The Diocese of Viviers (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected in the 4th century, the diocese was restored in the Concordat of 1822, and comprises the department of Ardèche, in the Region of Rhône-Alpes. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lyon. The city of Viviers is located on the west (left) bank of the Rhône River, just south of the confluence of the River L'Escoulay and the Rhône, about 52 km. north of Orange.
History Andeolus, a disciple and subdeacon of Polycarp of Smyrna (died 155), brought Christianity to the Vivarais under Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211), and was martyred in 208. This story is based on the hagiography of the Breverarium Lugdunensis. Andeolus and his companions also brought Christianity to Marseille and Lyon.Hauréau, Gallia christiana XVI (Paris 1865), p. 539. Roche I, pp. 5–12.
The "Old Chart" (Carta vetus), drawn up in 950 by Bishop Thomas,Duchesne, pp. 235–237. the most complete document concerning the primitive Church of Viviers, names five bishops who lived at Alba Augusta (modern Alba-la-Romaine): Januarius, Septimus, Maspicianus, Melanius and Avolus.Duchesne, p. 236: "Civitas Albensium quao fuit subversa a Croco rege Romanorum; sub ipso rege asseritur isti episcopi fuisse Albenses: Primus episcopus lanoarius. Secundus Septimius...." None is called a "saint" in the only document that refers to them. The last was a victim of the invasion of Chrocus, rex Romanorum, the exact date of the destruction is unknown.
In consequence of the ravages suffered by Alba Augusta, the new bishop, Promotus, transferred the see to Viviers.Duchesne, p. 236, quoting the "Vetus charta": "Primus episcopus in Vivario Promotus praefuit, qui de Albense Vivario [se] contulit et Alba vicum appellari volait. Deinde secundus episcopus Lucianus régnante Alarico...." This was Alaric II (484–507).
Metropolitan It seems that the Diocese of Viviers was disputed for a long time by the metropolitan Sees of Vienne and Arles. From the eleventh century its dependence on Vienne was not contested. John II, cardinal and Bishop of Viviers (1073–1095), had the abbatial church of Cruas consecrated by Urban II and accompanied him to the Council of Clermont.
In the 17th century, the diocese of Viviers was a suffragan of the archbishop of Vienne. The population of the city alone was about 2,000 persons. In 2021 the population of Viviers was 3,674.Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 371, note 1. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 417, note 1; VI, p. 444, note 1.
Suzerain Afterwards, it is said that Conrad III gave Lower Vivaraisas to Bishop William (1147) as an independent suzerainty. In the thirteenth century, under the reign of King Louis IX of France, the Bishop of Viviers was obliged to recognize the jurisdiction of the Seneschal of Beaucaire.
By the treaty of 10 July 1305 Philip IV of France obliged the bishops of Viviers to admit the suzerainty of the kings of France over all their temporal domain.Roche, pp. 269, 360-366.
Religious conflicts
Viviers was often troubled by religious conflicts: the Albigensian Crusade in the thirteenth century.Jean Régné, Histoire du Vivarais, Volume 2 (Impr. Mazel, 1921), pp. 67–71.
The first example of Protestant activity in the Vivarais was at Annonay, northwest of Viviers, in the mountains. In 1528, a former Franciscan named Étienne Machopolis, a doctor of theology, who had known Martin Luther in Saxony, began preaching in public against the cults of saints and other superstitions. He was driven out, but in the next year another ex-Franciscan, Étienne Rénier, who preached a similar policy, was arrested, taken to Vienne, and burned at the stake.Arnaud I, pp. 5–6. By 1562, there were enough Protestants in Viviers that Noë Aubert, Seigneur de Saint-Alban, assembled a force of Huguenots in the Dauphiné, crossed the Rhône, and seized Viviers. The cathedral of Saint-Vincent was pillaged, the residences of the bishop and of the canons damaged, and the relics burnt. Viviers became a Protestant stronghold.Arnaud I, pp. 42, 55: "Les protestants du Vivarais qui, au 7 mars 1563, étaient maîtres des villes de Viviers, Villeneuve-de-Berg, Aubenas et Privas, continuèrent, sans doute, à y exercer leur religion."
After the massacre of Huguenots at Vassy on 1 March 1562, led by the Catholic François, Duke of Guise, the Protestant Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, abandoned the French court and met the Protestant lords at Orleans on 11 April 1562; the city of Viviers joined his party, along with Privas, Tournon, Annonay, Aubenas, and Villeneuve-de Berg.Arnaud I, pp. 35–36. In November 1562, the reformers held an assembly in Nîmes, which they called the Estates of Languedoc; it was only a meeting of representatives of the cities, however, most of whom were Protestant, including Noël Aubert, who represented Viviers. They appointed the Comte de Crussol their chief and conservator of the country until the majority of King Charles IX of France, who was only twelve; and the Sieur de Cournonterral the governor of the Vivarais. In December 1562, the real Estates of Languedoc were summoned by Vicomte Guillaume de Joyeuse, royal lieutenant-general of Languedoc.Auguste Le Sourd, Essai sur les Ētats de Vivarais depuis leurs origines (Paris 1926), p. 243.
In February 1567, Noël Aubert made a second attack on Viviers, and ordered the cathedral to be pulled down and the episcopal palace, which had been built by Bishop Claude de Tournon (1499–1523) to be demolished.Arnaud I, p. 58.
The reign of Louis XIII witnessed the revolt of the Calvinists (1627–1629) against royal authority, which ended in the capture of Privas by the royal army; the Dragonnades under Louis XIV after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; the war of the Camisards (1702–1710).
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. 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. A metropolitanate called "Metropole du Sud-est" was established, which consisted of nine departments, one of which was "Ardèche".Pisani, p. 277. It's administrative center was fixed at Viviers. 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." especially along the Rhône River.Pisani, p. 11. The new dioceses were grouped into ten "Metropoles", one of which was the "Metropole du Sud-Est," which contained both Rhône-et-Loire (with the metropolitan seated at Lyons) and Ardèche (Viviers). Both the establishment and the suppression of dioceses, however, was a canonical matter, and was reserved to the pope, not to the National Constituent Assembly.
Bishop de Savine Charles de Savine had been bishop of Viviers since 1778. He was not elected by his clergy to the Estates General which met in Versailles in 1789.Pisani, p. 286. His liberal sympathies were demonstrated when he presided at a Mass at Viviers on the "Fête de la fédération" on 14 July 1790.Roche II, p. 322. Though he hesitated over approving of the Civil Constitution, he finally took the required oath,Pisani, p. 286. one of only four bishops who did.Pisani, p. 18: Talleyrand of Autun, Jarente of Orleans, Loménie de Brienne of Sens, and Savine. He then resigned his bishopric, and successfully stood for election as constitutional bishop of Ardèche. As a constitutional bishop, he proceeded to consecrate as bishops two of his vicars, and, in 1793, travelled with them to Grenoble to consecrate the constitutional bishop of Isère, Henri Reymond. On 1 December 1793, he resigned all his episcopal functions at the departmental assembly, and became a supporter of the Cult of Reason. Driven out of Viviers, he took refuge in Annonay, Tournon, and then Embrun, but eventually was captured, sent to Paris, and imprisoned. After the death of Robespierre he was freed, and found a job at the Arsenal library.Pisani, pp. 286–287. In 1800, he made an effort to regain the bishopric of Viviers, but was firmly rebuffed by the clergy of the diocese, led by the Grand Vicar.Régis Vernet, Lettres apologétiques du clergé catholique du diocese de Viviers, a M. Charles Lafond-de-Savine (1800).
While Bishop de Savine was in schism and apostasy, the administration of the diocese of Viviers were entrusted to the archbishop of Vienne, Charles d'Aviau, by a special grant of powers by Pope Pius VI.Pisani, p. 288. With the permission of the archbishop, daily administration was placed in the hands of the Grand Vicar of Viviers, Régis Vernet.Roche, II, p. 325. Régis Vernet, Lettres apologétiques du clergé catholique du diocese de Viviers, a M. Charles Lafond-de-Savine (1800).
Napoleon and restoration
On 9–10 November 1799, the Coup of 18 Brumaire resulted in the establishment of the French Consulate, with Napoleon as the First Consul. To advance his aggressive military foreign policy, he believed it necessary to make internal peace with the Catholic Church.Hippolyte Taine, The Origins of Contemporary France. The Modern Régime, Volume 1 (H. Holt, 1890), p. 153. Negotiations began immediately, and resulted in the Concordat of 1801 (July and August) with Pope Pius VII, which was highly favorable to Napoleon's interests. As under the ancien régime, the nomination to bishoprics belonged to the head of state, and the pope reserved the right to approve or reject the candidate.Émile Sévestre, L'histoire, le texte et la destinée du Concordat de 1801, , 2nd edition (Paris: Lethielleux, 1905), pp. 244–246, 485. Jules Baissac, Le Concordat de 1801 et les articles organiques, , (Paris: Sandoz et Fischbacher, 1879), p. 5: "Art. V. Les nominations aux évêchés qui vaqueront dans la suite seront également faites par le premier consul, et l'institution canonique sera donnée par le Saint-Siège, en conformité de l'article précédent." "Item Consul Primus ad Episcopales Sedes quae in posterum vacaverint novos Antistites nominabit, iisque ut in articulo praecedenti constitutum est, Apostolica Sedes Canonicam dabit Institutionem." "Art. XVI. Sa Sainteté reconnaît, dans le premier consul de la République française, les mêmes droits et prérogatives dont jouissait près d'elle l'ancien gouvernement."