The former French Catholic Archbishopric of Arles had its episcopal seat in the city of Arles, in southern France. At the apex of the delta (Camargue) of the Rhone River, some 40 miles from the sea, Arles grew under Liburnian, Celtic, and Punic influences, until, in 46 B.C., a Roman military veteran colony was founded there by Tiberius Claudius Nero, under instructions from Julius Caesar.Fisquet, part 1, pp. 359–361.David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, "Archdiocese of Arles"; retrieved 16 May 2024. Gabriel Chow, GCatholic.org, "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Arles"; retrieved: 16 May 2024. For centuries, the archbishops of Arles were regional leaders in creating and codifying canon law, through councils and synods.Duchesne, p. 141.
The diocese was suppressed in 1822, fulfilling a condition in the Concordat of 1817 with King Louis XVIII.
Diocesan history The bishopric of Arles was founded before the middle of the third century. Its status as a metropolitan archdiocese was defined by Pope Leo I in 450. Its suffragans were the dioceses of: Orange, Avignon, Carpentras, Cavaillon, Marseille, Toulon, Saint-Paul-trois-chateaux, and Vaison. The archdiocese was suppressed a first time under the first French republic, to become part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Aix. The diocese was restored by Pope Pius VII in the concordat with King Louis XVIII on 11 June 1817.
The Archbishopric of Arles was suppressed again by Pius VII on 6 October 1822 in the bull "Paternae Charitatis", carrying out the commitments he had made in the apostolic letter to Louis XVIII in 1817. Its territory was incorporated into the Archdiocese of Aix. The latter is since officially called "Archdiocese of Aix (-Arles-Embrun)" and is no longer a Metropolitan but an archiepiscopal title, within the ecclesiastical province of Marseille.
Early councils
The first Council of Arles was held in 314, at the urging of the Emperor Constantine, for the purpose of putting an end to the Donatist controversy. Several bishops were invited by Constantine personally, including the bishop of Syracuse. Bishops from the western part of the empire including three from Britain attended. Claims that 600 or 300 bishops were present cannot be sustained; the synodial letter to Pope Sylvester was signed by thirty-three bishops, and a number of priests and deacons who held the proxies of bishops who did not attend. Archbishop Marinus of Arles presided, apparently on the appointment of Constantine. The synod confirmed the findings of the Council of Rome (313), recognizing the validity of the election of Caecilian of Carthage, and confirmed the excommunication of Donatus of Casae Nigrae. Its twenty-two canons dealing with various abuses that had crept into ecclesiastical life since the persecution of Diocletian (284–305) are important documents of early ecclesiastical legislation.
In 353, the Emperor Constantius II campaigned against the imperial usurper Magnus Magnentius, who had killed his brother, the Emperor Constans. After the suicide of Magnentius, following his defeat in the Battle of Mons Seleucus, Constantius took up his residence in Arles. Pope Liberius sent ambassadors to him, requesting permission to hold a council in Aquileia, but Constantius instead summoned a council which met in Arles. It was agreed beforehand that a compromise in which the orthodox Athanasius of Alexandria would be condemned, but that Arianism would also be condemned. The majority of the council, including Constantius himself and Archbishop Saturninus of Arles, was decidedly Arian in attitude. The two papal legates were compelled to reject communion with Athanasius, but the council refused to condemn Arius, an act which deeply disturbed the pope. In 356, Archbishop Saturninus held another council at Béziers, where he attempted to turn the bishops against the orthodox Bishop Hilary of Poitiers, but with no success.Hefele, Volume 2, p. 216.
In the synod of 443 (or 452), attended also by bishops of neighbouring provinces, fifty-six canons were formulated, mostly repetitions of earlier disciplinary decrees. Neophytes were excluded from major orders; married men aspiring to the priesthood were required to promise a life of continency, and it was forbidden to consecrate a bishop without the assistance of three other bishops and the consent of the metropolitan (Canon 5"Episcopum sine metropolitano, vel epistola metropolitani, vel tribus comprovincialibus, non liceat ordinare: ita ut alii cpmprovinciales epistolis admoneanturm ut se suo responso consensisse significent. Quod si inter partes aliqua nata fuerit dubitatiok majori numero metropolitanus in electione consentiat.).
A council, called the third council of Arles, was held on 30 December of some year between 449 and 462, presided over by Archbishop Ravennius and including twelve other bishops, to settle the differences that had arisen between Faustus, Abbot of Lérins, and Theodorus Bishop of Fréjus.
Apropos of the conflict between the archiepiscopal See of Vienne and Arles a council was held in the latter city in 463, which had earlier called forth a famous letter from Pope Leo I (440–461), defining the metropolitan status of Arles.
Between 475 and 480 another council was called by Archbishop Leontius, attended by thirty bishops, in which the teachings of the priest Lucidus on pre-destination were condemned.Charles Munier (ed.), Concilia Galliae, A. 314 – A. 506 (Turnhold: Brepols 1963), pp. 159–160. Jacques Sirmond (ed.), Conciliorum Galliae Collectio Tomus primus (Paris: Didot 1789), pp. 631–640. Karl Joseph von Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents, Volume 4 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1895), pp. 20–24.
On 6 June 524, on the occasion of the consecration of the basilica in honor of the Virgin Mary outside the walls of Arles, a council of fourteen bishops and four priest delegates, was held under the presidency of Archbishop Caesarius of Arles; its four canons deal chiefly with the conferring of clerical orders.De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, , Turnholt: Brepols (1963), pp. 42–46. Karl Joseph von Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents, Volume 4 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1895), pp. 131–132. A number of Caesarius of Arles' works have been published in Sources Chrétiennes.SC: Vol. 175 (Sermones 1–20); 243 (Sermones 21–55); 330 (Sermones 56–80); 345 (Works for the monks, I); 398 (Works for the monks, II); 447 (Sermons on scripture, II: 85–101); 536 (Life of Caesarius of Arles). See also: Jacques-Paul Migne (ed.), Patrologiae latinae cursus completus, Volume 67 (Paris: Migne, 1848), pp. 997–1166, containing the text of the Council of Arles (pp. 1141–1152).
The synod of Arles of 29 June 554 was presided over by Archbishop Sapandus, with eighteen other bishops or their proxies in attendance. The synod was mostly concerned with relegislating the canons of earlier synods, especially concerning the discipline of the regular and secular clergy.Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents, Volume 4, pp. 376–377. Another synod may have taken place, possibly in 682.
On 3 February 557, Pope Pelagius I wrote to Archbishop Sapaudus, sending him the pallium and naming him Apostolic Vicar for all Gaul.The papal bull "Maiorum nostrorum," in: Bullarum diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum Romanorum pontificum, , Taurinensis editio, Volume 1 (Turin: Seb. Franco, 1857), pp. 154–155.
The liturgical uses of Arles were recommended by pope Gregory the Great as a model for Augustine of Canterbury.Cf. Louis Duchesne, Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution: A Study of the Latin Liturgy Up to the Time of Charlemagne, 4th English ed. (London: Society for promoting Christian knowledge, 1912), p. 91 ("In regard to the liturgy the matter was different. Arles was not of sufficient importance at the time when the Churches of Gaul felt the necessity of regulating the order of worship."), note 1; pp. 98–99 ("The work of evangelising the Anglo-Saxons was again taken in hand, shortly afterwards, by Irish missionaries from the North, where at Lindisfarne, a small island on the east coast of Northumberland, they had their headquarters. With the advent of these new apostles the liturgy used in Ireland, that is to say, the Gallican rite was imported into the Anglo-Saxon Churches.")
Carolingian Councils An important council was held at Arles on 10 May 813, one of five held at the instigation of Charlemagne, for the correction of abuses and the reestablishment of ecclesiastical discipline. Archbishop Jean of Arles and Archbishop presided as missi dominici of the emperor. Its decrees insist on a sufficient ecclesiastical education of bishops and priests, on the duty of both to preach frequently to the people and to instruct them in the Catholic Faith, on the obligation of parents to instruct their children, etc.
In 1034 a meeting was held at Arles, in the nature of a revivalist meeting, for the re-establishment of peace, the restoration of Christian Faith, the awakening in the popular heart of a sense of divine goodness and of salutary fear by the consideration of past evils. Meetings were being held all over France, from the beginning of the millennium, inspired by the people and eagerly embraced by the bishops.J.-D. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, , Vol. 20 (Florence: A. Zatta 1763), p. 549. Rodulfus (Raoul) Glaber, "Historiarum sui temporis libri V," Book IV, chapter 5, in: Marcel Prou (ed.), Raoul Glaber, (Paris: Picard 1886), p. 103: "Tunc ergo primitus cepere in Aquitanie partibus ab episcopis et abbatibus, ceterisque viris sacre religionis devotis, ex universa plebe coadunari conciliorum conventus, ad quos etiam multa delata sunt corpora sanctorum atque innumerabiles sanctarum apoforete reliquiarum. Dehinc per Arelatensem provintiam, ac Lugdunensem, sicque per universam Burgundiam usque in ultimas Francie partes per universos episcopatus indictum est, qualiter certis in locis a presulibus magnatisque totius patrie de reformanda pace et sacre fidei institutione celebrarentur concilia. Quod etiam tota multitudo universe plebis audiens, letanter adiere maximi, mediocres ac minimi, parati cuncti obedire quicquid preceptum fuisset a pastoribus eeclesie...."
From 1080 to 1098, Aicard continued to act as bishop even though he had been deposed. He was followed on the episcopal throne by Ghibbelin of Sabran, who was later Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.
Archbishop Baussan's councils On 10 July 1234, a council was held in Arles under the presidency of Archbishop Jean Baussan. It issued twenty-four canons, mostly against the prevalent Albigensian heresy, and for the observance of the decrees of the Lateran Council of 1215 and that of Toulouse in 1229. Close inspection of their dioceses is urged on the bishops, as a remedy against the spread of heresy; testaments are declared invalid unless made in the presence of the parish priest. This measure, met with in other councils, was meant to prevent testamentary dispositions in favour of known heretics. On 11 November 1236, Archbishop Jean held another council, in which the canons of the council of 1234 were republished.
In 1251, Archbishop Jean Baussan (1233–1258)of Arles, held a provincial council near Avignon (Concilium Insculanum), six of his suffragan bishops being present, and two absent. Every bishop was expected to have a diocesan inquisition of heretics, established according to canon law and by the authority of the provincial council and the bishop himself; they should use the Dominican Order as their agents (Canon 2). The bishops were to take chazrge of the property of heretics (Canon 3). Once an excommunication is pronounced in canonical form, it is to be observed by all, with a fine extracted from violators (Canon 4). Clandestine marriages are prohibited; a marriage must be celebrated in conformity to canon law (Canon 13).