The Archdiocese of Strasbourg (; ; ; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, first mentioned in 343 AD.
It is one of nineArchdioceses: Aix, Albi, Auch, Avignon, Bourges, Cambrai, Chambéry-Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne-Tarentaise, Sens, Strasbourg archbishoprics in France that has no suffragan dioceses. It is the only archdiocese which is exempt and not within the ecclesiastical province of a metropolitan.
The current archbishop is Pascal Delannoy, who was installed on 21 April 2024.
History The Diocese of Strasbourg was first mentioned in connection with a council held in Cologne 346, summoned to depose its archbishop. The document reporting the council has been attacked as a forgery,Gaston Rasneur, "Le concile de Cologne de 346," in: Bulletins de la Commission royale d'histoire de Belgique Vol. 72 (1903), p. 27-59, at p. 27, points out that Ammianus Marcellinus (History XV. 5.31) that in 355 Christians in Cologne constituted only a "conventiculum". and it has been argued that there was no such council.Duchesne, p. 67. The acts and subscriptions of the "Council of Cologne" were declared forgeries as early as 1679, by Noël Alexandre, Selecta historiae ecclesiasticae capita, , Volume 7 (Paris: Antonius Dezallier, 1679). pp. 288-291. More recently, the objections have been amplified by Louis Duchesne, "Le faux concile de Cologne (346)," , in: Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, Volume 3 (Louvain: Université catholique de Louvain 1902), pp. 16-29. In favor of the authenticity of the council: G. Monchamp, "Pour l'authenticité des actes du concile de Cologne de 346," , in: Bulletin de la classe des Lettres et des Sciences morales et politiques et de la classe des Beaux-Arts (Bruxelles 1902), pp. 245-288 Archeological diggings below the current Saint Stephen's Church, Strasbourg (Saint-Étienne) in 1948 and 1956 have unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late 4th or early 5th century, considered the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the diocese.Jean-Jacques Hatt, "Fouilles romaines sous l'église Saint-Étienne à Strasbourg et à Mackwiller, in: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 100e année, N. 4, 1956. pp. 476-483.
Since Carolingian times, the diocese belonged to the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishopric of Mainz.
On 20 April 742, the Austraasian Mayor of the Palace Carloman, son of Charles Martel, held a council of his bishops and lay leaders. It was presided over by the papal legate, Archbishop Boniface of Mainz, and among the participants was Bishop Eddo (Heddo, Eddanus) of Strasbourg.Johann Friedrich Schannat, Josephus Hartzheim, Concilia Germaniae, , Volume 1 (Cologne: Typo viduae J.W. Krakamp et Haerdum C. Simonis, 1759), p. 48: "In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Ego Carlomanus Dux & Princeps Francorum, anno ab Incarnatione Domini DCCXLII. XI. videlicet Kalendas Maji, cum Consilio Servorum Dei, & optimatum meorum, Episcopos, qui in regno meo sunt, cum presbyteris ad Concilium & Synodum pro timore Christi congregavi, id est, Bonifacium Archiepiscopum, & Burchardum, & Regenfridum, & Wintanum, & Witbaldum, & Dadanum, & Eddanum, ac reliquos Episcopos, cum presbyteris eorum..."
The bishop also was the ruler of an ecclesiastical principality (prince-bishopric) in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and Early Modern period until the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (1803).For this state in early modern times, see Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg. He held the title of Count already in Carolingian times.Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites, vol. 1, pp. 28-42. The right to coin money was granted to the bishops by Charlemagne, and renewed by Louis the German in 873, by Otto II in 974, and by Otto III in 988.Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites, vol. 1, pp. 104-105.
There had been such strife between Bishop Baldramus (888–906) and the people (plebs) of Strasbourg that King Louis had been forced to pay the city a visit in 905, and negotiate a concord.Gallia christiana vol. 5, p. 787. Under the new bishop, Otbertus (906–913), the strife returned, and, in 912, the bishop was driven out of the city and took refuge in Rotburg, while laying Strasbourg under his interdict. A plot was formed to get rid of Otbertus entirely, and on 30 August 913 he was murdered.Gallia christiana vol. 5, p. 788. Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites, vol. 2, pp. 275-277.
The cathedral of Strasbourg was destroyed by fire on 24 June 1007.Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites, vol. 2, p. 13. Parts of the cathedral and its buildings were damaged by a fire in 1130.Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites, vol. 2, p. 363. The nave was completed at the end of the 13th century. Bishop Conrad de Lichtenberg (1273–1299) began the west front of the cathedral, whose tower was completed in 1439. Since the 15th century, the diocesan seat has been the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Strasbourg.
According to the "Chroniken von Closener und Königshoven," Pope Leo IX visited Strasbourg, in 1049.G.F. Schutzenberger, Code historique et diplomatique de la ville de Strasbourg , Volume 1 (Strasbourg: G. Silbermann 1843), pp. 58-59: "Der bobest kam gein Strosburg. - Do noch fur der bobest wider gein Rome, un wihete under wegen vil kirchen, un gap vil aplos un friheite den stetten un herren, wan er gar ein demuetiger seliger bobest was. Er kam ouch, also er den Ryn her uf fur, gein Strosburg, un was do etwie manigen dag, un wihete do die kirche zum jungen sant Peter, un gap grossen aplos do hin, uñ sine bebestliche sydin kappe, die noch do ist."
Bishop Jean de Manderscheid (1568–1592) established a college in Molsheim in 1580, and staffed it with Jesuits, for which he received a letter of congratulations and encouragement from Pope Gregory XIII, dated 4 March 1581. Strasbourg by that time was in the hands of the Protestants, and the college was an element in the bishop's counter-attack. It became a university in 1617.Gallia christiana vol. 5, p. 818; and "Instrumenta," pp. 501-502. Kevin McQuillan, Culture, Religion, and Demographic Behaviour: Catholics and Lutherans in Alsace, 1750-1870, (McGill-Queens UP 1999), p. 172.
Annexation of Strasbourg In 1674, King Louis XIV launched his Rheinland campaign, under the leadership of Marshal Turenne. In a countermove, the Imperial Field Marshal Alexander von Bournonville seized Strasbourg on 24 September, even though Strasbourg was neutral; following the indecisive Battle of Turckheim, the Imperial forces were forced to retreat. In 1681, Alsace was occupied the forces of King Louis XIV, and through the Chambers of Reunion annexed to France.Jean, p. 244. R.E. Dupuy and T. Dupuy, The Encyclopedia of Military History, second revised edition (New York: Harper & Row 1986), pp.565-567. The king made his formal entry into Strasbourg on 30 September 1681.Delattre, p. 160.
Seminary Guillaume-Egon de Furstenberg was unanimously elected bishop of Strasbourg by the cathedral Chapter, meeting at Severne, on 8 June 1682.Jean, p. 245. Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites Volume 4, pp. 488-489. On 25 July 1683, at the insistence of Louis XIV, the Society of Jesus formally agreed to establish a seminary in Strasbourg. Letters patent were issued by the king, and the royal treasury undertook to support the cost of 28 seminarians (20 Alsatians and eight French); the bishop and Chapter undertook to provide for 8. The whole, except for the 12 Jesuits in residence, was under the jurisdiction of the bishop, who chose each of the seminarian candidates, though practical administration was in the hands of a rector. The French bishops consulted by Bishop Furstenberg had indicated a preference for the staffing by Oratorians, but the king himself disliked their Jansenist tendencies and insisted on the Jesuits.Joseph Bergin, Church, Society and Religious Change in France, 1580–1730 (New Haven: Yale UP 2009), pp. 114, 201. The arrangements continued until the expulsion of the Jesuits from France in 1762.Delattre, p. 160-162.
The cathedral of Strasbourg was taken from the Protestants and returned to the bishop and cathedral Chapter on 23 October 1681.Jean, p. 245. Grandidier, Oeuvres historiques inédites Volume 4, p. 494.
The diocese of Strasbourg seems not to have been a suffragan (subordinate) of the archdiocese of Mainz in Germany at the end of the ancien regime.In suppressing all of the dioceses in France in November 1801, Pope Pius VII noted that Strasbourg J.B. Duvergier (ed.), Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglemens et avis du Conseil d'état, , Volume 13 (Paris: A. Guyot et Scribe, 1826), pp. 373, col. 2: "L'archevêché de Malines, les évêchés de Strasbourg, Liége, Ypres, Gand, Anvers, Ruremonde et Bruges." Mainz is listed separately, without suffragans. Jean indicates that Strasbourg was certainly a suffragan of Mainz before the annexation by Louis XIV.Jean, p. 244: "La province ecclésiastique de Mayence comprend cinq sièges : Moguntiacen. Mayence, Argentoraten. Strasbourg, Constantien. Constance, Spiren. Spire, Vormatien. Worms. Un seul de ces sièges, celui de Strasbourg doit entrer dans notre plan, la ville impériale de Strasbourg et toute la partie du diocèse située en deçà du Rhin ayant été réunies à la France en 1681."
French Revolution
On 2 November 1789, the National Assembly proclaimed that all ecclesiastical property was confiscated by the State.J. B. Duvergier, Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, règlemens avis du Conseil d'état, , Volume 1 (Paris: A. Guyot et Scribe, 1834), p. 64-65: "L'Assemblée nationale décrète, 1º que tous les biens ecclésiastiques sont à la disposition de la nation, à la charge de pourvoir, d'une manière convenable, aux frais du culte, à l'entretien de ses ministres, et au soulagement des pauvres, sous la surveillance et d'après les instructions des provinces; 2º que dans les dispositions à faire pour subvenir à l'entretien des ministres de la religion, il ne pourra être assuré à la dotation d'aucune cure moins de douze cents livres par année, non compris le logement et les jardins en dépendant". Marais & Beaudoin, pp. 255-257.
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.Duvergier, Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, règlemens avis du Conseil d'état, Volume 1, 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.
The National Constituent Assembly ordered the replacement of political subdivisions of the ancien régime with 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, and the boundaries fixed on 26 February 1790, with the effective date of 4 March 1790.Pisani, pp. 10-11. A new department was created called "Bas-Rhin," and Strasbourg became the administrative city in the department.Duvergier, p. 108-109: "67. RHIN (Bas.) -– L'assemblée de ce