The Roman Catholic Diocese of Séez (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Dioecesis Sagiensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Séez'') is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 ...

. Originally established in the 3rd century, the diocese encompasses the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. The episcopal see is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Sées Sées () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. It lies on the river Orne from its source and north-by-northeast of Alençon. Sées station has rail connections to Argentan, Caen and Le Mans. Name The town's name derives ...

, and the diocese is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the

Archdiocese of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of ...

History

Saint Ebrulf, a native of the

Diocese of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

, founded, after 560, several monasteries in the Diocese of Séez; one of them became the important Abbey of Saint-Martin-de-Séez, which, owing to the influence of Richelieu, its administrator-general, was reformed in 1636 by the Benedictines of Saint-Maur. Rotrou II,

Count of Perche The county of Perche was a medieval county lying between Normandy and Maine (province), Maine. It was held by an independent line of counts until 1226. One of these, Geoffroy V, would have been a leader of the Fourth Crusade had he not died before ...

, in fulfillment of a vow, established in 1122, at Soligny, the Abbey of La Trappe, in favour of which bulls were issued by popes

Eugene III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He w ...

(1147), Alexander III (1173) and

Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

(1203), and which was reformed in 1662 by

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé (9 January 1626, Paris27 October 1700, Soligny-la-Trappe) was an abbot of La Trappe Abbey and the founder of the Trappists. Early life Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé was born 9 January 1626 in Paris, ...

. During the French Revolution the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

went with Dom Augustin de Lestranges, 26 April 1791, into Switzerland, where they founded the convent of La Val Saint, but returned to Soligny soon after the accession of Louis XVII. Among the abbots of the Trappist monastery at Soligny were: Cardinal

Jean du Bellay Jean du Bellay (1492 – 16 February 1560) was a French diplomat and cardinal, a younger brother of Guillaume du Bellay, and cousin and patron of the poet Joachim du Bellay. He was bishop of Bayonne by 1526, member of the ''Conseil privé'' ( ...

, who held a number of bishoprics and resigned his abbatial dignity in 1538; the historian Dom Gervaise, superior of the abbey from 1696–8. On the occasion of the

St Bartholomew's Day massacre The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (french: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wa ...

in 1572 Matignon, leader of the Catholics, succeeded in saving the lives of the Protestants at Alençon. The cathedral of Séez dates from the twelfth century; that of Alençon was begun in the fourteenth. The diocese was re-established by the

Concordat of 1802 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

, which, by adding to it some parishes of the Dioceses of

Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the l ...

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

and

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

, and by cutting off some districts formerly included in it, made it exactly coextensive with the department. It is

to the

in Normandy. In 1884 Monseigneur Buguet, curé of Montligeon chapel, founded an expiatory society for the abandoned souls in Purgatory, since erected by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

into a Prima Primaria archconfraternity, which publishes six bulletins in different languages and has members in every part of the world. Notre Dame de la Chapelle Montligeon is also a place of pilgrimage. The Grande Trappe of Soligny still exists in the Diocese of Séez, which before the application of the law of 1901 against religious congregations had different teaching congregations of brothers, in addition to the

Redemptorists The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

. Among the congregations of nuns originating in the diocese may be mentioned: the Sisters of Providence, a teaching and nursing institute founded in 1683 with mother-house at Séez; the Sisters of Christian Education, established in 1817 by Abbé Lafosse, mother-house at Argentan, and a branch of the order at Farnborough in England; the Sisters of Mercy, founded in 1818 by Abbé Bazin to nurse the sick in their own homes.

Some bishops

According to the Georges Goyau, "

Louis Duchesne Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (; 13 September 1843 – 21 April 1922) was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions. Life Descended from a family of Breton sailors, ...

believed that for the period anterior to 900 no reliance can be placed on the episcopal catalogue of Séez, which we know by certain compilations of the sixth century." A later tradition assigns Saint Latuinus to the first century and make him a missionary sent by

Pope Clement I Pope Clement I ( la, Clemens Romanus; Greek: grc, Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Klēmēs Rōmēs) ( – 99 AD) was bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as the bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 AD t ...

. *

Saint Latuinus Saint Latuinus (''Latrium, Lain, Latuin'') is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He is considered to have been the first bishop of Sées, during the 5th century, from 400 to 440 AD. According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', " L ...

(Lain, Latuin) (5th century?). * Sigisbald (451?) * Saint Landry of Séez (480?) *Passivus, first bishop of Séez historically known, according to Louis Duchesne. Assisted at four councils after the year 533. * Saint Raverennus (date uncertain) * Saint Aunobertus (about 689); assassinated, whose double episcopacy Duchesne assigns to the close of the seventh or the beginning of the eighth century *

Hildebrand Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword". ...

, predecessor of Adelin *Saint Adelin of Séez, author of a work on the life and miracles of Saint Opportuna of Montreuil * Gerard I (d. 1091) *Gervase (1220–1228), a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

, who had the confidence of

Celestine III Pope Celestine III ( la, Caelestinus III; c. 1106 – 8 January 1198), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 March or 10 April 1191 to his death in 1198. He had a tense relationship with several monarchs, ...

, and

Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of import ...

Jean Bertaut Jean Bertaut (1552 – 8 June 1611), French poet, was born at Caen. Life He figures with Philippe Desportes in the disdainful couplet of Boileau on Ronsard: "''Ce poëte orgueilleux, trébuché de si haut,'' ''Rendit plus retenus Desport ...

(1607–1611), who, with his fellow-student and friend, Du Perron, contributed to the conversion to Catholicism of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

, and who was esteemed for his poetical talents. *

Guillaume-André-Réné Baston Guillaume-André-René Baston (29 November 1741, at Rouen – 26 September 1825, at Saint-Laurent-de-Brèvedent, Saint-Laurent) was a French theologian. Life He studied theology at St. Sulpice in Paris and finished his studies at Angers. ...

, appointed by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Saints and pilgrimages

Some saints were especially venerated in this diocese. These included Ravennus and Rasyphus, martyred in the diocese about the beginning of the third century. Saint Céronne (d. about 490) founded two monasteries of nuns near Mortagne; and Saint Cenerius, or Céneri (d. about 669), born at

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

, was the founder of the monastery of Saint Cenerius. Saint Opportuna, sister of Saint Chrodegang,He should probably not be conflated with

Chrodegang of Metz Chrodegang ( la, Chrodogangus; german: Chrodegang, Hruotgang;Spellings of his name in (Latin) primary sources are extremely varied: Chrodegangus, Grodegandus, Grodegangus, Grodogangus, Chrodogandus, Krodegandus, Chrodegrangus, Chrotgangus, Ruotga ...

and her aunt, Saint Lanthilda, were abbesses of the two monasteries of Almenèches (end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth century). Saint Evremond (d. about 720) was the founder of the monasteries of Fontenay les Louvets and Montmevrey.

Saint Osmund Osmund (died 3 December 1099), Count of Sées, was a Norman noble and clergyman. Following the Norman conquest of England, he served as Lord Chancellor (–1078) and as the second bishop of Salisbury, or Old Sarum. Life Osmund, a native o ...

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

(d. 1099), as Comte de Séez, followed

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

into

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The chief

pilgrimages A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

in the diocese were Notre-Dame de Champs at Séez, Notre-Dame du Vallet, Notre-Dame du Repos, near Almenèches, three very ancient shrines; Notre-Dame de Lignerolles, a pilgrimage of the seventh century; Notre-Dame de Recouvrance, at

Les Tourailles Les Tourailles () is a commune in the Orne département and the region of Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Athis-Val-de-Rouvre. Geography * Watercourses: The river Rouvre. History * Notre ...

, dating beyond 900; Notre-Dame de Longny, established in the sixteenth century; Notre-Dame du Lignon, a pilgrimage of the seventeenth century.

Bishops

Ancient era

* Saint Latuin, apostle of Seez, legendary, fifth century * Saint Sigisbold, c. 460 * Saint Landry, c. 460 * Nile or Hille (Hillus), 5th century * Hubert de Sees, c. 500 * Litardus, Litharedus or Lotharius, 511 (

First Council of Orléans The First Council of Orléans was convoked by Clovis I, King of the Franks, in 511. Clovis called for this synod four years after his victory over the Visigoths under Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. The council was attended by thirty-tw ...

) * Passiv (City of the Councils of Orléans 533, 538, 541 and 549) 533–549 * Leudobaude (Cited at the Council of Tours of 567 and at the Council of Paris of 573) 567–573 * Marcel (quoted at the

Council of Paris The Council of Paris ( French: ''Conseil de Paris'') is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental counc ...

614) 614 * Amlacaire (cited in the Council of Chalon 647/53) 647/653 * Saint Reverend, 670–682, (questionable information) éf. necessary* Saint Annobert or Alnobert, quoted at the Council of Rouen of 692, died in 706 * Rodobert or Chrodobert, 706, also count of Hiémois * Hugues I (bishop of Sees), 8th century * Saint Ravenger, ???–750 * Saint Loyer or Lothaire, around 750 * Saint Chrodegang or Godegrand, ???– 770 * Saint Gerard, 765–805 * Reginald of Sees, about 811 * Ingelnom, c. 833 * Saxobold, 840–852 * Saint Adelin, Adalhelm (Adalhelmus), c. 879–916, becomes slave of the Vikings * Robert I, tenth century * Benedict, tenth century *

Azon the Venerable Azon the Venerable (Atso or Azo) was a prelate of the late 10th and early 11th century. Under his rule the episcopal seat of Sées is restored after more than half a century of vacancy, following the destruction of the Carolingian cathedral an ...

, c. 986–1006 * Richard I * Sigefroi or Sigefroi, c. 1010–1026 * Radbod, c. 1025–v. 1030 *

Yves de Bellême Yves d'Alençon (died c. 1005), Seigneur de Bellême, the first known progenitor of the House of Bellême. Life Yves was probably the son of Yves de Creil,Yves de Criel and Yves de Bellême are confused by several sources and thought to be the same ...

, c. 1035–1070 * Robert II of Ryes, c. 1070–v. 1081 * Gerard I, 1082–1091 * Serlon d'Orgères, 1091–1123, previously abbot of Saint-Évroult * John I of Neuville, 1124–1143 * Gerard II, 1144–1157 * Froger, 1157–1184 * Lisiard, 1184–1201 * Sylvestre, 1202–1220, replaces Raoul du Merle who was elected in 1201 but whose election was rejected by supporters of Jean sans Terre * Gervais I of Chichester, also abbot-general of Prémontrés4, 1220–1228 * Hugues II, 1228 - 1240 * Geoffroy de Mayet, 1240–1258 * Thomas of Aunou, 1258–1278 * John II of Bernieres, 1278–1292 * Philippe Le Boulenger, 1294–1315 * Richard II of Sentilly, 1315–1320 * William I Mauger, 1320–1356 * Gervais II of Belleau, 1356–1363 * William II of Rance, 1363–1378 * Gregory Langlois, 1378–1404 * Pierre Beaublé, 1404–1408 * John III, 1408–1422 * Robert III of Rouvres, 1422–1433 * Thibaut Lemoine, 1433–1434 * Jean IV Chevalier, 1434–1438 * Jean V of Pérusse d'Escars, 1438–1454 * Robert IV of Cornegrue, 1454–1478 * Étienne Goupillon, 1478–14935 * Gilles de Laval, 1493–1502 * Claude d'Husson, 1503–1510 * Jacques de Silly, 1511–1539 * Nicolas of Dangu, 1539–1545 * Pierre Duval, 1545–1564 * Louis of the Moulinet, 1564–1601 * Claude de Morenne, 1601–1606 * Jean Bertaut, abbot of Aunay, 1606–1611 * Jacques Suares, 1611–1614 * Jacques Camus of Pontcarré, 1614–1650

Modern era

* François de Rouxel de Médavy (1651 Appointed – 1671 Appointed,

Archbishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

) * Louis Thomas d'Acquin (1667 Appointed – 7 May 1710 Died) * Jean de Forcoal ( 1671 Appointed – 22 Feb 1682 Died) * Mathurin Savary (22 May 1682 Appointed – 16 Aug 1698 Died) * Louis d'Aquin (1 Nov 1698 Appointed – 17 May 1710 Died) * Dominique-Barnabé Turgot de Saint-Clair (12 Jul 1710 Appointed – 18 Dec 1727 Died) * Jacques-Charles-Alexandre Lallemant (27 Mar 1728 Appointed – 6 Apr 1740 Died) * Louis-François Néel de Christot (5 May 1740 Appointed – 8 Sep 1775 Died) * Jean-Baptiste du Plessis d'Argentré (17 Sep 1775 Appointed – 24 Feb 1805 Died) * Hilarion-François de Chevigné de Boischollet (9 Apr 1802 Appointed – 12 Feb 1812 Died) * Alexis Saussol (8 Aug 1817 Appointed – 7 Feb 1836 Died) * Mellon de Jolly (25 May 1836 Appointed – 19 Nov 1843 Appointed, Archbishop of Sens and Auxerre) * Charles-Frédéric Rousselet (26 Nov 1843 Appointed – 1 Dec 1881 Died) * François-Marie Trégaro (1 Dec 1881 Succeeded – 6 Jan 1897 Died) * Claude Bardel (14 Apr 1897 Appointed – 16 Feb 1926 Died) * Octave-Louis Pasquet (21 Jun 1926 Appointed – 31 Mar 1961 Retired) * André-Jean-Baptiste Pioger (31 Mar 1961 Appointed – 24 Jul 1971 Retired) * Henri-François-Marie-Pierre Derouet (24 Jul 1971 Succeeded – 10 Oct 1985 Appointed, Bishop of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer)) * Yves-Maria Guy Dubigeon (22 Aug 1986 Appointed – 25 Apr 2002 Retired) *

Jean-Claude Boulanger Jean-Claude Ézechiel Jean-Baptiste Boulanger (born 1 March 1945) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of Bayeux from 2010 to 2020. He was previously Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Séez from 2001 to 2010. Biography Jean-C ...

(25 Apr 2002 Succeeded – 12 Mar 2010 Appointed, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux) * Jacques Léon Jean Marie Habert (28 Oct 2010 Appointed – 10 Nov 2020 Appointed, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux) * Bruno Feillet (17 July 2021 – present)

References

Bibliography

Reference books

* pp. 427–428. (in Latin) * pp. 226–227. * p. 288. * p. 299. * p. 338. * p. 362.

Studies

*Desportes, Pierre – Fouché, Jean-Pascal – Loddé, Françoise –Vallière, Laurent (ed.) (2005): ''Fasti Ecclesiae Gallicanae. Répertoire prosopographique des évêques, dignitaires et chanoines des diocèses de France de 1200 à 1500. IX. Diocèse de Sées''. Turnhout, Brepols. * *

External links

Diocèse de Séez
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese of Seez S 3rd-century establishments in Roman Gaul