The Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin: Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis; French: Archidiocèse de Sens et Auxerre) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese comprises the department of Yonne, which is in the region of Burgundy.
Established in sub-apostolic times, according to late local legends, the diocese, as metropolis of the province of Quarta Lugdunensis, achieved ecclesiastical metropolitical status in the 7th century. For a time, the archbishop of Sens held the title "primate of the Gauls and Germania". The title was transferred to Lyon in the latter part of the 11th century.
After the creation of the archdiocese of Paris in 1622, the metropolitan archdiocese of Sens had three suffragan (subordinate) dioceses: Auxerre, Nevers and Troyes.Boislisle, p. 45. The Diocese of Bethléem at Clamecy was also dependent on the metropolitan see of Sens. On 8 December 2002, as part of a general reorganization of the dioceses of France undertaken, at least in part, to respond to demographic changes, the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre ceased to have metropolitan rank and became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Dijon, which became the centre of a new ecclesiastical province for the Burgundy administrative region.
History
The history of the religious beginnings of the church at Sens dates from Savinian and Potentian, and through legend to the Dioceses of Chartres, Troyes and Orléans. Local legend claimed that the two were sent by Saint Peter himself (d. 68).Boislisle, pp. 42–43, though he points out that the claim is first made in the 15th century. Gregory of Tours is silent regarding Savinian and Potentian, alleged founders of the See of Sens; the Hieronymian Martyrology, which was revised before 600 at Auxerre (or Autun), ignores them. The cities of Chartres and Troyes have nothing about these men in their local liturgy prior to the 12th century, and that of Orléans nothing prior to the 15th, pertaining to the preaching of Altinus, Eodaldus and Serotinus (companions of Savinian and Potentian).
Before the ninth century there was (in the cemetery near the monastery of Pierre le Vif at Sens) a group of tombs, among which are those of the first bishops of Sens. In 847, the transfer of their remains to the church of St-Pierre le Vif inspired popular devotion towards Savinian and Potentian. In 848, Wandelbert of Prüm named them the first patrons of the church of Sens. Ado, in his martyrology published shortly afterwards, speaks of them as envoys of the apostles and as martyrs. The Martyrology of Usuard (around 875) depicts them as envoys of the "Roman pontiff" and martyrs. In the middle of the 10th century the relics of these two saints were hidden in a subterranean vault of the Abbey of St-Pierre le Vif to escape the pillage of the Hungarians, but in 1031 they were placed in a reliquary established by the monk Odoranne. This monk (in a chronicle published about 1045) speaks of Altinus, Eodaldus, and Serotinus as apostolic companions of Savinian and Potentian, but does not view them as legitimate.
In a document which (according to Henri Bouvier) dates from the end of the sixth century or the beginning of the seventh—but according to Louis Duchesne, who labels the Gerbertine legend as written in 1046 and 1079 under the inspiration of Gerbert, Abbot of St-Pierre le Vif—is first described a legend tracing to Savinian and Potentian (and their companions) the evangelization of the churches of Orléans, Chartres and Troyes. After some uncertainty, the legend became fixed in the Chronicle of pseudo-Clarius, compiled about 1120. The Christian faith could not have been preached at Sens in the second century, but Sidonius Apollinaris mentions that in 475 the Church of Sens had its 13th bishop; the list of bishops does not indicate that the episcopal see existed prior to the second half of the third century or the beginning of the fourth.
In the synod of Liptinae (diocese of Cambrai), held in May 743, Archbishop Boniface of Mainz, the papal legate in Germany, appointed three bishops: Grimo of Rouen, Abel of Reims, and Ardobert of Sens. The priest Deneardus was appointed messenger to carry the report of the synod to Rome, and to request the pope to grant the pallium to each of the prelates. In the meantime, something caused Boniface to change his mind about Abel and Ardobert, and he wrote to the pope, withdrawing his request for pallia for them. Surprised, Pope Zacharias replied in a letter of 23 September 843, granting Boniface's request for Grimo, and requested further details about the situation.J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae , Tomus 89 (Paris: J.P. Migne 1850), pp. 925–929, epistles V and VI. But at the council of Soissons on 3 March 744, Pipin, Mayor of the Palace, had to request the council to grant canonical institution and possession of the dioceses of Reims and Sens. The council refused.Fisquet, p. 19. Joannes Fridericus Schannat & Josephus Hartzheim, Concilia Germaniae, , (Cologne: Krakamp & Simonis 1759), pp. 52, 57–58.
Councils of Sens
A large number of Church councils were held at Sens between 600 and 1485. The earliest perhaps involved a controversy over the date of Easter which Abbot Colombanus of Luxeuil (in the Vosges) refused to attend.A council was held at Sens during the bishopric of Betharius of Chartres (594–614). Charles De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, A. 511 – A. 695 (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 273. C. J. Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church Vol. 4 (Edinburgh: t. Clark 1895), p. 433. In 1009, Archbishop Leotheric held a provincial synod, in the presence of King Robert I of France, to address the abuses of the abbey of S. Benoît de Fleury, which claimed exemption from diocesan control.Victor Rocher, Histoire de l'Abbaye Royale de Sainte-Benoit-sur-Loire, , (H. Herluison 1869), pp. 191–192. Fisquet, p. 38. The Council of 1140 condemned the writings of Abelard.Charles Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles, , tr. Delarc, Volume 7 (Paris: A. Leclere 1872), pp. 250–288.( The Council of 1198 was concerned with the Manichaean sect of the Poplicani.
Chapter and cathedral
The cathedral was dedicated in honor of Saint Stephen Protomartyr.
The cathedral was staffed and administered by a corporation called the Chapter, which consisted of five dignities (the archdeacon of Sens, the Treasurer, the Dean, the Precentor, and the Cellerar), of four personages (the archdeacon of Gatinais, the archdeacon of Melun, the archdeacon of Provins and the archdeacon d'Étampes), thirty-one canons, and fourteen semi-prebends. The archdeacons, the treasurer, and all the canons were appointments of the archbishop. The dean, the precentor, and the cellaerar were elected by the Chapter and confirmed by the pope.Fisquet, p. 4. Besse, p. 8. The Chapter had once been headed by a Provost, known since 961, but the office was suppressed and in 1176 the office was renamed "Dean".Fisquet, pp. 190–191.
On 2 January 876, Pope John VIII granted Bishop Ansegisius of Sens the office of papal vicar per Gallias et Germanias.Fisquet, p. 4. J.-P. Migne, Patrologiae latina cursus completus series secunda, , Volume 126 (Paris: J.P. Migne 1866), p. 660. At the council of Pontoise held by Charles the Bald in the same year, and on 14 July the papal legates and Archbishop Ansegisius attempted to have the Empire recognize the papal appointment as a primacy."Et lecta et a Ioanne Tusculanensi iterum epistola, iubente Imperatore pro primatu Ansegisi...." There were many complaints from the bishops in attendance, and the question was raised again in the Emperor's presence on 16 July. It was ordered that "Ansegisius should have after the conclusion of the council exactly what he had at the beginning of it.Jacques Sirmond, Concilia antiqua Galliae Tomus III (Paris: S.Cramoisy 1629), p. 436. Boislisle, p. 43.
On 19 April 1079, Pope Gregory VII wrote to Archbishop Gebuin of Lyon, confirming for him and his successors the primacy of his archdiocese over the four provinces, Lyon, Rouen, Tours, and Sens.Fisquet, p. 4. Pierre de Marca, Dissertationes tres, (ed. S. Baluzius) (Paris: Franc. Muguet, 1669), pp. 343–345: "...confirmamus primatum super quatuor provincias Lugdunensi Ecclesiæ tuæ, & per eam tibi tuisque successoribus, his tantùm qui nullo interveniente munere electi vel promoti fuerint.... Provincias autem illas quas vobis confirmavimus, dicimus Lugdunensem, Rothomagensem, Turonensem, & Senonensem, ut hæ videlicet provinciæ condignam obedientiam Lugdunensi Ecclesiæ exhibeant, & honorem quem Romani Pontifices reddendum esse scriptis propriis præfixerunt, humiliter & devotè persolvant". King Louis VI of France wrote to Pope Calixtus II (1119–1124), attempting to cajole him into releasing the province of Sens from subordination to the Primacy of Lyon. Lyon was, after all, in a different kingdom at the time. He did not succeed.Marca, pp. 362–364
In 1537, one of the canons of the cathedral Chapter founded a collège in Sens, which was handed over to the Jesuits in 1623.Boislisle, p. 48.
The major seminary of the diocese was founded in Sens in 1654, by Archbishop Louis-Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin (1646–1674), and completed by his successor, Jean de Montpezat.Fisquet, p. 145, 148. and administered from 1667 by the Priests of the Mission.Boislisle, p. 49 with note 1.
Collegiate churches The diocese of Sens was richly endowed with fifteen collegiate churches, all of which were closed at the Revolution and had their properties and incomes confiscated for the benefit of the State.Fisquet, p. 2. The collegiate church of Nôtre-Dame d'Étampes, founded by King Robert I of France (866–922–923), was headed by a Cantor and had ten canons. Sainte-Croix d'Étampes, founded in 1183, had two dignities (a Dean and a Cantor) and nineteen canons. Nôtre-Dame de Melun had a Cantor and seven canons. Nôtre-Dame de Milly had four canons and was presided over by a Dean who was also the parish priest, who was presented for office to the archbishop by the local lord.Boislisle, p. 49, 51. The town of Provins had three collegiate churches: Saint-Quiriacus of the 10th century, administered by four dignities (dean, provost, cantor and treasurer) and twenty canons, all of whom except the dean were appointments of the king; Nôtre-Dame-du-Val, dating from 1171, headed by three dignities (dean, cantor, provost) and sixteen canons appointed alternately by the king and the archbishop; Saint-Nicolas, founded in 1218 and administered by a dean (elected by the Chapter) and nine canons.Boislisle, p. 54. The collegiate church of Saint-Loup in Brienon-l'archévêque was headed by a treasurer and seven canons; the church of Saint-Pierre in Saint-Julien-du-Sault had a cantor and ten canons; the collegiate church of Saint Laurent at Ville-Folle had eight canons, presided over by a cantor and a treasurer. The church of Nôtre-Dame de Montereau had two dignities (a dean and a cantor) and nine canons who were appointed by the archbishop, except for the dean who was elected by the Chapter.Boislisle, p. 57, 58–59. The church of Nôtre-Dame at Bray-sur-Seine had three dignities (dean, treasurer, cantor) and ten canons appointed by the archbishop, while the dean was elective by the Chapter and the treasurer and cantor were appointed by the lords of Bray. The church of Sainte-Trinité at Trainel had six canons.Boislisle, p. 46, 59–60.
Restructuring of ecclesiastical system