The Roman Catholic Diocese of Béziers (Lat.: Biterrensis)was situated in southern France, in Languedoc, west of the Rhone River. The diocese was in existence by the beginning of the 5th century. It was a suffragan (subordinate) of the archdiocese of Narbonne. In 1790, during the French Revolution, the Catholic diocese of Béziers and several others were suppressed by the Constituent Assembly, and their territory assigned to a new Constitutional Diocese of Hérault, whose schismatic bishop was seated at Béziers. The Catholic diocese of Béziers was abolished by Pope Pius VII in 1801, and never revived. It is no longer an independent diocese, and is part of the Diocese of Montpellier.
History
In local tradition, the first Bishop of Béziers was considered to be the Egyptian saint, Aphrodisius, said to have sheltered the Holy Family at Hermopolis and to have become a disciple of Christ, also to have accompanied Sergius Paulus to Gaul when the latter went thither to found the Church of Narbonne. Local traditions made St. Aphrodisius arrive at Béziers mounted on a camel. and to have died a martyr at Béziers. Hence the custom of leading a camel in the procession at Béziers on the feast of the saint, which lasted until the French Revolution. It was revived in the late 20th century.
The first historically known bishop is Paulinus mentioned in 418.Fisquet, pp. 14-15. In 462, the Visigoths under King Euric occupied most of Languedoc. In the 6th 7th centuries, Béziers was repeatedly contested between the Visigoths and the Franks. The wars had a religious dimension, since the Visigoths were Arian Christians and the Franks were orthodox Catholics. Around 724, however, Béziers fell into the hands of the Muslims; they were opposed by Charles Martel (718–741) and driven out, destroying everything before relinquishing it. In 752, a Visigothic noble named Ansemund conquered Béziers, Agde, Maguelone and Nîmes, handing them over to Pepin the Short (751–768) in exchange for recognition as Count of Béziers, later reduced to Viscount.Fisquet, p. 3.
In 1671, the cathedral Chapter of Saint-Nazaire in Béziers consisted of six dignities and twelve canons.Ritzler& Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 121, note 1. VI, p. 124, note 1.
Murder in the cathedral Raymond-Trencavel, one of the sons of Bernard-Aton, Viscount of Albi and Nîmes, became lord of Béziers in 1129. He followed King Louis VII of France on the Second Crusade in 1148. On his return, he claimed the countship of Carcassonne, in succession to his deceased elder brother. Though the succession was agreed upon by various lords and bishops, it was disputed in 1153 by Count Raymond V of Toulouse, who claimed suzereinity. He captured Raymond-Trencavel in battle, and imprisoned him, holding him for an immense ransom. The ransom for Tarymond-Trencavel was extracted from his unwilling subjects, who were moved to revolt by the harshness of the methods.Fisquet, p. 4-5. On 1 October 1167, the bourgeois caught up with Viscount Raymond-Trencavel, and murdered him in the cathedral, at the foot of the high altar, in the presence of Bishop Bernard Gaucelin. In attempting to stop the deed, the bishop was wounded himself, suffering wounds about his head and losing several teeth. He was forced to take flight, and did not return until 1170. Pope Alexander III excommunicated the entire town.Fisquet, p. 60. Sabatier, Histoire de la ville et des évêques de Beziers, pp. 207-209.
Synods A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was (1) to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; (2) to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; (3) to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. John Paul II, Constitutio Apostolica de Synodis Dioecesanis Agendis (19 March 1997): Acta Apostolicae Sedis 89 (1997), pp. 706-727.
Among the fifteen synods held at Béziers was that of 356 held by Saturninus of Arles, an Arian archbishop, which condemned Hilary of Poitiers.Karl Joseph von Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents, Volume 2 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark 1876), p. 216. Later synods of 1233, 1243, 1246, and 1255 condemned the Cathars.Karl Joseph von Hefele, Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux, , tr. H. Leclercq, Volume 5, part 2 (Paris: Letouzey 1913), pp. 1556-1558. 1629, 1697, 1738.
On 5 December 1248, at Valence, the papal legates Cardinal Pietro de Collemedio and Hugo de Santo Caro held a special council of four ecclesiastical provinces, Narbonne, Vienne, Arles and Aix, at the direction of Pope Innocent IV. The purpose was to excommunicate once again the Emperor Frederick II and his followers. The council also issued a set of 23 canons. Among those present was the Bishop of Béziers, Raymond de Vaihauquez.Hefele, ed. Delarc, Volume 8 (Paris: Adrien Leclere 1872), p. 414-416.
A provincial council of the province of Narbonne was held in Béziers on 4 May 1279, under the presidency of Archbishop Pierre of Narbonne.Karl Joseph von Hefele, Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux, , tr. H. Leclercq, Volume 6, part 1 (Paris: Letouzey 1914), pp. 242, 245. A synod was held a Béziers in 1280, but nothing is known of the details.Hefele, Volume 6, part 1, p. 265. Another council of the province of Narbonne was held in Béziers in the Spring of 1296, to reply to the demands of King Philip IV of France for a subsidy of 10% of their incomes for a period of four years. Bishop Béringuer of Béziers was one of the representatives chosen to negotiate with the king.Hefele, Volume 6, part 1, p. 453. On 29–30 October 1299, Archbishop Gilles Aycelin of Narbonne held a provincial council in Béziers, to address the problem of Viscount Amaury of Narbonne, who, though a vassal of the archbishops of Narbonne, was claiming to be a direct vassal of the kings of France.Hefele, Volume 6, part 1, pp. 458-460. On 7–9 November 1351, Archbishop Pierre of Narbonne held a provincial council in Béziers, the principal business of which was to determine the precedence among the suffragan bishops of the bishop of Maguelonne; the bishops temporized.Joseph von Hefele, Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux, , tr. H. Leclercq, Volume 6, part 2 (Paris: Letouzey 1915), p. 916.
Bishop Hugues de la Jugie (1349–1371) held a diocesan synod on 31 July 1368, at which statutes were promulgated, containing 71 titles. He held another on the Feast of S. Luke, 17 October 1369.Edmund Martene & Ursine Durand, Thesaurus novus anecdotorum Volume 4 (Paris: Delaulne et al., 1717), pp. 625-639. He held another on 17 April 1369, and again on the Feast of S. Luke, 17 October 1369. A synod also took place on 16 October 1370.Martène & Durand, pp. 659-662. Bishop Sicard d'Ambres de Lautrec (1371–1383) presided over a diocesan synod on 17 October 1375.Martène & Durand, pp. 662-664.
Bishop Barthelemy de Montcalve held a diocesan synod on 25 April 1409 (?). Bishop Guillaume de Montjoie (1424–1451) presided over a diocesan synod on 17 April 1426, and another on 17 October 1427.Martène & Durand, pp. 665-668. He attended the provincial council of Narbonne held in the episcopal palace in Narbonne on 29 May 1430.J.-D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima , Volume 28 (Venice: A. Zatta 1785), p. 1159.
On 21 March 1675, Bishop Armand Jean de Rotondy de Biscaras (1671–1702) held a diocesan synod and published its ordonances.Ordonnances de monseigneur l'évêque et seigneur de Béziers, publiées en son synode diocesain tenu le 21 Mars 1675 (Béziers: Henry Martel 1675).
Other influences It is said that in 1212, following the death of Bishop Pierre d' Aigrefeuille on 6 July 1212, St. Dominic refused the See of Béziers, to continue to devote himself to the crusade against the Albigenses.Fisquet, p. 81. Jean Guiraud, Saint Dominic, tr. by K. De Mattos (London: Duckworth Duckworth, 1901), p. 47 (the deceased bishop was Pierre, not Bertrand). On 24 February 1248, the Dominican Order (Order of Preachers) founded a convent in Béziers on the site of the fortress which had been built by Simon de Montfort and destroyed by the people of Béziers.Fisquet, p. 94.
On 8 May 1255, a general assembly of bishops and barons of Bas-Languedoc was held by King Louis IX of France in the episcopal palace of Béziers. Archbishop Guillaume of Narbonne presided. A set of thirty-two royal statutes were issued, regulating the conduct of royal officials, as well as the general conduct of the inhabitants. Frequenting inns, for example, was forbidden to anyone who was not a traveller.Fisquet, pp. 96-98. Karl Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles, , tr. Leclercq, Volume 6, part 1 (Paris: Letouzey 1914), pp. 83-84.
Jews formed a substantial minority in the population of Languedoc, where they engaged in the usual permitted occupations like moneylending, medicine, and tax colleccting. They were generally protected by the nobility, whose finances they helped to manage and whose estates they supervised. In Béziers, one quarter of the town was populated by the Jews, who lived behind a strong wall, like a ghetto. It was necessary. For a two-week period, from the Saturday before Palm Sunday to the Saturday after Easter, Jews were hunted. On Palm Sunday morning the bishop would preach from the cathedral pulpit a sermon calling for vengeance on the Jews, who had crucified Christ; he then blessed the congregation, and authorized them to attack the houses and persons of the Jews. Only stones, however, could be used; but there was always bloodshed.Sabatier, Histoire de la ville et des évêques de Beziers, pp. 204-206.
Canon Gilles Oger of Saint-Aphrodise, on 26 December 1438, presented a letter and a decree from the Council of Basel to Bishop Guilhaume de Montjoie (1424–1451), enjoining the churches of France, especially the cathedrals, to institute a reform of the divine office. On 3 January 1439, the bishop issued two ordonances implementing the decree of the council.Douais, Documents..., p. xvii.
After discussions with officers of the municipality, of the local royal government, and Bishop Jean de Bonsi and others, it was agreed on 7 April 1599, that the Jesuits would staff the collège in Béziers which was under construction. There were to be seven classes in humanities, grammar, and philosophy, and eight teachers, brought from the Jesuit house in Toulouse.Mme Bellaud Dessalles, Les évèques italiens de l'ancien diocèse de Béziers, 1547-1669, pp. 220-223.
Huguenots of Béziers In August 1561, the bishop of Béziers and Administrator of Albi, Cardinal Lorenzo Strozzi, a cousin of the Queen-mother, Catherine de Medicis, was driving in his carriage through an area where the Huguenots were holding their services. He ordered them to cease. The Huguenots in response attacked the cardinal's messengers and wounded several of them, causing the cardinal to demand troops. He claimed to be unsafe in a city where half the population were heretics. When the Vicomte de Joyeuse arrived at Narbonne on 9 October 1561, he immediately had the Protestant pastor of Béziers, Antoine Vives, arrested, which provoked popular disorders. On being released from custody, Vives was struck by a musket, from which he died instantly.Bellaud Dessalles, pp. 39-40. Sabatier, Histoire des évêqaet de Béziers, p. 334. Fisquet, p. 170.