The Diocese of Grenoble–Vienne-les-Allobroges (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in south-eastern France. The diocese, erected in the 4th century as the Diocese of Grenoble, comprises the department of Isère and the former canton of Villeurbanne (Rhône), in the Region of Rhône-Alpes. In 2006, the name was changed from the diocese of Grenoble to the diocese of Grenoble–Vienne. The current bishop is Jean-Marc Eychenne, appointed on 14 September 2022.

The diocese

Before the French Revolution Grenoble was a suffragan diocese of the Archbishopric of Vienne,Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 212 note 1; VI, p. 228 note 1. and included the deanery of Savoy. In 1779, the deanery was made a diocese in its own right, with the episcopal seat at Chambéry.

Under severe pressure from First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte,Pius VII, Bullarii Romani continuatio, , Tomus decimus primus (Volume 11), (Rome: ex typographia Reverendae Camerae Apostolicae, 1849), pp. 245-249, at p. 245 § 2 "Hae fuerunt causae, quae Nos superioribus mensibus conventionem inter hanc apostolicam Sedem, et primum consulem reipublicae Gallicanae ineundamm impulerunt, eae eaedem cogunt nunc ad coetera illa progredi...." Pope Pius VII issued the bull "Qui Christi Domini vices" on 29 November 1801. The bull first abolished all the metropolitan archdiocese and dioceses in France, and then recreated fifty of them, arranged in ten metropolitan ecclesiastical districts; the others were suppressed. In the metropolitanate of Lyon, the pope created suffragan dioceses of Mende, Grenoble, Valence, and Chambéry.Bullarii Romani continuatio,, pp. 245-249, at p. 247 § 8: "ecclesiam archiepiscopalem Lugdunensem, et ecclesias episcopales Mimatensem, Grationopolitanam, Vanentinensem, et Camberiensem, quas ei in suffraganeas assignamus...." Thirteen archipresbyterates of the former Archdiocese of Vienne were affiliated to the Diocese of Grenoble, and there were annexed to it some parishes from the then Diocese of Belley (now Diocese of Belley-Ars), the Diocese of Gap, the Archdiocese of Lyon, and the Diocese of Valence.

On 26 December 1970, in a reorganization of the ecclesiastical province of Lyon, the Diocese of Saint-Étienne was established, and the diocese of Grenoble lost to Lyon all its territory in the civil province of Rhône.Pope Paul Vi, "Signa Temporum," 26 December 1970, in: Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 63 (1971), pp. 724-726: "...itemque a dioecesi Gratianopolitana separamus perpetuoque eidem archidioecesi Lugdunensi adnectimus integrum territorium municipiorum civilis provinciae Rhône, intra fines dioecesis Gratianopolitanae exstans."

The diocese of Grenoble is in possession of an almost complete account of the pastoral visits made between 1339 and 1970, a palæographical record perhaps unique of its kind in France. Most of the records of the time before 1219 were destroyed in a flood and were only partially reconstructed.Prudhomme, p. 106.

The bishops of Grenoble held the monopoly on public bakeries (fours) in the diocese. In 1213, the people complained that the number of fours was too small for the needs of the population, and they petitioned Bishop Jean de Sassenage (1164–1220) to increase their number. The Dauphin heard of the situation and approached the bishop with an offer to finance the construction of two new bakeries in exchange for a half-interest in the profits. The bishop agreed.Prudhomme, p. 103.

Some historically important bishops of Grenoble were:

Hugh of Grenoble (1080–1132), noted for his zeal in carrying out Pope Gregory VII's orders concerning reform and for his opposition to the Bishop of Vienne, later Pope Callixtus II. He presided over a diocesan synod held in December 1084, in which he and the synod issued a decree severely limiting access to the Grand Chartreuse.Hauréau, Gallia christiana XVI, "Instrumenta," pp. 79-80. In October 1098, Bishop Hugh was in southern Italy, where he attended the council of Pope Urban II at Bari. On his return to Grenoble, he held another diocesan synod, at which he received the feudal oath of Count Guy, who had donated all the churches he controlled in the diocese of Grenoble and in other dioceses to the Church of Grenoble and its bishops.Hauréau, Gallia christiana XVI, "Instrumenta," p. 82, no. XIV: "Erat enim tunc episcopus Hugo in Apulia, sive apud Salernum. Postquam vero inde venit praedictus episcopus Hugo, et tenuit synodum suam in civitate Gratianopoli, in ecclesia S. Vindcentii, veni ego comes Guigo praenominatus ante praesentiam praedicti pontificis, et in manu ejusdem episcopi, coram omni clero, dimisi ego praedictus comes omnes ecclesias, sive census quos ab ecclesiis requirebam....." Pierre Scarron (1621–1667), who, with the co-operation of many religious orders, restored Catholicism in Dauphiné Jean de Caulet (1726–1771), who brought about general acceptance of the Bull Unigenitus, whose collection of books was the nucleus of the public library of the city

History Domninus of Grenoble, the first known Bishop of Grenoble, attended the Council of Aquileia in 381.

Shortly after 945, the territory and city of Grenoble were occupied by the Saracens. The bishop was obliged to flee with his treasures, and took up residence at the priory of S. Donat, in the Rhône just north of Valence. The Saracens were expelled in 965 by forces organized by Bishop Isarnus (949–990).Joseph Toussaint Reinaud, Invasions des Sarrazins en France, et de France en Savoie, en Piémont et dans la Suisse, pendant les 8e, 9e, et 10e siècles, , (1836), pp. 180-181, 198. Le Camus, pp. 11-12. After the threat was gone, Bishop Isarnus rebuilt the cathedral,Marion, Cartulaire, p. 98: "Notum sit omnibus fidelibus filiis Gratianopolitanę ecclesię quod, post destructionem paganorum, Isarnus episcopus edificavit ecclesiam Gratianopolitanam." and initiated a project to repopulate the city and the valley of Graisivaudan (Grévaudan). He settled people of all classes, and, since there were as yet no counts or other nobility in the neighborhood, the bishops became the lords of both the city and the valley.Reinaud, pp. 198-200. Marion (1869), Cartulaires..., pp. 93-94: "Et ideo, quia paucos invenit habitatores in predicto episcopatu, collegit nobiles, mediocres et pauperes, ex longinquis terris, de quibus hominibus consolata esset Gratianopolitana terra; deditque predictus episcopus illis hominibus castra ad habitandum et terras ad laborandum, in quorum castra sive in terras episcopus jamdictus retinuit dominationem et servitia, sicut utriusque partibus placuit." Archibald Ross Lewis (1965), The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050 (Austin: University of Texas Press 1965), p. 258.

On 15 September 1219, a disastrous flood struck the entire city of Grenoble and its suburbs. A dam upstream, which held back the waters of a large lake suddenly gave way and loosed a deluge down the Drac river."rupto cujusdam lacus vehementis Oysencii obstaculo, diluvium eduxit cum tanto furore et impetu...." Thérèse Sclafert, Le Haut-Dauphiné au moyen âge, , (Paris: Recueil Sirey, 1926), pp. 183-185. The octogenarian Bishop Jean de Sassenage wrote a pastoral letter, giving many details and imploring the people of the diocese to come to the aid of the victims.Prudhomme, pp. 103-106. Hauréau, Gallia christiana XVI, "Instrumenta", pp. 92-94, gives the Latin text.

Plague and schism In 1348, the Black Plague reached the valleys of the Dauphinate, setting off unrest among the inhabitants. The principal victims of their fears were the Jews. The authorities did not move to protect the Jews, and instead the Dauphin Humbert actually encouraged the disorders. Many were massacred and despoiled of their property. In the city of Grenoble, 74 Jews were arrested, given trials, and condemned to be burned alive at the stake.Prudhomme, p. 198. Auguste Prudhomme, Les juifs en Dauphiné aux XIVè et XVè siècles, (Grenoble: Dupont, 1883), pp. 27-31.

On 30 March 1349, the childless Humbert II of Viennois, the last of the Dauphins, sold his territory to Charles, the eldest son of the Duke of Normandy. The Dauphiné acquired a governor, a chancellor, and a parliament.Prudhomme, p. 201.

Humbert was named titular Latin Patriarch of Alexandria by Pope Clement VI on 3 January 1351,Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, p. 82. and was the consecrator of Bishop Rodolfe de Chissé of Grenoble on 23 February 1351.Rodolfe was named bishop on 16 September 1350. Eubel I, p. 267. Prudhomme, p. 207.

in the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), France and Savoy chose to support the Avignon Obedience and its pope, Robert of Geneva, who was related to both ruling families. As Clement VII, he sought to lessen the civil discord which had enveloped Grenoble by transferring Bishop Rodolphe de Chissé (1350–1380) to the diocese of Tarentaise. He then appointed the papal Auditor Causarum François de Conzié (1380–1388). Conzié spent little time in Grenoble, due to his duties at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Arlese Roman Curia in Avignon, where he was named chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church in 1383.Prudhomme, pp. 219-221. Eubel I, pp. 267, 472. When he was promoted to the archdiocese of Arles, Pope Clement replaced him with the Benedictine monk Aymon de Chissé (1388–1427).Hauréau, Gallia christiana XVI, pp. 250-251. Eubel I, p. 267.

Protestantism From the first half of the thirteenth century the French branch of the Waldenses had its chief seat in Dauphiné, from which country emanated Guillaume Farel, the most captivating preacher of the French Reformation. Pierre de Sébiville, an apostate Carthusian and then an apostate Franciscan,Auguste Prudhomme, Histoire de Grenoble, , (Grenoble: A. Gratier, 1888), pp. 317-319. introduced Protestantism into Grenoble in 1522. The diocese was sorely tried by the wars of religion, especially in 1562, when the cruel François de Beaumont, Baron des Andrets, acted as the Prince de Condé's lieutenant-general in Dauphiné.

On 21 August 1615, the Protestant assembly met at Grenoble, and invited King Louis XIII to divert a journey to Bordeaux which he had just begun, to visit Grenoble.Georges Desdevises du Dezert, L'église & l'état en France, , Vol. 1 (Paris: Société Française d'Imprimerie et de Libraire, 1907), p. 22.

In April 1628, to resist an uprising of Protestants, the Catholic officials of Grenoble took measures to strengthen the citadel and the fortifications of the city. On 11 August of the same year, troops which were being transferred to Italy in aid of the duke of Mantua passed through the valley of Grenoble; they left behind a pestilence which decimated the population. In February 1629, King Louis XIII led his army to Italy, spending several days in Grenoble. Requisitions of foodstuffs produced a famine later in the year.Prudhomme, Histoire de Grenoble, p. 458.

Bishop Pierre Scarron (1620–1668) had begun the planning for a diocesan seminary, and had obtained letters patent authorizing him to proceed; but he died a few days after the letters were registered by the parliament of Grenoble, and it was left to his successor, Étienne Le Camus (1671–1707), to carry the project into realization. The seminary was at first installed in 1673 in the old priory of S. Martin-de-Miséré, under the direction of the Oratorians. Bishop Camus quickly came to the realization that the seminary should be in Grenoble, and he acquired the site of the Protestant church in Grenoble, which had recently been torn down. The priory of S. Martin became a minor seminary.Prudhomme, Histoire de Grenoble, p. 547-548.

In 1745–1746, 300 Protestants were condemned to flogging, loss of noble status, prison, the galleys, and death by the parliament of Grenoble.Desdevises du Dezert, L'église & l'état en France Vol. 1, pp. 228-229.

Jesuits