The former French Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Pauli Tricastinorum; French: Diocèse de Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux), sometimes, just like the town, also known as the Diocese of Saint-Paul-en-Tricastin (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Pauli Tricastinorum; French: Diocèse de Saint-Paul-en-Tricastin), existed from the sixth century to the French Revolution.

Its see was at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in the modern department of Drôme, southern France. Its territory was included in the expanded Diocese of Valence, by the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801.

History The ancient Roman colony, Augusta Tricastinorum,Frank W. Walbank, "Some reflections on Hannibal's pass," in: Selected Papers: Studies in Greek and Roman History and Historiography, (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 110–111. became a bishopric in the Roman province of Gallia Viennensis by the 4th century. It first historically recorded bishop seems to be Florentius, who was a participant in the Council of Epaone (Kingdom of the Burgundians) in 517.

According to a legend of the fifteenth century, St. Restitutus, the man born blind mentioned in the Gospel,Gospel of John, chapter 9. In Latin, "restitutus" means "restored". The name does not occur in the Gospel of John. was the first Bishop of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux.Louis Duchesne, p. 263: "Le premier, saint Restitut, a été identifié au XV* siècle avec l'aveugle-né de l'Evangile. De tout ce groupe, le seul personnage qui puisse être introduit avec confiance dans la série épiscopale est saint Paul, le patron de la ville." Local traditions also make Saints Eusebius, Torquatus, Paulus, Amantius, Sulpicius, Bonifatius, Castorinus and Michael early bishops of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in the 3rd to 6th centuries.Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, pp. 5–28, accepts Sulpicius, Eusebius, Torquatus, Bonifacius, Amantius. Castorinus, and Michael. Of those, Louis Duchesne regards St. Paulus (fourth or sixth century), patron saint of the city, as the earliest attested bishop, after whom the diocese was later named. The "three chateaux" never existed; they are the result of a linguistic error in which an extra "r" was added to the word "tricastinorum".Pierre Sogno, Villages de la Drôme, (La Louvière: Les points cardinaux, 2007), p. 88: " Suite à une erreur linguistique au Moyen Age, Tricastinorum devint Tricastrinorum et la cité se trouva nantie de trois châteaux qui n'ont jamais existé." Edward A. Freeman, "Saint-Paul Trois-Chateaux," in: Archaeological Journal 45 (London 1888), pp. 12–21, at p. 14.

The Diocese of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was always dependent on the archdiocese of Arles. Among its bishops were Heraclius (525–42), correspondent of Avitus of Vienne; Martin des Ormeaux (seventh century), who became a solitary.Catholic Encyclopedia: Valence

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Orange Owing to Saracen ravages from Iberia (827-29) the see of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was, by a decree of Gregory IV,Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, p. 41, suggests that the union might belong to the 10th century, "On reporte à son temps l'union de l'évêché d'Orange à celui de St-Paul, causée surtout par le manque de ressources du premier diocèse. Peut-être faut-il la renvoyer au commencement du X° siècle (voir à l'évêché d'Orange) ou a- t-elle été intermittente." The bull of Pope Urban II, (Denis de Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana (Paris: Typographia Regia, 1715), "Instrumenta," p. 119): "Tricaltinus vero post diuturnam, et plusquam centenariam possessionem, venerabilium pontificum Romanorum, & Gregorii & Alexandri privilegiis, causæ suæ partes tuebatur." united aeque principaliter (i.e. in personal union) with that of Orange. By the 11th century, there were continuous squabbles between St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Orange, the former because of the union, the latter because of the assignment of parish churches."inter Tricaftinos et Arausicos diuturna contentio habita est, Tricastinis quidem de unitione, Arausicis vero de parochiarum ecclesiarum divisione contestantibus...." In spring 1095, as he was travelling to France, Pope Urban II wrote a letter from Cremona on 15 April to Bishop Pontius of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, advising him that he had decided to reunify the two dioceses as one, and that no successor of Bishop Guillaume of Orange and Saint-Paul would be elected. Pope Urban personally visited Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in mid-September, and both Bishop Pons and Bishop Guillaume were present at the council of Clermont from 18 to 28 November 1095.Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, pp. 44–45, no. 51-52. Denis de Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana (Paris: Typographia Regia, 1715), p. 771.

Bishop Guillaume of Orange went on crusade, and died in the siege of Marra on 11 December 1098.Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana, p. 771. In 1100, Pope Paschal II announced that, after extensive consultations, the longstanding union of the two dioceses should be dissolved.Denis de Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana (Paris: Typographia Regia, 1715), "Instrumenta," p. 120: "Jure enim & auctoritate esse vacuum quidquid prædecessorum nostrorum aliqua de Gregorii, Victoris, Alexandri & Urbani statutis Aurasicensis ecclesia Tricastinæ constet ecclesiæ esse unita quæstioni super hoc negotio diu ventilata, secundum statuta eorum, consilio confratrum nostrorum finem imponere decrevimus; & ut episcopo Tricastino de cetero sicut proprio pontifici postposita omni refragatione obediatis, apostolica auctoritate mandamus...." In 1107, however, the clergy of Orange approached Pope Paschal with the claim that problems had been resolved; the pope authorized Cardinal Richard, Bishop of Albano, to hold a council of the ecclesiastical province of Arles. to decide the question, and if they agreed, to elect a new bishop of Orange.Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana, "Instrumenta," p. 131. The Diocese of Orange was re-established, and Berengarius was elected.Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana, "Instrumenta," p. 119. On the death of Bishop Pontius of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in 1112, squabbling broke out again, which Paschal II silenced with a bull on 18 October 1113.Sainte-Marthe, Gallia Christiana, "Instrumenta," p. 132.

Pope Gelasius II visited St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux on 21 December 1118 during his exile from Rome.Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, p. 47, no. 56. He was on his way to Cluny, where he died on 29 January 1119.J.N.D. Kelly and M.J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, second edition (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 163.

Suppression of episcopal election Bishop Guillaume Adhémar de Monteil (1482–1516) died on 23 July 1516, and the Chapter of the cathedral duly met to elect a successor. They chose Jacques de Vesc, and applied to the metropolitan, Archbishop Jean Ferrier of Arles, for canonical confirmation. King Francis I of France, however, had written to Pope Leo X, nominating Antoine de Lévis.Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, p. 515. In reply, on 10 September 1516, Pope Leo issued the bull "Decet Romanum pontificem," in which he voided the election of Jacques de Vesc, on the grounds that the papacy had previously reserved to itself the appointment of the next bishop. He "provided" (appointed) Antoine de Lévis, who, in turn, since he remained in Paris with the king, appointed the Bishop of Viviers, Claude de Tournon, a relative of his mother, his grand vicar in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux.Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, p. 517: "Nos, ne constitutio et deputatio, ac provisio et prefectio predicte valeant quomodolibet impediri providere volentes, quascumque electiones seu postulationes de quibuscumque personis, praesertim dilecti filii Jacobi de Vesc, in episcopum Tricastrinensem per dilectos filios capitulum dicte ecclesie, illorumque confirmationem metropoliticam forsan factas, e indse secuta quecumque, utpote contra reservationem et decretum hujusmodi attemptata, nulla prorsus et invalida nulliusque roboris vel momenti fuisse et esse...."Jules Thomas, Le Concordat de 1516: Deuxième partie. Les documents concordataires, , (Paris: A. Picard, 1910), pp. 60–65.

Protestants In 1674, the population of the city of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was only approximately 2,000 persons, about half of whom were Protestants.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 389, note 1. In 1743, it is estimated to have been 3.000 persons: Ritzler & Sefrin VI, p. 415, note 1. When the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the toleration of the Edict of Nantes, was published in October 1685, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was invested by royal troops and Protestant pastors were forced to leave the country. Individual Protestants and their families were hunted down.Frédéric Bernard, Wonderful Escapes, (New York: Scribner, Armstrong, 1875), pp. 90–95. Jacques Le Fèvre, Nouveau Recueil De Tout Ce Qui S'Est Fait Pour Et Contre Les Protestans, Particulierement En France: Où L'On Voit L'Establissement, le Progrez, la Décadence, & l'Extinction de la R.P.R. dans ce Royaume, , Volume 1 (Paris: chez Frederic Leonard, 1686), pp. 661–662. The Protestant church in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was ordered destroyed by the Parliament of Grenoble.Albanès, Gallia christiana novissima, p. 627, no. 1244.

Changes and suppression

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. The National Constituent Assembly ordered their replacement by political subdivisions called "departments", to be characterized by a single administrative city in the center of a compact area. The decree was passed on 22 December 1789, the boundaries fixed on 26 February 1790, with the institution to be effective on 4 March 1790.Pisani, pp. 10–11. Departement de Puy-de-Dôme, "Création du département"; retrieved 15 July 2024. Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was assigned to the Departement de Drôme, with its administrative center at Valence. The National Constituent Assembly then, on 6 February 1790, instructed its ecclesiastical committee to prepare a plan for the reorganization of the clergy. At the end of May, its work was presented as a draft Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which, after vigorous debate, was approved on 12 July 1790. There was to be one diocese in each department,"Civil Constitution," Title I, "Article 1. Chaque département formera un seul diocèse, et chaque diocèse aura la même étendue et les mêmes limites que le département." requiring the suppression of approximately fifty dioceses.Ludovic Sciout, Histoire de la constitution civile du clergé (1790–1801): L'église et l'Assemblée constituante, ., Vol. 1 (Paris: Firmin Didot 1872), p. 182: Art. 2 "...Tous les autres évêchés existant dans les quatre-vingt-trois départements du royaume, et qui ne sont pas nommément compris au présent article, sont et demeurent supprimés." Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was an obvious target, given its small size and limited resources; its suppression was facilitated by the coincidental death of Bishop Pierre-François-Xavier de Reboul de Lambert, on 13 March 1791, before the required oaths of allegiance to the Civil Constitution by the clergy could be imposed. The suppression of dioceses by the state was uncanonical, and thus the Church considered the diocese without a bishop (sede vacante) from 1791 to 1801.Pisani, pp. 10–12. Jean-de-Dieu-Raimond de Boisgelin de Cucé, Exposition des principes sur la Constitution civile du clergé, par les évêques députés á l'Assemblée nationale, , (Paris: Chez Guerbaert, 1791), p. 11: "C'est une maxime incontestable, que toute jurisdiction ne peut cesser, que par la puissance qui la donne. C'est de l'église seule, que les évêques tiennent leur jurisdiction; c'est l'église seule, qui peut les en priver."