The Diocese of Le Mans (Latin: Dioecesis Cenomanensis; French: Diocèse du Mans) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol and Saint-Malo, but had previously been suffragan to Bourges, Paris, Sens, and Tours (in ascending order).
In 2021, in the Diocese of Tulle there was one priest for every 4,705.
Area The Diocese of Le Mans comprises the entire department of Sarthe, created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, pursuant to the law of 22 December 1789; the province of Maine was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and Mayenne to the west. Prior to the French Revolution it comprised 636 parishes, and was one of the most extensive dioceses of France; at the time of the Concordat of 1801, it lost some parishes in Vendômois and Normandy, and acquired some in Anjou. The Diocese of Le Mans thereafter embraced 665 communes, up to 1855, when the department of Mayenne was detached to form the Diocese of Laval.
History The origin of the Diocese of Le Mans has given rise to discussions concerning the value of the Gesta domni Aldrici, and of the Actus Pontificum Cenomannis in urbe degentium. Collectively called "the Le Mans forgeries",See Goffart, W. (1966) The Le Mans Forgeries: A Chapter from the History of Church Property in the Ninth Century (Harvard Historical Studies). Harvard University Press. . they were compiled in the episcopal curia at Le Mans during the episcopate of Aldric (832-857). The counterfeit extends to early charters of the diocese, and to various saints' lives. Even the Testament of Bishop Aldric was falsified to fit the fraudsters' purposes: to inflate the bishop's authority, and entitlement to various properties within the diocese, including monasteries normally under the king. This applied especially to the Benedictine abbey at Saint-Calais. The various mendacious claims were thrown out at a Synod at VerberieCharles the Bald often stayed at Verberie. Since 732 in the reign of Charles Martel, there was a country residence for Frankish and Carolingian kings. Charlemagne had had a vast palace built there. Viking incursions in 885 sacked it, but it remained a royal residence until the time of Robert-le-Pieux (996-1031). It was then replaced by the nearby castle of the Capetian kings built at Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, which was less vulnerable to invasion. https://histoire-compiegne.com/autour-de-compiegne/verberie/ in 869, by both the king (Charles the Bald)Was he really bald? He is shown with a full head of hair in contemporary depictions, such as in his 845 copy of the Bible, and on his seals of 847 (as king) and 875 (as emperor). Also showing him far from bald is the equestrian statuette (c. 870), considered true to life. On the other hand, he is Karolus Calvus in the Genealogiae scriptoris Fusniacensis, a text of perhaps no later than 869. The bald epithet is also to be found in the tenth century writings of Richerus and Adémar de Chabannes. However, it seems Charles' nickname might have been either irony (not in fact bald but hirsute), or mockery (not yet collecting rents at an age when his brothers were already landed gentry). and the bishops and abbots he had assembled.Bouchard, pp 67-75.
During the time of Bishop Bertrand in the last part of the sixth century, the diocese underwent a survey (pouillé). It too was corrupted and used by the ninth century forger of the Actus Pontificum Cenomannis in urbe degentium, rendering it useless. It names several parishes recently created in the ninth century among thirty four allegedly founded by St Julianus, one of the Seventy disciples.Longnon, xiii-xiv.
The "Gesta"Gesta Aldrici, chapter 44, p. 124 (in the edition of Froger). relate that Bishop Aldric (ca. 800-857)Duchesne, II, pp. 342-343. had the bodies of Saints Julianus, Turibius, Pavatius, Romanus, Liborius, and Hadoindus, first bishops of Mans, brought to his cathedral; the Acts make St. Julianus one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ and state that he arrived at Le Mans with two companions: Turibius, who became bishop under Antoninus (138-161), and Pavatius who was bishop under Maximinus (235-238) and under Aurelian (270-275), in which event, Pavatius would have lived over two hundred years. Liborius, successor of Pavatius, would have been the contemporary of Valentinian (364-375). Of course, if Julian had been of the apostolic age, he would not have been termed a 'bishop', nor would he have founded a church or cathedral. Christians were not a legal cult until the time of Constantine I (d. 337), and a diocese could neither own property as a collective entity nor build public places of worship.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "these chronological absurdities of the Acts have led Louis Duchesne to conclude that the first Bishop of Le Mans whose episcopate can be dated with certainty is Victurius, who attended the Councils of Angers and of Tours, in 453 and 461, and to whom Gregory of Tours alludes as 'a venerable confessor'. Turibius who, according to the Acts, was the successor of Julianus, was, on the contrary, successor to Victurius and occupied the see from 490 to 496."
In January 2017, the Diocese of Le Mans set up policy guidelines aimed at tackling the sex abuse crisis facing the Diocese.
Cathedral and churches The buildings that served as the cathedral of Le Mans before 1080 are known only through textual evidence. Even the textual evidence, such as it is, shows that there was no work of any importance on the cathedral from 557 to 832, the beginning of the reign of Bishop Aldric, though it was interrupted by his flight from his diocese. The new choir, at least, was consecrated before his flight, in 834, according to the Acta.Hourihane (ed.), p. 36. During the reign of Bishop Gontier, the town of Le Mans was attacked and the cathedral was pillaged by Comte Rotger.Ledru, La cathedrale, p. 6-9.
A new and larger cathedral of St. Julian of Mans was begun under Bishop Vulgrin, but the choir collapsed and had to be rebuilt by Bishop Arnaud (1065-1081), and work continued for the rest of the century. There was a fire in Le Mans in 1134 which damaged the cathedral, and work had to be undertaken again. Between 1217 and 1254 a new choir was built, and the supposed relics of St. Julien placed in a splendid new home.Hourihane (ed.), p. 36. The building exhibits specimens of all styles of architecture up to the fifteenth century, its thirteenth century choir being one of the most remarkable in France.
On 3 October 1230, Bishop Maurice (1215–1231) issued a charter in which he suppressed the offices of the six Archpriests who had served the diocese, and instituted six territorial Archdeacons in their place, all of whom were to be ordained priests within a year of their appointment: the Archdeacons of Mans, Sabolio, Lavalle, Castrildis, Montfort, and Passeyo. The arrangements were approved by the Roman Curia in 1232.Longnon, pp. xviii-xix, and 56-57. These six archdeacons were in addition to the Major Archdeacon, who was also the Dean of the Chapter of the Cathedral. The Chapter of the Cathedral had nine dignities: the Dean, the Cantor, the Scholasticus, and the six Archdeacons. There were thirty eight prebends and four semi-prebends. All the offices were in the gift of the bishop, except that of the Dean, who was elected by the Chapter.Longnon, pp. 89-90 (1508). The pouillé of 1330 gives the number of 37 prebends, including that of the King, and the Abbots of S. Vincent and of Carilefi (S. Calais): Longnon, p. 58.
In the winter of 1447/1448 southern Maine was under attack from the French armies of Charles VII. The English garrison in Le Mans was besieged, and on 16 March 1448 surrendered to the French.Piolin, V, p. 148-149.
The city of Le Mans was occupied and pillaged by the Huguenots between 3 April 1562 and 11 July 1562. Ideologically the cathedral was a special target, where anything smacking of Catholic practices and traditions was destroyed, but also the cathedral was a repository of precious gold, silver and jewels, and also the baser metals, bronze, brass and iron, which could be used for military purposes. Although the Huguenots were driven away by an approaching royal army, they continued to wreak havoc on the diocese and its churches and monasteries.Ledru, p. 24. Woodcock, p. 42-43. On 5 May 1583 there was a fire in the cathedral, which damaged the vaults and destroyed the silver bell in the Choir.Ledru, p. 24.
The church of Notre-Dame de la Couture (originally dedicated to S. Peter Gallia christiana XIV (Paris 1856), pp. 468-483.) dates from the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, traces of earlier buildings having disappeared completely.E.L. Dubois, "L' eglise de Notre-Dame de la Couture," The Abbey of Solesmes, founded by Geoffroy de Sablé in 993 and completed in 1095, has a thirteenth-century which is a veritable museum of sculptures of the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its "Entombment of Christ," in terracotta, is famous; the Mary Magdalen in the group, already celebrated even in the fifteenth century for its beauty attracted the attention of Richelieu, who thought of having it brought to Paris. Several sculptures depicting scenes in the life of the Virgin Mary form a series unique in France.
Bishops of Le Mans
To 1000
St. Julianus (Julian)Piolin, I, 1-34. The narrative is highly imaginative and fervid, giving full weight to the miraculous. Julian was not buried in his alleged church, but in a Christian burial ground. The Gesta Aldrici, ch. 44, says that the remains were found by Bishop Aldric in desertis aeclesiis ('in abandoned churches'). TuribiusThe Gesta domni Aldrici, p. 124, insists that Julian was the first Bishop, Turibius the second, and Pavatius the third. Aldric placed their remains in the church which he consecrated in the name of the Savior, the Mother of God and SS. Gervasius and Protasius. (see below) Pavatius, Pavacius LiboriusJean Bolland, "De S. Liborio confessore... commentarius historicus," Acta Sanctorum. Mensis Iulius Tomus V (Antwerp 1727), pp. 394-406; followed by 3 vitae and texts concerning the relics: pp. 407-457 (in Latin). (in French and Latin) (348-396);It is said that Martin of Tours (died 8 November 397) was present at the deathbed of Bishop Liborius: Acta Sanctorum, p. 407C. founded the Saint-Martin de Luché Church(fr) Adrien de Monchy, L'église de Luché et son clocher original, in . Romanus VicturiusIt is conjectured that Bishop Victurius is the same as the Victorius who subscribed to the canons of the Council of Angers in 453, though his diocese is not mentioned. Duchesne, II, p. 336, no. 4. J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio editio novissima Tomus VII (Florence 1762), pp. 900 and 902. Victorius was also present at the Council of Tours in 461, and his diocese is named: Mansi, p. 947. (450s and 60s) Turibius (490-496)Duchesne, II, p. 337, no. 5. PrincipiusPrincipius attended the Council of Orléans in 511. Mansi, Tomus VIII, p. 356. A twelfth century list of bishops says he reigned for 29 years and twenty one days: Duchesne, II, pp. 333 and 337 no. 6. (497-511) InnocentiusBishop Innocentius was present at the Councils of Orléans in 533 and 541. Mansi, VIII, p. 839 (without the name of the diocese); Mansi, XI, p. 120 (with the name). He is given credit for reigning forty-six years, ten months and twenty-five days: Duchesne, II, p. 333, p. 337 no. 7. (532-43) Domnolus (560-81) Badigysel (581-586) Bertechramnus, Bertram, Bertran, Bertrand (587-623), founder of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de la Couture Hadoindus, Goffart, The Le Mans Forgeries pp. 159-160. Haduin, Harduin (623-54) Berecharius, Berarius, Beraire (655-70) St. AldricIt was Aldric who had the relics of St. Liborius conveyed to Paderborn. (832-57).Bishop Aldric was sent a pastoral staff and a priestly vestiment by Pope Gregory IV (827-844): Gesta Aldrici pp. 125-126.