The former Breton and French Catholic Diocese of Saint-Malo (, then ) existed from at least the 7th century until the French Revolution. Its seat was at Aleth until the 12th century, when it was moved to Saint-Malo. Its territory extended over some of the modern departments of Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes-d'Armor, and Morbihan. Until the 860s, it was sometimes termed the bishopric in (the monastery of) Poutrocoet.
History In early Brittany, church organization was not centered on cities and dioceses, since the Roman system of government had not reached so far to the west and north, but on monasteries, populated from the British Isles and Ireland.Louis Gougaud, Les chrétientés celtiques, , (Paris: J. Gabalda, 1911), pp. 121–123: "Le monastère est le berceau de l'évêché. Il n'y a pas de diocèses à territoires nettement délimités. L'évêque-abbé exerce sa juridiction sur l'abbaye-mère d'abord, puis sur ses autres monastères, enfin sur un certain nombre de plou, ou paroisses, situés dans le voisinage de ces établissements ou même enclavés dans une autre zone juridictionnelle." Dol, Treguier, and Aleth were considered monastery-bishoprics until the 11th century.Gougaud, p. 122: "Dol, Alet, Tréguier sont considérés, dans les textes, jusqu'au XIe siècle, comme des monastères-évêchés. Le Pontificale Lanaletense (x1° siècle), par exemple, contient une formule d'excommunication à l'usage du Lan-Aletensis monasterii episcopus."
Already by the mid-6th century the metropolitan bishop of Tours was struggling to exert his authority over the bishops of Brittany. At the Council of Tours in 567, which was attended by no bishop of Brittany, a canon forbade the consecration of any bishop of Armorica without the consent of the metropolitan.Canon 9, in: C. De Clercq, Concilia Galliae, A. 511 – A. 695. , (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 179: "Adicimus etiam, ne quis Brittanum aut Romanum in Armorico sine metropolis aut comprouincialium uoluntate uel Uteris episcopum ordinare praesumat. Quod si quis contraire temptauerit, sententiam in anterioribus canonibus prolatam obseruet et a nostra caritate usque ad maiorem synodum se cognoscat esse remotum...." Gougaud, p. 126
In 826, after two generations of warfare between Franks and Bretons, Brittany was conquered, and created a duchy by the Franks. Louis the Pious made the Breton Nominoe the first duke.Ferdinand Lot, "Nominoé, Erispoé, et l'Empereure Lothaire," , in: Annales de Bretagne Vol. 22 (Paris: Champion 1907), pp. 239–246. But when the Emperor Louis died in 840, Nominoe embarked on an independence campaign for Brittany, while posing as a loyal adherent of the distant Emperor Lothair.Lot, p, 242: "Nominoé a prétendu, non se séparer du Regnum Francorum, mais se poser en partisan de Lothaire, c'est-à -dire de l'unité impériale." His plan included ridding himself of bishops who had supported the Gallicising of the Breton church.Gougaud, pp. 127–128 Simony was a convenient charge.Gougaud, p. 372.
Bishop Rethwalatrus is referred to as Redhuualatro episcopo in Poutrocoet in a document of 863, in the cartulary of Redon,Aurélien de Courson, Cartulaire de L'Abbaye de Redon en Bretagne, , (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1863), p. 20, no XXIV. Gallia christiana XIV, p. 997. and again in 858.Cartulaire de Redon, p. 159, no CCIV: "Rethuualatro episcopo in Poutrocoet." Louis Duchesne, Les anciens catalogues épiscopaux de la province de Tours, , (Paris: E. Thorin, 1890), p. 96, note 1.
Incursions of the Normans into Brittany began in 843 with the sack of Nantes, repeated in 853 and 866. Treguier and Dol and the whole north coast were ravaged between 878 and 882. The Landévennec Abbey was destroyed in 913. In 919, there was general devastation throughout Brittany, causing nobles and monks, with their treasures, to flee the country. The abbey of Redon was destroyed. By 936, the Normans were masters of all Brittany.Gougaud, pp. 348–351
In 965, Bishop Salvator, along with Abbot Juanus of Saint-Malo, was forced to flee to Paris from the Normans. He died there, perhaps around 1000.Gallia christiana XIV, p. 998.
At a synod held by Pope Leo IX in Reims in October 1049, several clergy of Tours laid a complaint through the archbishop of Reims before the assembly. The bishop of Dol and seven of his suffragans had attempted to secede from the metropolitanate of Tours, and form their own ecclesiastical province, with the bishop of Dol as archbishop and metropolitan, all without papal authority and contrary to custom. Pope Leo ordered the bishop to appear next year at the Roman synod to answer the charges.J.-D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, , Vol. 19 (Venice: A. Zatta 1774), p. 739. On 1 September 1050, he wrote to the duke and count of Brittany, informing them that, in accordance with previous papal decisions, all their bishops were subject to the archbishop of Tours, and that in no way could he approve the demand for a separate ecclesiastical province. He had excommunicated all the bishops, not only for their presumption, and their failure to appear at the Roman synod, but for their involvement in simony as well. They were not to carry out ecclesiastical functions or impart blessings.Tresvaux, pp. 224–225.Mansi, pp. 679–680.
Saint-Malo
The town of Saint-Malo lies at the mouth of the Rance River, on the east (right) bank. It was originally an island in the estuary, similar in situation to Mont Saint-Michel.
Eventually, Saint-Malo became the seat of the bishop,Ferdinand Lot, Mélanges d'histoire bretonne (VIe-XIe siècle), , (Paris: H. Champion, 1907), pp. 27–29. though it is still in a monastery. In 1062, Bishop Rainaldus signed himself episcopus de Masloo de BidainonoThat is, Bishop of Saint-Malo de Beignon. Cartulaire de Redon, p. 383, no. LX. Gougaud, p. 122. The cathedral of Saint-Vincent dates from the 12th to 14th century.Elise Whitlock Rose, Cathedrals and Cloisters of Northern France: French Flanders. Normandy. Brittany, Vol. 2 (NY-London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1914, pp. 194–196, 202–204.
The cathedral was staffed by a corporation called the Chapter, led by four dignities (the Dean, the Archdeacon of Dinan, the Archdeacon of Pohorët, and the Cantor)Tresvaux, p. 217. and twenty-three canons.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 271, note 1. Originally they were seventeen in number. Before the transfer of the diocese to Saint-Malo, the canons were Canons Regular of Saint-Victor de Paris. In 1319, however, they were secularized by order of Pope John XXII. The canons were not subject to episcopal jurisdiction, but depended directly upon the Holy See (Papacy).Tresvaux, p. 217.
Bishop Pierre Benoît (1349–1359) held a diocesan synod in 1349.Tresvaux, p. 231. Bishop Guillaume Poulart (1359–1374) attended the provincial council of Tours in March 1365, which met at Angers, under the presidency of Archbishop Simon.Tresvaux, p. 231. J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Vol. 26 (Venice: A. Zatta 1784), p. 426. Bishop Robert de la Motte (1389–1423) held diocesan synods in 1402 and 1406.Tresvaux, p. 232. Bishop Pierre Piédru (1434–1449) attended the provincial council of Tours, held in Angers in 1448.Tresvaux, p. 233. Bishop Jean L'Espervier (1450–1486) presided over a diocesan synod in 1452.Tresvaux, p. 234.
Concordat of Bologna In 1516, following the papal loss of the Battle of Marignano, Pope Leo X signed a concordat with King Francis I of France, removing the rights of all French entities which held the right to elect to a benefice, including bishoprics, canonicates, and abbeys, and granting the kings of France the right to nominate candidates to all these benefices, provided they be suitable persons, and subject to confirmation of the nomination by the pope. This removed the right of cathedral chapters to elect their bishop, or even to request the pope to name a bishop. The Concordat of Bologna was strongly protested by the University of Paris and by the Parliament of Paris.Jules Thomas, Le Concordat de 1516: Deuxième partie. Les documents concordataires, , (Paris: A. Picard, 1910), pp. 60–65. The right had to be exercised by the king within six months of the occurrence of the vacancy of a benefice.
Seminary
Bishop Achille de Harlay de Sancy (1631–1644) was interested in improving the quality of his clergy, and this of necessity involved creating a seminary. He invited Father Vincent de Paul, the co-founder and superior of the Congregation of the Mission to visit his diocese and consider the possibilities in Saint-Malo. The bishop was also abbot commendatory of the abbey of Saint-Meen (Mevennius),Hauréau, Gallia christiana XIV, pp. 1018–1025. for which he had obtained the necessary permissions to convert into a seminary from King Louis XIV, and from the reluctant but eventually compliant Benedictines. De Paul was agreeable, and in 1645 his priests, called colloquially Lazarists, opened the institution, which they staffed down until the abolition of religious orders by the French Revolution in 1791.Tresvaux, pp. 218–219.
In 1739, the city of Saint-Malo had a population of 7,000 persons. The diocese had 162 parishes.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 271, note 1.
French Revolution
One of the first acts of the French Revolution was the abolition of feudalism and its institutions, including estates, provinces, duchies, baillies, and other obsolete organs of government.
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.J. B. Duvergier, Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, règlemens avis du Conseil d'état, , Volume 1 (Paris: A. Guyot et Scribe, 1834), p. 118: "La loi constitutionnelle du royaume ne reconnaitra plus de voeux monastiques solennels des personnes de l'un ni de l'autre sexe: en conséquence, les ordres et congrégations réguliers dans lesquels on fait de pareils voeux sont et demeureront supprimés en France, sans qu'il puisse en être établi de semblables à l'avenir." Michael Burleigh, Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe, from the French Revolution to the Great War (New York: Harper Collins 2006), p. 54. These decrees applied to the five monasteries of men in the diocese of Saint-Malo: St.-Meen, Montfort, St. Jean des Prés, Beaulieu, and Painpont.Hauréau, Gallia christiana XIV, p. 1018. Also suppressed were the two monasteries of women.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 271, note 1.