The Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay (Latin: Dioecesis Aniciensis; French: Diocèse du Puy-en-Velay ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the whole Department of Haute-Loire, in the Region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
The diocese was originally a suffragan (subordinate) of the archdiocese of Bourges. By the 11th century it had become a direct suffragan of the papacy. The old Diocese of Le Puy was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801, and its territory was united with the Diocese of Saint-Flour. Le Puy became a diocese again in 1823. The district of Brioude, which had belonged to the Diocese of Saint-Flour under the old regime, was thenceforward included in the new Diocese of Le Puy. Since 2002, the diocese has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Clermont.
Le Puy is on the Way of St. James, the historical pilgrimage to Compostela.Dave Whitson, Camino de Santiago – Via Podiensis: Le Puy to the Pyrenees on the GR65 (Kendal GB: Cicerone Press Limited, 2024).
Early history
The town was originally named Vellavum, after the Gallic tribe. In the 12th century, it came to be called Le Puy (Podium Vellavorum); podium was the Gallic word for "mountain".Gallia christiana Vol. 2, p. 685.
The Martyrology of Ado and the first legend of (written perhaps in the middle of the 10th century, by Gauzbert, chorepiscopus of Limoges) speak of a certain priest named George who was brought to life by the touch of St. Peter's staff, and who accompanied St. Front, St. Peter's missionary and the alleged first Bishop of Périgueux. A legend of St. George, the origin of which, according to Louis Duchesne is not earlier than the eleventh century, makes George one of the seventy-two disciples, and tells how he founded the Church of Civitas Vetula in the County of Le Velay, and how, at the request of St. Martial, he caused an altar to the Blessed Virgin to be erected on Mont Anis (Mons Anicius). When and how George is supposed to have become a bishop is not recorded.Duchesne, p. 56.
After St. George, certain local traditions of very late origin point to Sts. Macarius, Marcellinus, Roricius, Eusebius, Paulianus, and Vosy (Evodius) as bishops of Le Puy. It must have been from St. Paulianus that the town of Ruessium, now Saint-Paulien, received its name; and it was probably St. Vosy who completed the church of Our Lady of Le Puy at Anicium and transferred the episcopal see from Ruessium to Anicium. St. Vosy was apprised in a vision that the angels themselves had dedicated the cathedral to the Blessed Virgin, whence the epithet Angelic given to the cathedral of Le Puy. A notation in the page of a Sacramentary, which may have come from some liturgical book from Le Puy, gives the names: Evodius, Aurelius, Suacrus, Scutarius, and Ermentarius.Duchesne, pp. 56–57: "Haec sunt nomina sanctorum confessorum qui construxerunt, domino permittente, domum beatae virginis Mariae: Evodius, Aurelius, Suacrus, Scutarius, et Erementarius, quorum festivitas caelebratur IIII id. novembr." Duchesne points out that the date is that of the feast of Saint George. It is impossible to say whether this St. Evodius is the same who signed the decrees of the Council of Valence in 374. Neither can it be affirmed that St. Benignus, who in the seventh century founded a hospital at the gates of the basilica, and St. Agrevius, the seventh-century martyr from whom the town of Saint-Agrève Chiniacum took its name, were really bishops.
Duchesne thinks that the chronology of these early bishops rests on very little evidence and that very ill-supported by documents; before the tenth century only six individuals appear of whom it can be said with certainty that they were bishops of Le Puy. An inscription places Scutarius, the legendary architect of the first cathedral, at the end of the fourth century.
Growth in importance
The Church of Le Puy received, on account of its dignity and fame, temporal and spiritual favours. Concessions made in 919 by William the Young, Count of Auvergne and Le Velay, and in 923 by King Raoul (Rudolphus), gave it sovereignty over the whole population of the town (bourg) of Anis,H. Fraisse, "Origines et motifs du Pouvoir temporel des évéques du Puy, au moyen-âge," , in: Tablettes historiques de la Haute-Loire Vol. 1 (Le Puy: M.P Marchessou 1870–1871), pp. 529–554, at p. 534. Chassaing (ed.), Recueil des chroniqueurs du Puy-en-Velay: Le livre de Podio; ou chroniques d'Étienne Médicis bourgeois du Puy, pp. 82–83 (8 April 923) Schrör, p. 71. which was soon more than 30,000 people. King Raoul's donation was confirmed by King Lothair in 955.Fraisse, pp. 534–535. "Cependant, dans tout ce qui fut accordé à l'évêque, nous ne voyons encore qu'un pouvoir seigneurial, ne lui donnant aucune juridiction directe sur les autres seigneurs du Velay, ne s'étendant point ni à leurs domaines, ni à leurs terres, ni à leurs sujets, ayant pour limites précises l'entier bourg adjacent à l'église...."
In 1132, Pons, Count of Tripoli, gave the Church of Le Puy all the domaines that he possessed in the County of Velay. The grant was confirmed ten years later by his son, Raymond, Count of Tripoli.Fraisse, p. 543.
Pope Sylvester and Vellavensis ecclesia
In a council held in Rome by Pope Gregory V (996–999),Philippus Jaffé & S. Loewenfeld, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, second edition (Leipzig: Veit 1885), p. 494. Bishop Stephan de Gévaudan (995–998) of Le Puy,Cabizolles, p. 199. was condemned as an invasor of the see, and deposed from all ecclesiastical offices. He had been appointed by his predecessor and uncle, Bishop Guido of Anjou (975–993) while he was still alive, contrary to the wishes of the clergy and people. Stephanus was consecrated by two local bishops, contrary to the rule that the bishop-elect should be ordained by the pope.Léopold Delisle, Bibliotheque de l'École des Chartes, 37 (Paris 1876), pp. 109–110. Gallia christiana II, p. 697. The clear implication is that the archbishop of Bourges had lost a privilege over the Church of Le Puy, the right to consecrate a new bishop, and possibly the right to approve or disapprove the bishop-elect.
Sylvester II also granted the bishops of Le Puy a privilege which granted them security from excommunication or anathema (interdict) by any other bishop or royalty.Léopold Delisle, Bibliotheque de l'École des Chartes, 37 (Paris 1876), pp. 109–111 (23 November 999).
Election of 1053
On 25 December 1051,Jaffé-Loewenfeld, Regesta pontificum Romanorum I, second ed., p. 541, no. 4265. Pope Leo IX granted the bishop of Puy, Stephen of Mercour, the right to wear the pallium on Christmas, the Epiphany, Holy Thursday, Easter, the Ascension, Pentecost, the feasts of S. Peter and S. Paul and S. Andrew, in all solemn feasts of the Virgin Mary, and the dedication of his cathedral. This was conditional on the observance of the rule that the bishops of Le Puy were to be consecrated by the pope.Gallia christiana II, "Instrumenta", p. 228: "ea si quidem conditione, ut sicut ecclesiae tuae privilegiis in suo statu manentibus, ordinatio episcoporum hujus sedis ad Romanum spectet."
Bishop Stephen died at the beginning of 1053.Gallia christiana II, p. 698. Dissension arose immediately between the clergy of the diocese and King Henry I (1031–1060)Schrör, pp. 71–72. The clergy, people, and nobility chose Peter, the archdeacon and provost of the cathedral, and the nephew of Stephen, and informed the king that he was the one to be consecrated. The king put them off, despite interjections from those who were at the meeting in the presence of the king and bishops. Money was spread around, and the count and countess of Toulouse put forward as bishop-elect Bertram, the archdeacon of Mende. The cry of simony was immediately raised. The matter had to be referred to Pope Leo IX, who was in Ravenna at the time, on his journey from Germany to Rome.Jean Mabillon, Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti Occidentalium Monachorum Patriarchae, , Tomus Quartus (Lucca: L. Venturini 1739), pp. 680–681. Schrör, p. 72.
The delegation was headed by Archbishop Hugh of Besançon, Bishop Aimo of Sion (Switzerland), Bishop Artald of Grenoble, with the counsel of Archbishop Leodegarius of Vienne, who was a canon of Le Puy. They were received by the pope on 13 March 1053. After the documents of Pope Sylvester II and Pope Gregory V were read to him, he praised and confirmed the election of bishop-elect Peter. Peter was ordained a priest by Cardinal Umbert of Santa Rufina, and consecrated by the pope himself.Mabillon, p. 681.
Paschal II On 25 March 1105,The date is "VIII kal. Apr.," not VIII Apr. See: P. Jaffé-S. Lowewnfeld, Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, second ed. (Leipzig: Veit 1885), p. 720, no. 1616. Pope Paschal II issued the bull "Inter ceteras Francorum," confirming the privileges of Bishop Pontius de Tournon (1102–1112) and the diocese of Le Puy. The bull condenses the usual list of parishes and properties into the phrase "whatever is recognized as belonging to the diocese of Le Puy.""quidquid parochialium speciali jure ad Aniciensem cognoscitur ecclesiam pertinere mansuro." The pope instead directed his attention to the metropolitanate and to the pallium. He stated firmly that Le Puy was subject to nobody except the Roman see."...sancimus, ut tam tu quam tui deinceps successores nulli praeter Romanum, metropolitano subjecti sint, et omnes qui tibi in eadem sede successuri sunt per manum Romani pontificis, tanquam speciales Romanae sedis suffraganei consecreantur." Bishop Pontius was granted the pallium, with instructions to use it at solemn Masses only on 15 specified days, and whenever he consecrated a church or ordained priests or deacons.J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLXIII (Paris 1856), pp. 155–156, no. cxlviii.
It is presumed that the exclusive right of the Chapter of canons to elect a new bishop dates from the early 12th century,Em Roland, Les chanoines et les elections episcopales du XI au XIVe siècle (étude sur la restauration, l'évolution, la décadence du pouvoir capitulaire) (1080–1350), , (Aurillac: Imprimerie moderne, 1909), p. 56. but positive evidence is not found until 1190, when the Will of King Philip II of France, made at the beginning of his crusade, granted the right to all the Chapters in France.Rocher, p. 445.
Religious Orders in Le Puy
In 1138, during the administration of Bishop Humbert D'Albon (1128–1144), two brothers, Raymond and Guillaume de Saint-Quentin, established a collegiate house of Canons Regular at Doue, a hilltop 5.5 km (3.1 mi) from Le Puy.Régis Pontvianne, Recherches historiques sur l'Abbaye de Doue: et sur les prieurés qui en dépendaient (1162–1789), , Vol. 1 (Le Puy: Impr. Catholique A. Prades-Freydier, 1900), pp. 20–21. Due to disorders in the monastery, Bishop Pierre de Solignac (1159–1191) brought in the Canons Regular of Prémontré (Premonstratensians) in 1162.Pontvianne, pp. 30–31.
The Knights Templars had a priory in Le Puy by 1170, located just outside the eastern gate of the city. Their church and priory were dedicated in honor of Saint Bartholomew.Augustin Chassaing, Cartulaire des Templiers du Puy-en-Velay, , (Paris: Champion 1882), p. vi. Persecution of their Order began in 1307, and examination of members from Le Puy began in Nîmes in June 1310 and continued in 1311.Chassaing, pp. xxv–xxix. The entire Order was abolished by Pope Clement V on 22 March 1312, though the members of Puy were absolved and received back into communion with the Church on 9 November 1312.Chassaing, p. xxix.