dean, Claude-Elizabeth de la Corbière, was arrested in October 1792, taken to Paris, tried by a revolutionary tribunal, and executed on 25 April 1794.[20]

When Pope Leo IX visited Verdun in the second week of October 1049, he consecrated the collegiate church of La Madeleine, which had just been rebuilt by the Archdeacon of Woëvre, Canon Ermenfroy; at the archdeacon's request, the pope united the archdeaconate and the provostship of the church of La Madeleine in perpetuity. An addition to the provost, there was a dean and a cantor According to local tradition, the church had been founded by Saint Rémi of Reims in the 6th century.[21]

The collegiate church of Sainte-Croix of Verdun was founded by the Princier Amicus at the beginning of the 11th century, with a Chapter composed of twelve canons. Within a century, the church was in ruins. Bishop Henri reorganized the establishment in 1126, with six canons, and annexed it to the abbey of Benedictine nuns of Saint-Maur, where the canons, headed by a Treasurer, served as chaplains. The abbess had the right to appoint to vacancies. The collegiate church was destroyed in 1552, at the time of the French invasion under King Henri II. The canons were transferred to the chapel of S. Laurence, near the cathedral. In 1777, Pope Pius VI suppressed the entire establishment.[22]

Bishop Henri d'Aspremont (1312–1350) established the collegiate church of Saint-Maur in Hattonchâtel in 1328, providing that the title of Provost be united to the title of the archdeacon de la Rivière, with a prebendal canonicate, and that the incumbent need not be resident. There was also a Dean and six canons. The right of nomination belonged to the bishops of Verdun until 1530, when it was transferred to the Duke of Lorraine.[23]

On 30 September 1389, King Charles VI of France and Bishop Liébauld de Cousans concluded a treaty, in which the bishops of Verdun acquired dominium and jurisdiction in high, middle and low justice over the city of Verdun. The treaty was confirmed by Pope Clement VII on 13 February 1390.[24]

French diocese

The three bishoprics (Metz, Toul, and Verdun) had been under control of the French since 1552,[25] but the dioceses resisted, and it was not until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 that their acquisition was formally recognized. In the reign of King Louis XIV, in 1664, the kings of France were granted the right to nominate the bishop when a vacancy occurred. This concession did not immediately extend to any other benefice in the dioceses, as it had in the concordat of 1516 with King Francis I. It was not until 1668 that Clement IX removed the limitation.[26]

In 1565, Bishop Nicolas Psaume (1548–1575) invited the Jesuits to establish themselves in the diocese of Verdun, with episcopal authority. He provided them with the hospital of Saint-Nicolas as their church, their residence, and their school (collège). Later papal approval was obtained. The Jesuit house in Verdun became the novitiate for most of France.[27]

From 1624 to 1636, a large bastioned citadel was constructed. following the plans of Jean Errard of Bar-le-Duc, on the site of the Abbey of Saint Vanne. The Church of Saint-Vanne was destroyed in 1832 and its cloister, which had been converted into barracks, was burned in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.[28][9]

Seminary

Bishop Armand de Monchy d'Hocquincourt (1668–1679) took the first steps toward the erection of a seminary in the diocese of Verdun. In November 1678 he obtained letters patent from King Louis XIV, granting permission for the establishment. The bishop committed 1,000 livres per year to the project, and imposed on the clergy a tax amounting to 1,500 livres. The seminary opened in December 1678, in the episcopal palace, but soon moved to larger quarters, since, by 1 November 1682, there were twenty students. Bishop Hippolyte de Béthune (1681–1720) brought the Canons Regular from the abbey of Saint-Nicolas-des-Prés to form the staff. But within 50 years, the buildings were nothing but a mass of ruins. Through royal generosity, Bishop Charles-François D'Hallencourt (1721–1754) was granted the income of the abbey of Saint-Airy fir eight years, and from 1741 to 1749 built a proper seminary and chapel. When Pope Clement XI published the bull Unigenitus against Jansenism in 1713, the bishop and clergy of the seminary joined the opposition; but under Bishop d'Hallencourt, in 1737, the canons regular were forced to leave the seminary, and secular priests filled the posts. The seminary was closed in January 1791 by the French National Assembly.[29]

French Revolution

Even before it directed its attention to the Church directly, the National Constituent Assembly attacked the institution of monasticism. On 13 February 1790. it issued a decree which stated that the government would no longer recognize solemn religious vows taken by either men or women. In consequence, Orders and Congregations which lived under a Rule were suppressed in France. Members of either sex were free to leave their monasteries or convents if they wished, and could claim an appropriate pension by applying to the local municipal authority.[30]

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.[31] A new department was created called "Meuse," which comprised the three bishoprics and the district of Bar-le-Duc (Barrois), and Verdun was fixed as its administrative center. 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,[32] requiring the suppression of approximately fifty dioceses.[33] The former diocese of Verdun was assigned to the "Metropole du Nord-Est", with its metropolitan seated in Reims, by decree of 12 July 1790.[34]

In the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the National Constituent Assembly also abolished cathedral chapters, canonicates, prebends, chapters and dignities of collegiate churches, chapters of both secular and regular clergy of both sexes, and abbeys and priories whether existing under a Rule or in commendam.[35]

On 13 January 1791, the municipal officials of Verdun presented Bishop Henri-Louis Rene Desnos a copy of the decree of 27 November 1790, demanding an oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The bishop submitted his formal refusal on 21 January, and left the city. On 5 February, he issued a pastoral letter, signed at Trier.[36] The episcopal chair of Verdun was declared vacant, and on 21 February 1791, the electors of the department of Meuse met to elect a Constitutional Bishop.

They elected Jean-Baptiste Aubry, former teacher of humanities and philosophy at the Collège de Bar, and parish priest of Véel. He was consecrated a bishop in Paris at the Oratory church by Jean-Pierre Saurine, assisted by Robert-Thomas Lindet and François-Xavier Laurent, in a ceremony that was both blasphemous and schismatic. He returned to Verdun on 19 March. In 1792, Verdun was occupied by a Prussian army on 2 September 1792, and the constitutional clergy were compelled to withdraw, though they returned when the Prussians withdrew after six weeks. Bishop Aubry celebrated a Te Deum in the cathedral on 23 October 1792. Under the Terror, religion was abolished, the Constitutional Church dispersed, and Aubry returned to his birthplace, Saint-Aubin, where he worked in a mill and was mayor of the commune. He returned to his cathedral in 1797.[37]

Restoration

Until 1801 Verdun was, in the eyes of the Papacy, part of the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishop of Trier.[38] On 29 November 1801, implementing the terms of the concordat of 1801 between the French Consulate, headed by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, and Pope Pius VII, the bishopric of Verdun (Meuse) and all the other dioceses were suppressed. This removed all the contaminations and novelties introduced by the Constitutional Church.[39] The pope then recreated the French ecclesiastical order, with the bull "Qui Christi Domini," respecting in most ways the changes introduced during the Revolution, including the reduction in the number of archdioceses and dioceses, and the re-drawing of diocesan boundaries. Verdun, however, was not restored, though other dioceses in the area became suffragans of the archdiocese of Besancon; the diocese of Trier lost its metropolitan status.[40] The territory of the former diocese of Verdun was added to the Diocese of Nancy. The seminarians from the former diocese of Verdun attended the Major Seminary in Nancy.[41]

In implementation of the concordat of 27 July 1817, between King Louis XVIII and Pope Pius VII, the diocese of Verdun should have been restored by the bull "Commissa divinitus",[42] but the French Parliament refused to ratify the agreement. It was not until 6 October 1822 that a revised version of the papal bull, "Paternae Charitatis",[43] fortified by an ordonnance of Louis XVIII of 13 January 1823, received the acceptance of all parties. The diocese of Verdun became a suffragan of the archdiocese of Besancon.[44]

On 31 August 1823, the Chapter of canons in the cathedral was restored. In accordance with the terms of the Concordat of 1802, there were eight canons prebendial, each nominated by the bishop, with the approval of the head-of-state. The dignities were: the vicars-general of the diocese, the dean, the canon-theological (preacher), the grand-penitentiary, the grand-cantor, and the master-of-ceremonies.[45]

On 21 November 1823, the diocesan seminary of Verdun was reopened.[46]

In the 1820s, documents began to circulate in the diocese, and appeared in newspapers, purporting to be "Prophecies of Orval," or "The Previsions of a Solitary," a divine revelation of the first half of the 15th century. They attracted increasing attention after the revolution of 1830 and the revolution of 1848. The bishop of Verdun, Louis Rossat (1844–1866), was compelled to conduct an investigation, and, in a letter to his fellow bishops of 6 February 1849, he pronounced them to be a forgery, the work of a "Brother Aubertin," otherwise a Canon Regular and still alive in 1837, who admitted to the bishop that he was the author of the prophecies. The cause of authenticity was immediately taken up by enthusiasts and monarchists supporting "King Henry V" of France, and a pamphlet war raged for some years.[47]

World War I

During World War I, 1n February 1916, the German offensive, directed by General Erich von Falkenhayn, surrounded and occupied Verdun.[48] More than 200 parishes fell under occupation by the German army and communication with the Bishop of Verdun practically cut off.[49] When the city came under bombardment the diocesan administration relocated to Bar-le-Duc, and did not return to the heavily damage Verdun until 1921. The administration of the parishes was confided to Thomas Louis Heylen, Bishop of Namur, who had been appointed vicar apostolic to French territory under German occupation.[50]

In 1917, the French recovered the city.[51] One hundred and fifty-three churches were destroyed and 166 damaged, including the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Verdun, whose towers have never been rebuilt. Of 186 priests who enlisted, 13 were killed, 20 seriously wounded, and 50 taken prisoner. One hundred and sixty citations and diplomas of honor and 120 decorations were awarded to priests of the diocese.[49]

Bishops of Verdun

Early bishops

  • [ ca. 346: St. Saintin ][52]
  • 356–383: Maurus[53]
  • ???–420: Salvinus[54]
  • ca. 440: Arator[55]
  • 454–470: Polychronius[56]
  • 470–486: Possessor[57]
  • 486–502: Freminus (Firminus)
  • 502–529: Vitonus[58]
  • 529–554: Desideratus[59]
  • 554–591: Agericus[60]
  • 588– c. 614: Harimeris[61]
  • ???–621: Ermenfrid
  • 623–626: Godo[62]
  • 641–648: Paulus
  • 648–665: Gisloald
  • 665–689: Gerebert
  • 689–701: Armonius
  • 701–710: Agrebert
  • 711–715: Bertalamius
  • 716: Abbo
  • 716–722: Pepo
  • 722–730: Volchisus
  • 730–732: Agronius
...
  • 753– after 775: Madalveus[63]
  • 781–798: Peter[64]
  • 798–802: Austram
  • 802–824: Heriland
  • 824–847: Hilduin[65]
  • 847–870: Hatto[66]
  • 870–879: Berenhard[67]
  • 880–923: Dado[68]
  • 923–925: Hugh (I)
  • 925–939: Bernuin[69]
  • 939–959: Berengar
  • 959–983: Wigfrid
  • 983–984: Hugh (II)
  • 984–984: Adalbero (I)[70]
  • 985–990: Adalbero II[71]

Prince-bishops

990 to 1300

  • 990–1024: Haimont (Heymon)
  • 1024–1039: Reginbert
  • 1039–1046: Richard I
  • 1047–1089: Theoderic
  • 1089–1107: Richer
  • 1107–1114: Richard II of Grandpré
1114-1117: Sede vacante[72] 1114–1117: Mazo, Administrator[73]
  • 1118–1129: Henry[74]
  • 1129–1131: Ursion de Watronville[75]
  • 1131–1156: Adalbero of Chiny[76]
  • 1156–1162: Albert I of Marcey
  • 1163–1171: Richard III of Crisse
  • 1172–1181: Arnulf of Chiny-Verdun
  • 1181–1186: Henri de Castres[77]
  • 1186–1208: Albert (II) of Hierges
  • 1208–1216: Robert of Grandpré[78]
  • 1217–1224: John of Aspremont
  • 1224–1245: Radulf of Torote
  • 1245–1245: Guy (Wido) of Traignel
  • 1245–1247: Guy (Wido) of Mellote
  • 1247–1252: John II of Aachen
  • 1252–1255: Jacques Pantaléon
  • 1255–1271: Robert II of Médidan
  • 1271–1273: Ulrich of Sarvay
  • 1275–1278: Gerard of Grandson
  • 1278–1286: Henri of Grandson
1286–1289: Sede vacante[79]

1300 to 1500

  • 1303–1305: Thomas de Blamont[82]
  • 1305–1312: Nicholas de Neuville[83]
  • 1312–1350: Henri d'Aspremont[84]
François Chaillot, suffragan[85]
  • 1350–1351: Otho de Poitiers[86]
  • 1351–1361: Hugues de Bar[87]
  • 1362–1372: Jean de Bourbon-Montperoux[88]
  • 1372–1375: Jean de Dampierre[89]
  • 1375–1381: Guy de Roye[90]
  • 1381–1404: Liébauld de Cousans, Avignon Obedience[91]
  • 1404–1420: Jean de Sarrebrück, Avignon Obedience[92]
  • 1419–1423: Louis de Bar, Administrator[93]
  • 1423–1423: Raymond[94]
  • 1423–1424: Guillaume de Montjoie[95]
  • 1424–1430: Louis de Bar, Administrator[96]
  • 1430–1437: Louis of Haraucourt
  • 1437–1449: Guillaume Fillastre[97]
  • 1449–1456: Louis de Haraucourt[98]
  • 1457–1500: William of Haraucourt[99]

after 1500

Bishops under French rule

  • 1623–1661: François de Lorraine[105]
1661–1668: Sede vacante[106]
Constitutional Bishop of Meuse
1791–1802:Jean-Baptiste Aubry[112]

After the Concordat of 1817 (1823)

(1817): Guillaume-Aubin de Villèle[113]
  • 1823–1830: Etienne-Bruno-Marie d'Arbou[114]
  • 1826–1831: François-Joseph de Villeneuve-Esclapon[115]
  • 1832–1836: Placide-Bruno Valayer[116]
  • 1836–1844: Augustin-Jean Letourneur[117]
  • 1844–1866: Louis Rossat[118]
  • 1867–1884: Augustin Hacquard[119]
  • 1884–1887: Jean-Natalis-François Gonindard[120]
  • 1887–1901: Jean-Pierre Pagis[121]
  • 1901–1909: Louis-Ernest Dubois
  • 1910–1913: Jean Arturo Chollet
  • 1914–1946: Charles-Marie-André Ginisty
  • 1946–1963: Marie-Paul-Georges Petit
  • 1963–1986: Pierre Francis Lucien Anatole Boillon
  • 1987–1999: Marcel Paul Herriot

21st century

  • 2000 – 2014: François Paul Marie Maupu[122]
  • 3 July 2014 – 27 September 2025: Jean-Paul Gusching[123]

See also

Books

Studies

  • Clouêt, Louis (1867, 1868, 1870). Histoire de Verdun et du pays verdunois. (in French). Verdun: Ch. Laurent. Volume 1. Volume 2. Volume 3.
  • Duchesne, Louis (1915). Fastes episcopaux de l'ancienne Gaule. Vol. III: Les provinces du Nord et de l'Est. (in French). Paris: A. Fontemoing, 1915.
  • Goyau, Georges (1912). "Diocese of Verdun." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 15 January 2023.
  • Jean, Armand (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'a 1801. (in French). Paris: A. Picard, 1891. Pp. 413-415.
  • Longnon; Auguste; Carrière, Victor (1915). Recueil des historiens de la France: Pouillés. (in French and Latin). Volume 5. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1903. [Verdun: Pouillé de 1600, pp. 349-387
  • Pionnier, Edmond (1906). Essai sur l'histoire de la révolution à Verdun: (1789-1795). (in French). Nancy: A. Crépin-Leblond, 1906.
  • Robinet, Nicolas-Narcisse (1888). Pouillé du Diocèse de Verdun. (in French). Volume 1. Verdun: Laurent, 1888.
  • Rochette, Marc (2005). Les évêques de Verdun: 1823-1946. (in French). Connaissance de la Meuse, 2005.
  • Roussel, Nicolas (1745, 1863). Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Verdun, avec le pouillé, la carte du diocèse et le plan de la ville en 1745... Édition revue et annotée par une Société d'ecclésiastiques et d'hommes de lettres, etc. (in French). Bar-le-Duc: Contant-Laguerre. Volume 1 (1863). Volume 2 (1864).
  • Sainte-Marthe, Denis de (1785). Gallia christiana, in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa (in Latin). Vol. Tomus decimus-tertius (13) (second ed.). Paris: Johannes- Baptista Coignard. pp. 150–185, Instrumenta, pp. 1162–1342, "Instrumenta, " pp. 551–584.

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Verdun is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[124]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Verdun — (VIRODUNENSIS.)

Comprises the Department of the Meuse. Suppressed by the Concordat of 1802, and subsequently united to the Diocese of Nancy, Verdun was re-established by the Bull of 27 July, 1817, and by the Royal Decree of 31 October, 1822. It was formed practically of the entire ancient Diocese of Verdun, portions of the ancient Dioceses of Trier, Châlons, Toul, Metz, and Reims, and became suffragan of the Archdiocese of Besançon. For the late tradition attributing the foundation of the Church of Verdun to St. Sanctinus, disciple of St. Denis the Areopagite, after he had founded the Church of Meaux, see MEAUX. Certain local traditions state that Sts. Maurus, Salvinus, and Arator were bishops of Verdun after St. Sanctinus, but the first bishop known to history is St. Polychronius (Pulchrone) who lived in the fifth century and was a relative and disciple of St. Lupus de Troyes. Other bishops worthy of mention are: St. Possessor (470-86); St. Firminus (486-502); Vitonus (Vanne) (502-29); St. Désiré (Desideratus) (529-54), St. Agricus (Airy) (554-91), friend of St. Gregory of Tours and of Fortunatus; St. Paul (630-48), formerly Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of Tholey in the Diocese of Trier; and St. Madalvaeus (Mauve) (753-76). The legend according to which Peter, successor of Madalvaeus, received the Diocese of Verdun from Charlemagne as a reward for the cession of the town of Pavia or Treviso to the Franks, is no longer accepted. Peter became Bishop of Verdun in 781, named to that office by Adrian I at the request of Charlemagne; shortly afterwards he was accused of conspiring against the emperor but was cleared of the accusation at the Synod of Frankfort (794). Bishop Dado (880-923) caused the "Gesta episcoporum Virodunensium" to be begun by Bertharius, a Benedictine of Saint-Vanne, afterwards continued down to 1250 by Lawrence, another monk of Saint-Vanne, and later by an anonymous writer.

Verdun, which had been originally a Roman civitas, shared the destiny of Lorraine in the Middle Ages and formed part of Lower Lorraine. The counts of Verdun belonged to the family of Ardennes of which Godfrey of Bouillon, the hero of the First Crusade, was an illustrious member. The Emperor Otto III in 997 conferred on Bishop Haymon of Verdun and his successors the titles of counts of their episcopal city and princes of the Holy Roman Empire with all the rights of sovereigns, especially that of naming for life a count subject to the commands of the bishop (Comte viager). These "episcopal counts" also called voués (advocati) continued to be selected by the bishops of Verdun from the family of Ardennes, and there were frequent quarrels between the bishops and the voués. Thus Godfrey of Bouillon, Voué of Verdun, was in conflict with Thierry the Great, Bishop of Verdun from 1047 to 1088, before leaving for the #1>Crusade, and renounced his rights to the countship. During the first half of the twelfth century, Renauld le Borgne, Count de Bar and Voué of Verdun, governed the town as a tyrant and resisted the authority of the bishops for thirty-five years. The feast entitled "Commemoration of the Miracles of the Virgin Mary" is celebrated in the diocese on 20 October, in honour of the final victory of Bishop Albero (1131-56) over "le Borgne" to whom the former ceded Clermontois and Vienne-le-Château. From this time the voués of Verdun were suppressed. The concessions obtained from the Emperor Louis of Bavaria in 1227 by the people of Verdun were the cause of a two-years' war between them and Bishop Raoul de Torote (1224-45). Jacques de Troyes, later pope under the name of Urban IV, was Bishop of Verdun from 1252-1255. Among other bishops are: Liébauld de Cusance (1379-1403), who signed a treaty with King Charles VI of France by which French dominion was established in Verdun; Cardinal Louis de Bar (1419-30); Guillaume de Fillastre (1437-49), historian of the Golden Fleece (Toison d'Or); and Cardinal Jean de Lorraine (1523-44). Nicolas Psaulme (1548-75) successfully withstood the inroads of Protestantism in the diocese. At the Council of Trent he vigorously attacked the system of commendatory abbots. It was during his episcopate that the Constable de Montmorency conquered in the name of Henry II, King of France, the "Three Bishoprics" of Metz, Toul, and Verdun (1552), though theoretically they remained territories of the empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Other incumbants of the see were Charles de Lorraine, Cardinal de Vaudemont (1585-87), and Eric de Lorraine Vaudemont (1593-1610) to whom, at the end of 1603, after many difficulties, Clement VIII gave full power to legalize the marriage of the Catholic Henry, heir to the Duchy of Lorraine, to his Calvinist cousin Catherine, sister of Henry IV.

Under the old regime the bishops of Verdun were suffragans of Trier. Eugene III visited Verdun to consecrate the new cathedral on 11 November, 1147. This cathedral was built at the order of Bishop Albero by the architect Garin, its cloister being a masterpiece of flamboyant Gothic, built from 1509 to 1517. The Abbey of Tholey was given in 634 to the church of Verdun by the rich deacon Adalgisus, its founder, out of esteem for his friend Bishop Paul. Until the time of Charlemagne it was the chief ecclesiastical school for the clergy of Verdun. The Benedictine Abbey of Vasloge, later Beaulieu, founded in 642 by St. Rouyn, numbered among its abbots in the eleventh century Blessed Richard (d. 1046), Abbot of Saint-Vanne, who reformed it, and St. Poppon, who died in 1048. The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Vanne de Verdun was founded in 952 to replace a community which had established in the same church by St. Vitonus. Among the abbots of Saint-Vanne may be mentioned the aforesaid Blessed Richard, who dissuaded the Emperor St. Henry from becoming a monk of Saint-Vanne when he came to Verdun for that purpose about the year 1024; also Abbot Conon, who played an important part in the conflict of investitures, and who died in 1178. For the important monastic reforms of the beginning of the seventeenth century, which, thanks to the prior Dom Didier de la Cour, emanated from the Abbey of Saint-Vanne, see BENEDICTINE ORDER. The superb Church of Saint-Vanne was destroyed in 1832 and its cloister, which had been converted into barracks, was burned in 1870. The Abbey of Saint-Paul de Verdun was founded (970-973) by Bishop Viefrid. It was originally occupied by Benedictines, but in 1135 by Premonstratensians, and was finally destroyed in 1552. The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Airy de Verdun, founded between 1025 and 1042, opened public schools about the year 1100, which enjoyed renown for a number of years. In 709 a monastery dedicated to St. Michael was established on Mount de Châtillon by Vulfoad, mayor of the palace under Childeric, King of Austrasia. Abbot Maragdus, a friend of Charlemagne, transferred it in 819 to the borders of the Meuse, thus founding the town of Saint-Mihiel. The reform inaugurated by the congregation of Saint Vanne was introduced into this monastery in 1606 by Cardinal Charles de Lorraine, one of its abbots. Cardinal de Retz was also an abbot of Saint-Mihiel and occupied the castle of Commercy, where he wrote his "Memoirs on the Fronde", and which castle he restored and afterwards sold to Charles IV of Lorraine.

The castle and town of Vaucouleurs belonged to the lords of Joinville, one of whom wrote the life of St. Louis. At this town Joan of Arc presented herself to Robert de Baudricout, offering her services against the English who were then besieging Orléans. Before the foundation of the Fortress of Montmedy there existed, on the rock dominating the town, a chapel under the protection of the Blessed Virgin which in the sixth century had replaced a statue of the Gaulish Mercury. The Diocese of Verdun figures largely in the history of art, owing to the sculptor Ligier Richier (1500-72), a pupil of Michelangelo. His mausoleum of Rene de Chalons, Prince of Orange, at Bar-le-Duc and his Holy Sepulchre in the church of Saint-Mihiel are admirable works of art. A council held at Verdun in 947 dealt with the conflict between Hugues and Artaud both of whom claimed the See of Reims, finally retained by Artaud. At Tusey (Tusiacum) near Vaucouleurs, a council, convened by Charles the Bald and Lothaire, was held in 860. The synodal letter despatched by the council and revised by Hincmar, dealt with usurpers of ecclesiastical benefices and maintained against the doctrine of Gottschalk that Jesus died for all men without exception. The Treaty of Verdun signed in 843 by the three Kings, Lothaire, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German, definitively confirmed the division of Charlemagne's empire. A number of saints are connected with the history of the diocese of whom the following are worthy of mention: St. Euspicius, who during the siege of Verdun in 502 by Clovis, prevailed on him to spare the town and received the territory of Micy near Orléans on which to build an abbey; he was an uncle of St. Vanne (Vitonus), Bishop of Verdun, and of St. Mesmin (Maximinus) from whom the Abbey of Micy received its name. St. Wandrille (Wandregesilus), b. in Verdun in 570, founder of the Monastery of Fontenelle and his nephew St. Gou, also born in Verdun and a monk of Fontenelle; St. Rouyn (Rodingus) of Irish origin, who founded the Abbey of Beaulieu in the episcopate of St. Paul and died in 708 at the age of 117; also Blessed Pierre of Luxembourg (1369-1387), Bishop of Metz and cardinal, son of Gui de Luxembourg, Count de Ligny. Father Gerbillon (1634-1707), a Jesuit, who played an important part in the Chinese Missions, came originally from Verdun, and the celebrated and learned Dom Calmet (1672-1757) was born at Mesnil la Horgne.

The chief pilgrimages of the diocese are: Notre Dame d'Avioth, near Montmédy, dating from the twelfth century, with a sanctuary dating from the fourteenth to the fifteenth centuries; Notre Dame de Benoite Vaux; Notre Dame de la Belle Epine, at Bouchon; Notre Dame du Guet, at Bar-le-Duc, dating from 1130; Notre Dame des Vertus, at Ligny; Ste Anne d'Argonne, dating from 1338; and Notre Dame of La Voûte at Vaucouleurs. Before the application of the law of 1901 regarding the associations, the following orders were represented in the Diocese of Verdun: Capuchins; Clerks Regular of our Saviour and several orders of teaching brothers. Among orders for women were: Canonesses Regular of St. Augustine of the Congregation of Our Lady, founded at Corbeil (Seine et Oise) in 1643, in 1816 they were charged with the education at Versailles of the daughters of the Chevaliers de St. Louis and were transferred to Verdun in 1839; also the Sisters of Compassion, a teaching order founded in 1846 with a mother-house at St-Hilaire-en-Woevre. At the end of the nineteenth century the religious congregations directed: 64 infant schools, 7 orphan asylums for girls, 2 houses of charity, 1 dispensary, 3 houses for nursing the sick in their homes, 1 house of retreat, 1 lunatic asylum, and 18 hospitals. In 1905 at the end of the concordatory regime there were 283,480 inhabitants, 30 first-class parishes, 444 succursals and 34 vicariates.

Gallia christiana, XIII (nova, 1785), 1160-1263; insir. 551-584; ROUSSEL, Hist. ecclesiastique et civile de Verdun, first published in 1745 (rev. ed., Bar-le-Duc, 1863); CLOUET, Hist. de Verdun et du pays verdunois (Verdun, 1867-1869); ROBINET AND GILANT, Pouille du diocese de Verdun (Verdun, 1888-1904); DUFOUR, Eglise cathedrale de Verdun (Verdun, 1863); LABANDE, Le charite a Verdun (Verdun, 1894); GABRIEL, Verdun, notice historique (Verdun, 1888).

References

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  2. Back to citation Duchesne, pp. 67-68. Denis of Paris and Meaux is often confused with Dionysius the Areopagite.
  3. Back to citation Gaston Rasneur, "Le concile de Cologne de 346," in: Bulletins de la Commission royale d'histoire de Belgique Vol. 72 (1903), p. 27-59, at p. 27, points out that Ammianus Marcellinus (History XV. 5.31) that in 355 Christians in Cologne constituted only a "conventiculum."
  4. Back to citation Duchesne, p. 67. Waitz, p. 40: "Legitur vero in vita sancti Servatii episcopi, ubi de Agripinensis aecclesiae archiepiscopi depositione res agitur, quod interfuisset Sanctinus urbis Clavorum episcopus." The acts and subscriptions of the "Council of Cologne", and therefore the evidence for Sanctinus, were declared forgeries as early as 1679, by Noël Alexandre, Selecta historiae ecclesiasticae capita, (in Latin), Volume 7 (Paris: Antonius Dezallier, 1679). pp. 288-291. More recently, the objections have been amplified by Louis Duchesne, "Le faux concile de Cologne (346)," (in French), in: Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, Volume 3 (Louvain: Université catholique de Louvain 1902), pp. 16-29. In favor of the authenticity of the council: G. Monchamp, "Pour l'authenticité des actes du concile de Cologne de 346," (in French), in: Bulletin de la classe des Lettres et des Sciences morales et politiques et de la classe des Beaux-Arts (Bruxelles 1902), pp. 245-288; however, at p. 277 he does not know what to do about Sanctinus: "La désignation de Sanctinus ( Sanctino Articlavorum ou Articlavo ) est une énigme; mais il nous semble qu'il faut assimiler le thème articlavorum à angusticlavorum."
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  32. Back to citation "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."
  33. Back to citation 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."
  34. Back to citation Pionnier, pp. 87-88.
  35. Back to citation J. B. Duvergier, Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, règlemens avis du Conseil d'état, (in French), Volume 1 (Paris: A. Guyot et Scribe, 1834), p. 244: "20. Tous titres et offices, autres que ceux mentionnés en la présente constitution, les dignités, canonicats, prébendes, demi-prébendes, chapelles, chapellenies, tant des églises cathédrales que des églises collégiales, et tous chapitres réguliers et séculiers de l'un et de l'autre sexe, les abbayes et prieurés en règle ou en commende, aussi de l'un et de l'autre sexe, et tous autres bénéfices et prestimonies généralement quelconques, de quelque nature et sous quelque dénomination que ce soit, sont, à compter du jour de la publication du présent décret, éteints et supprimés, sans qu'il puisse jamais en être établi de semblables."
  36. Back to citation Pionnier, pp. 89-91: "...Je déclare que je ne déshonorerai point ma vieillesse et que je n'attirerai point sur ma tête les foudres d'un Dieu vengeur en portant ce funeste serment. Que ma langue s'attache à mon palais si jamais je le prononce. Henri-Louis-René, évêque de Verdun."
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  38. Back to citation Ritzler &Sefrin, V, p. 416, note 1; VI, p. 443, note 1.
  39. Back to citation 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. 373: "L'archevêché de Trèves et ses suffragans, les évêchés de Metz, Toul, Verdun, Nanci et Saint-Diez."
  40. Back to citation Duvergier (ed.), Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglemens et avis du Conseil d'état,, Volume 13, p. 374: "L'archevêché de Besançon, et les nouveaux évêchés d'Autun, Strasbourg, Dijon, Nanci et Metz, que nous lui assignons pour suffragans; L'archevêché de Malines, et les nouveaux évêchés de Tournai, Gand, Namur, Liége, Aix-la-Chapelle, Trèves et Mayence, que nous lui assignons pour suffragans."
  41. Back to citation Robinet, p. 153.
  42. Back to citation Ritzler & Sefrin VI, p. 443, note 1. Bullarii Romani continuatio, (in Latin), Tomus septimus, pars 2 (Prati: Typographua Aldina 1852), pp. 1512-1517.
  43. Back to citation Bullarii Romani continuatio, (in Latin), Tomus septimus, pars 2 (Prati: Typographua Aldina 1852), pp. 2295-2304.
  44. Back to citation "Paternae Charitatis", § 4, p. 2297, column 2.
  45. Back to citation Robinet, p. 125.
  46. Back to citation Robinet, p. 155.
  47. Back to citation The Rambler, Volume 4 (London: James Burns 1849), pp. 73-74. Herbert Thurston, The War & the Prophets: Notes on Certain Popular Predictions Current in this Latter Age (London: Burns & Oates, 1915), pp. 10-19.
  48. Back to citation Paul Jankowski, Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War (New York: OUP USA, 2014), passim.
  49. Back to citation occurrence 49.0 Back to citation occurrence 49.1 "Verdun, Diocese of", The Catholic Encyclopedia: Supplement 1, Encyclopedia Press, 1922
  50. Back to citation Simon, A., "Heylen (Thomas-Louis)", Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. 32 (Brussels, 1964), 295-299.
  51. Back to citation Christina Holstein, Verdun 1917: The French Hit Back (Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Military, 2021).
  52. Back to citation The earliest reference to Saint Saintin occurs in the 10th century chronicle of Bertharius. Gallia christiana XIII, pp. 1162-1163. Duchesne, p. 69 with note 3.
  53. Back to citation Maurus: François Giry, Les petits Bollandistes vies des saints de l'ancien et du nouveau testament des martyres...: Notice sur les congrégations et les ordres religieux, histoire des reliques, (in French), Vol. 13 (Paris: Bloud et Barral, 1888), p. 271.
  54. Back to citation The name is found in Bertharius: Weitz, MGH, p. 40. Duchesne, p. 69, no. 3. It is also found in an episcopal list compiled after 1107. (Duchesne, p. 68). According to Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1164, Salvinus was elected six years after the death of Maurus, and he served for 31 years, dying c. 420.
  55. Back to citation Arator is said to have served as bishop for 33 years. Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1164.
  56. Back to citation Smith, William; Wace, Henry (1887). A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines, vol 4. Little, Brown & Company. p. 436. Gallia christiana XIII, pp. 1164-1165. Polychronius had been a student of Lupus of Troyes (429–479), and had a reputation as an exorcist: Pieter van den Bosch (ed.), in: Acta sanctorum Julii Vol. 7 (Antwerp: Jacobum du Moulin, 1731). pp. 56b, 70e, 81e.
  57. Back to citation Possessor died on 1 December 486, according to Hugh of Flavigny. Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1165. J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Cursus Completus, (in Latin), Vol. 154 (Paris 1853), p. 87, col. 1.
  58. Back to citation Alban Butler, Paul Burns, Butler's Lives of the Saints, new full edition, Volume 11 (Tunbridge Wells, UK: A&C Black, 1997), p. 73.
  59. Back to citation Bishop Desideratus attended the council of Auvergne in 535, and the council of Orléans in 549. Duchesne, p. 70, no. 9.
  60. Back to citation Around 570, Bishop Agericus was the godfather of King Childebert II of Austrasia (575–592). He is mentioned by Gregory of Tours with reference to events of 584–587. He died in 588 (Duchesne), or 591 (Gams). Gallia christiana XIII, pp. 1166-1168. Duchesne, p. 70, no. 10.
  61. Back to citation Harimeres (Charineres, Caramerus) was appointed by King Childebert II, whose referendarius he was, in 588. He was present at the Council of Paris in 614. Charles De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, A. 511 — A. 695 (in Latin), (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 282 ("Ex ciuitate Viredono Harimeris episcopus."). Weitz, MGH, p. 43. Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1168.
  62. Back to citation Bishop Godo was present at the council of Clichy, held on 27 September, in 626 or 627. Charles De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, A. 511 — A. 695 (in Latin), (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), pp. 290, 297 ("Ex ciuitate Viridono Godo episcopus."). Duchesne, p. 71, no. 12; Duchesne believed that Godo and Ermenfrid were the same person.
  63. Back to citation Bishop Madalveus was present at the convention of Attigny in 762 (Mansi dates it to 765). Hugues de Flavigny mentions two charters, of 771 and 775, in which his name appears. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin), Vol. 12 (Florence: A. Zatta 1766), p. 675. Duchesne, p. 72, no. 23.
  64. Back to citation Peter was sent by Charlemagne to Rome to be consecrated a bishop by Pope Hadrian I (772–791). The chronicler Bertarius assigns him 25 years of governance. Duchesne, p. 73, no. 24.
  65. Back to citation Bishop Hildinus took part in the council of Mainz in 829. He died on 13 January 847. Duchesne, p. 73-74, no. 27.
  66. Back to citation Bishop Hatto participated in the council of Savonnières in 859, and the congress of Coblenz on 5 June 860. In 862 he was at the council of Tousey. He took part in the coronation of Charles the Bald as king of Lotharingia at Metz on 9 September 869. He died on 1 January 870, after twenty-three years of service. Duchesne, p. 74, no. 28.
  67. Back to citation Bishop Berenhard (Bernard) participated in the council of Attigny on 25 June 870, and in September 871 at the council of Douzy. He died on 31 December 879. Duchesne, p. 74-75, no. 27.
  68. Back to citation Gerzaguet, Jean-Pierre. "Dado of Verdun". Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle, (Graeme Dunphy, ed.) Brill Online, 2016. Reference. 09 March 2016 (Wayback Machine 17 October 2016)
  69. Back to citation Bernuin was a son of Matfried I, Count of Metz, and of Lantesinde (sister of Dado).
  70. Back to citation Adalbero was later Bishop of Metz (as Adalbero II). Son of Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine.
  71. Back to citation Adalbero (II) was a cousin of Adalbero (I), his predecessor.
  72. Back to citation Clouet, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 2, p. 184.
  73. Back to citation Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1196.
  74. Back to citation Henry was archdeacon of Winchester and a chaplain of Mathilde, daughter of the king of England and wife of the Emperor. Mathilde had Henry appointed bishop of Verdun, in violation of canonical procedures. After many violations of canon law, he was deposed at the Council of Chalons-sur-Marne on 2 February 1129, by the papal legate, Cardinal Matthew, bishop of Albano. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun, Volume 2, pp. 185-199.
  75. Back to citation Ursion had been abbot of the monastery of Saint-Denis in Reims. He admitted his insufficiencies as bishop, even though not yet consecrated, and, at the council of Liége in 1131, voluntarily resigned, and returned to Saint-Denis. He died there in 1149. Gallia christiana XIII, p. 11199-1200. François-Alexandre Aubert de La Chesnaye Des Bois. "Dictionnaire de la noblesse: contenant les généalogies, l'histoire et la chronologie des familles nobles de France", (Paris: Schlesinger Brothers, 1867), p. 993. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun, Volume 2, pp. 200-205.
  76. Back to citation Adalbero (Adalbertus, Albertus, Albéron) III of Chiny: Albéron resigned at the beginning of 1156, and retired the monastery of Saint-Paul, where he had established the Premonstratensians in place of the decadent Benedictines. Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1328. He died on 2 November 1158. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun, Volume 2, pp. 200-205.
  77. Back to citation Henri: In 1186, Bishop Henri de Castres attended the synod held by Archbishop Folmar of Trier. Clouet, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 2, pp. 306-311. Gallia christiana XIII, p. 1207.
  78. Back to citation Robert: Eubel, Hierarchia catholica, I, p. 530.
  79. Back to citation Bishop Grandson died in June 1286. Clouët, III, p. p. 16.
  80. Back to citation Révigny was consecrated in Rome by Pope Nicholas IV on 21 March 1289, and took possession of the diocese at the end of the year. Révigny died in mid-1296 (Clouët, p. 27). Clouët, III, pp. 17-35.
  81. Back to citation Bishop Jacques de Révigny had died at the papal court at Anagni. Jean (III), who was Provost of the collegiate church of Montfaucon (diocese of Reims), was appointed bishop of Verdun by Pope Boniface VIII, exercising a reservation which he had made on the appointment, on 11 March 1297. Jacques died on 31 March 1302. Maurice Faucon, Les registres de Boniface VIII Vol. 1 (Paris: Thorin 1886), pp. 659-660, no. 1743. Eubel I, p. 530 with note 9.
  82. Back to citation Following the death of Jean d'Aspromonte on 31 March 1302, the canons of Verdun met, and in disagreement two factions elected two candidates, Canon Thomas, the Primicerius of the cathedral, and Canon Walter de Tremoreville. The matter was referred to the pope, and during the investigation Walter resigned his claims. Pope Boniface VIII confirmed Thomas. on 8 July 1303. Thomas died in June 1305. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 57-70. Georges Digard, Les registres de Boniface VIII (in Latin), Vol. 3 (Paris: Fontemoing 1907), p. 787, no. 5262.
  83. Back to citation Nicholas (I) was elected, confirmed by the archbishop of Trier, and provided by Pope Clement V on 27 August 1310. He suffered from eye problems, and resigned in 1312. Eubel I, p. 531 with note 11. Eubel I, p. 530, with note 10.
  84. Back to citation Henry (IV) d'Aspremont was appointed on 23 June 1312 by Pope Clement V. He took possession of the diocese in September 1312. He died on 5 January 1350, after thirty-seven years in office. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, p. 242. Eubel I, p. 531. Clouet, pp. 94-242.
  85. Back to citation Chaillot was titular bishop of Chalcedon, and protector of the Franciscans of Verdun. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 210. Nicolas-Narcisse Robinet, Pouillé du Diocèse de Verdun, Volume 1 (Verdun: Laurent, 1888), p. 25.
  86. Back to citation After the death of Bishop Henri, the cathedral Chapter elected archdeacon Henri de Germiny, but apparently on the intervention of Adhemar de Monteils, Bishop of Metz, Pope Innocent VI quashed the election, and named Adhemar's cousin, Otho de Poitiers on 12 February 1350. Otho was an Auditor of the Rota in the papal court. He was bishop for only thirteen months, when he resigned the office. A pension was arranged for him, of 1300 gold florins a year, to be paid by the new bishop. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 240-241. Eubel I, p. 531.
  87. Back to citation Hugh (III) de Bar was the younger son of Pierre de Bar and Bishop Otho's cousin Eleanor. He was confirmed by Innocent VI on 4 July 1351. He died on 13 August 1361, while on a pilgrimage to the monastery of S. Catherine in Sinai; he had been bishop for ten years and one month. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 241-300. Eubel I, p. 531.
  88. Back to citation John (IV) was named bishop of Verdun on 8 April 1362, by Pope Innocent VI. He died in 1372. Gallia christiana XIII, pp. 1225-1226. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 303-335. Eubel I, p. 531.
  89. Back to citation John V of Dampierre-St. Dizier: Jean was confirmed by Pope Gregory XI on 19 April 1372. He died on 4 May 1375. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 341-342. Eubel I, p. 531 with note 13.
  90. Back to citation Guy (III) was appointed bishop of Verdun by Pope Gregory XI on 28 May 1375. He was transferred to the diocese of Dol on 27 May 1381 by Pope Clement VII, and then to the diocese of Tours on 17 October 1382. On 8 October 1383, he became bishop of Castres, and on 4 August 1385 Archbishop of Sens. On 27 May 1390, he was named archbishop of Reims. Guy died on 8 June 1409. Eubel I, pp. 173; 225; 419; 448; 503; 531 with note 14.
  91. Back to citation Leobald(us) of Cousance was appointed by Pope Clement VII on 5 July 1381. He was opposed, ineffectually, by Wenceslaus of Bohemia. He died on 4 May 1404. Gallia christiana XIII, pp. 1228-1229. Clouët, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 379-535. Eubel I, p. 531 with note 15.
  92. Back to citation John (VI) of Saarbrücken held the degree of Doctor of Canon Law from the University of Paris. He was a prebendary canon of the cathedral of Verdun, and archdeacon of Rivello (diocese of Toul). He was confirmed as bishop by Pope Benedict XIII on 2 July 1404. He was transferred to the diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne vy Pope Martin V, on 10 January 1420. He died on 30 November 1438. Gallia christiana XIII, pp. 1229-1230. Clouet, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 495-591. Eubel I, pp. 175, 531; II, p. 122, note 1.
  93. Back to citation Louis de Bar had been appointed a cardinal by Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon Obedience) on 21 December 1397. He became suburbicarian Bihop of Porto in 1412. He received the administratorship of Verdun for the first time by Pope Martin V, on 10 January 1420, and resigned on the appointment of a bishop on 20 March 1423. Eubel I, pp. 30, no. 7; 531 with note 17.
  94. Back to citation Raymond was a doctor of Canon Law. He was appointed by Pope Martin V to the diocese of Verdun (as Administrator? as Bishop?) on 20 March 1423. Eubel I, p. 531, with note 18. Eubel conjectures that he refused his provision.
  95. Back to citation Montjoie was transferred from the diocese of Saint Papoul (1421–1423) to Verdun by Pope Martin V, on 25 July 1423. He was transferred to the diocese of Béziers on 14 February 1424. He died on 3 April 1451. Clouet, Histoire de Verdun Vol. 3, pp. 599-601. Eubel I, pp. 138, 390, 531; II, p. 107 note 1.
  96. Back to citation Louis de Bar had been appointed a cardinal by Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon Obedience) on 21 December 1397. He became suburbicarian Bishop of Porto in 1412. He received the administratorship of Verdun for the second time on 14 February 1424. Louis died on 23 June 1430. Eubel I, pp. 30, no. 7; 531 with note 17.
  97. Back to citation Eubel, Hierarchia catholica II, p. 269 with note 1.
  98. Back to citation Ulrich de Blamont had been elected by the cathedral Chapter, but he was rejected. Louis had been Bishop of Toul (1437–1449), and was transferred to Verdun by Pope Nicholas V, in an exchange with Bishop Guillaume Filastre. Eubel II, pp. 258, 269 with note 2.
  99. Back to citation Eubel II, p 269 with note 3.
  100. Back to citation Son of René II, Duke of Lorraine.
  101. Back to citation The Bishopric was annexed to France in 1552. This was not formally recognised in the Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Charles-Nicolas Gabriel, Étude sur Nicolas Psaulme, évêque et comte de Verdun, 1518-1575 (Verdun: L. Doublat, 1867), pp. 9-59.
  102. Back to citation (1561–1587), bishop of Toul from 1580 to 1587, son of Nicolas de Mercœur.
  103. Back to citation (1576–1623), son of Nicolas de Mercœur.
  104. Back to citation Charles de Lorraine-Chaligny was the nephew of Bishop Eric de Lorraine, who was also his consecrator as a bishop, on 30 October 1616. He resigned on 22 April 1622, and joined the Society of Jesus as a scholastic. Saive Numismatique, Coins of Lorraine: Bishopric of Verdun. Robert Parisot, Histoire de Lorraine, (in French), Volume 2 (Paris: Picard, 1922), pp. 37-38. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 370.
  105. Back to citation François was the brother of his predecessor, Charles de Lorraine. He died on 11 July 1661. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 370 with note 4. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 416, note 2.
  106. Back to citation Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 370. note 4.
  107. Back to citation Hocquincourt was nominated by King Louis XIV on 24 July 1665. He was approved by Pope Clement IX in the consistory of 27 February 1668. He died on 29 October 1679. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 416 with note 3.
  108. Back to citation Jean, p. 414. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 416 with note 4.
  109. Back to citation Jean, p. 414. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 416 with note 5.
  110. Back to citation Jean, p. 414-415. Ritzler & Sefrin VI, p. 4443 with note 2.
  111. Back to citation Desnos (or Des Nos) was appointed by Pope Clement XIV in the consistory of 12 March 1770. He died in exile at Coblenz on 2 September 1793. Jean, p. 415. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 443 with note 3.
  112. Back to citation Aubry: Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 48-51.
  113. Back to citation Villèle was appointed by Louis XVIII in 1817, and was preconised by Pope Pius VII, but, due to the problems with the Concordat of 1817, he was not consecrated or instituted. Robinet, Pouillé, p.51.
  114. Back to citation Arbou was transferred to the diocese of Bayonne by Pope Pius VIII on 5 July 1830. Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 51-52. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, p. 103, 397.
  115. Back to citation Villeneuve-Esclapon: Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 52-53.
  116. Back to citation Valayer: Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 53.
  117. Back to citation LetourneurRobinet, Pouillé, pp. 53-54.
  118. Back to citation Rossat: Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 54-55.
  119. Back to citation Hacquard: "Mgr. Hacquard, Évêque de Verdun," in: Revue hebdomadaire du Diocese de Lyon Vol. 8 (Lyon: Vitte et Perrussel 1884), pp. 73-75. Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 56-57.
  120. Back to citation Godinard: Robinet, Pouillé, pp. 57-58.
  121. Back to citation Pagis: Robinet, Pouillé, p. 58.
  122. Back to citation Maupu had been vicar-general of Orléans. He was bishop of Verdun from 9 March 2000 to September 2014. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (in Latin) Vol. 92 (Città del Vaticano, 2000), p. 373.
  123. Back to citation Gusching had been vicar-general of Amiens. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (in Latin) Vol. 106 (Città del Vaticano, 2014), p. 591.
  124. Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Verdun, official website

49°09′34″N 5°22′56″E / 49.15944°N 5.38222°E

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