The former

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Eauze (Latin Elusa), in

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

, south-west

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, existed from circa 300 to 879. Its Ancient cathedral was so utterly destroyed it hasn't even been located. The present

Eauze Cathedral Eauze Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Luperc d'Eauze) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Eauze, France. The former cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the cent ...

, dedicated to St. Luperculus, was built around 500 and became co-cathedral of the successor see

Archdiocese of Auch The Archdiocese of Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Auxitana-Condomiensis-Lectoriensis-Lomberiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez''), more commonly known as the Archdiocese of Auch, is a Latin Church ...

in 1864.

History

Elusa, capital of the Gallic Late

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Novempopulania Novempopulania (Latin for "country of the nine peoples") was one of the provinces created by Diocletian (Roman emperor from 284 to 305) out of Gallia Aquitania, which was also called ''Aquitania Tertia''. Early Roman period The area of Novemp ...

since Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

split if off from Gallia Aquitania, was also made its Metropolitan Archbishopric, plausibly soon after. Eauze remained known as ''Elusa'' in the early Middle Ages. Its suffragan sees were, as attested in 506 at a council in Agde :

Diocese of Auch The Archdiocese of Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Auxitana-Condomiensis-Lectoriensis-Lomberiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez''), more commonly known as the Archdiocese of Auch, is a Latin Churc ...

Diocese of Aire The Diocese of Aire and Dax (Latin'':'' ''Dioecesis Adurensis et Aquae Augustae''; French: ''Diocèse d'Aire et Dax'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It comprises the ''département'' o ...

Diocese of Bazas The Diocese of Bazas, centred on Bazas in Aquitaine, covered the Bazadais region, known under the Ancient Rome, Romans as the ''Vasatensis pagus'' after the ancient occupants, the Vasates. In the 2nd century it was part of the Novempopulania, one ...

Diocese of Dax The Diocese of Dax or Acqs was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Gascony in south-west France. According to tradition it was established in the 5th century. It was suppressed after the French Revolution, by the Concordat of 1801 betwe ...

Diocese of Comminges The former French Catholic diocese of Comminges existed at least from the sixth century, to the French Revolution. The seat of the bishops was at Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, now no more than a village, in the modern department of Haute-Garonne in ...

Diocese of Couserans The former French Catholic diocese of Couserans existed perhaps from the fifth century to the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century. It covered the former province of Couserans, in south-west France. Its episcopal seat was in Saint-Lizi ...

Diocese of Lectoure The former Catholic Diocese of Lectoure was in south-west France. It existed from the fourth century until the time of the French Revolution, when it was suppressed under the Concordat of 1801.Lectoure (Diocese) atholic-Hierarchy]/ref> Its ...

, Diocese of Lescar, Diocese of Oloron and Diocese of Tarbes. It 551 the Metropolitan hosted a synod in Euze attended by eight of his suffragans. Historians dispute if the city itself was wrecked by Saracen incursion from Iberia in 721–722 or by 9th century Viking raids, but the bishopric was abandoned by mid 8th century. The see may have been moved for mainly military reasons, around 850.Structurae
Cathédrale Saint-Luperc
retrieved: 2017-01-03.. It was suppressed in 879. The see was moved from

Eauze Eauze (; Gascon: ''Eusa'') is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. History Located in the heart of south-west France, 130 kilometers from the Spanish border, Eauze is originally a proto-Basque city that became Roman. It wa ...

to Auch, the territory becoming part of the

diocese of Auch The Archdiocese of Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Auxitana-Condomiensis-Lectoriensis-Lomberiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez''), more commonly known as the Archdiocese of Auch, is a Latin Churc ...

, whose Bishop Airardus was hence promoted and granted the title of Archbishop in 879.

Residential Archbishops

The first historical mention of an (anonymous) bishop of Eauze is at the

Council of Arles (314) Arles (ancient Arelate) in the south of Roman Gaul (modern France) hosted several councils or synods referred to as ''Concilium Arelatense'' in the history of the early Christian church. Council of Arles in 314 The first council of Arles"Arles ...

. Tradition assigns its foundation to a Saint Paternus, consecrated by Saint Saturninus, the apostle of the present Gers department. His four alleged successors (Saint Servandus, Saint Optatus, Saint Pompidianus and Taurinus) are only known from an AD 1106 document from the church of Auch (its successor), which claims the last transferred the see to Auch after the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

would have wrecked the city and ignores the later Metropolitans (except perhaps confounding Taurinus). Apart from those, the Metropolitans and their (often disputed) historical record dates are : * Mamertinus recorded in 314 * Clarus in 506 * Leontius in 511 * Saint Aspasius first in 533 - last in 551 * Labanus first in 573 - death circa 585 * Desiderius = Désidère (circa 585 – ?614) * Leodomundus in 614 * Senoc(us) first term until 622 * Palladius in 626 * Sidocus (if not identical to Senoc) in 627 * Senoc(us) (or Sidocus) in 627, presumably second term until death 660 * Scupilius = Scupilio in 673/675) * Paterne = Paternus (? – 722) * Taurin(us) (? – 829?) would have translated the see to - and become Bishop of Auch (836? – ?).

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic

Bibliography - Reference works

* (Use with caution; obsolete) * (in Latin) * (in Latin) * * * *

Bibliography - Studies