The former French Catholic diocese of Couserans existed perhaps from the fifth century to the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

in the late eighteenth century. It covered the former province of

Couserans 125px, Coat of arms of CouseransCouserans (; Gascon: ''Coserans'' ) is a small former province of France located in the Pyrenees mountains. Today Couserans makes up the western half of the Ariège ''département'', around the towns of Saint-Gir ...

, in south-west France. Its episcopal seat was in

Saint-Lizier Saint-Lizier (; oc, Sent Líser) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France, situated on the river Salat. History Saint-Lizier has a rich history stretching back to pre Gallo-Roman times. In 72 BC, Pompey, returning from ...

, a small town to the west of Foix. It was 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 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 ...

History

Couserans was the fifth of the ''Novempopulaniae civitates''. In the 580's peace and a division of territories was arranged between the Merovingian kings

Guntram Saint Gontrand (c. 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and ...

(561–592) and

Childebert II Childebert II (c.570–596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, as the only son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda of Austrasia; and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his de ...

(575–595), in which the territory of Couserans was assigned to Childebert. According to

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

, the first bishop was Valerius, before the sixth century. Bishop

Glycerius Glycerius () was Roman emperor of the West from 473 to 474. He served as ''comes domesticorum'' (commander of the palace guard) during the reign of Olybrius, until Olybrius died in November 472. After a four-month interregnum, Glycerius was p ...

was present at the

Council of Agde The Council of Agde was a regional synod held in September 506 at Agatha or Agde, on the Mediterranean coast east of Narbonne, in the Septimania region of the Visigothic Kingdom, with the permission of the Visigothic King Alaric II. The Council ...

in 506. According to

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, ...

, he should be identified with Lycerius whom the ''

Gallia Christiana The ''Gallia Christiana'', a type of work of which there have been several editions, is a documentary catalogue or list, with brief historical notices, of all the Catholic dioceses and abbeys of France from the earliest times, also of their occupan ...

'' places later in the list of bishops. Lycerius was

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of St-Lizier, the town in which the bishops of Couserans had their official residence. The historian

Pierre de Marca Pierre de Marca (24 January 1594 – 29 June 1662) was a French bishop and historian, born at Gan in Béarn of a family distinguished in the magistracy. His family was known among judicial circles in the 16th century, and maintained the ...

(1643–52), a native of Béarn and President of the

Parliament of Navarre The Parliament of Navarre ( Spanish ''Parlamento de Navarra'', Basque ''Nafarroako Parlamentua'') or also known as ''Cortes de Navarra'' (in Spanish) or ''Nafarroako Gorteak'' (in Basque) is the Navarre autonomous unicameral parliament. Functio ...

, was subsequently

Bishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

and

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...

. Up until the administration of Bishop Bernard de Marmiesse (1654–1680), the town of Saint-Lezier had two co-cathedrals, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède in the upper town next to the Episcopal Palace, and the Cathedral of St.-Lizier farther down to the south. Each co-cathedral was served by its own Chapter, each Chapter having a Precentor, a Sacristan, an ''Operarius'', six Canons, ten Prebendarii and a priest called the Vicar Perpetuus. Over both Chapters stood the Archdeacon and the Aumonier. Bishop de Marmiesse united the two chapters and based them in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède; it was composed of the Archdeacon, two Precentors, two Sacristans, two ''Operarii'', the Aumonier, twelve Canons, and two Vicarii perpetui; there were twenty-four prebends. In 1752 there was one dignity and twelve Canons.

Bishops

to 1200

* c. 451: Valerius * 506-c. 548: Glycerius * 549-551: Theodorus * c. 614: Johannes I * Saint Quintianus * † ca. 663: Saint Licerius * c. 663 or 664: Sesemundus * Maurolenus * c. 788-c. 791: Francolinus * c. 879: Wainardus * c. 887: Rogerius or Roger I. * 973-978: Bernardus or Bernard I. * c. 1019: Atto * c. 1025: Berengarius or Béranger I. * c. 1035: Bernard II. Raymond * 1068-1078: Pelet * 1078-1085: Vacant * 1085-1095: William I. or Guilielmus * 1117-1120: Jordanes I. * 1120-1155: Petrus or Pierre I. * 1165-1177: Rogerius or Roger II. * c. 1177: Augustinus * Stephanus (?) * c. 1180: Auger I. (or Augerius I.) * 1190-1191: Arnoldus or Arnaldus I. * 1195-1198: Laurentius

1200 to 1400

* 1208-1211: Navarrus d'Acqs * 1213: Sance or Sanchius * c. 1226: Raymond I. (or Raymundus I.) * c. 1229: Cerebrun * 1246–4 October 1270: Nikolaus * c. 1273: Petrus or Pierre II. * ?-16. October 1275: Raymond II. de Sobole or de Saboulies * 1277-c. 1279: Raymond III. de Rostoil * 1279–1 June 1303: Auger II. (or Augustin) de Montfaucon * 1303 - 31 May 1309: Bernard III. de Montaigu * 4 July 1309 - 31 May 1329: Arnaldus II. Fredeti * 27 June 1329 - 17 July 1336: Raymond IV. de Montaigu * 17 July 1336 - c. 1337: Antonius d'Aspel * c. 1337-1342: Pierre III. de Palude * Durandus * 1354–1 December 1358: Canardus * c. 1358-1360 or 1361: Jean II. de Rochechouart * c. 1361–17 October 1362: Béranger II. * 10 December 1362 - 1368: Ponce de Villemur * 19 August 1371 - 18 May 1384:

Amelius de Lautrec Amelius (; grc-gre, Ἀμέλιος), whose family name was Gentilianus, was a Neoplatonist philosopher and writer of the second half of the 3rd century. Biography Amelius was a native of Tuscany.Porphyry, ''Vit. Plotin.'' 7 Originally a student ...

* 381-1384: Arnaldus III.* 18 May 1384 - 1389: Pierre IV Aymery (Avignon Obedience) * 27 May 1390 – 17 October 1390: Robert du Bosc * 17 October 1390 – 18 September 1405: Gérald or Gérard I de Brolio (de Breuil)

1400 to 1800

* 1405 - 19 Juli 1412: Sicard (or Aicard) de Burguiroles * 23 September 1412 – (17. January): Guillaume III. Beau-Maître * 1417-1423?: Guillaume IV. de Nalajo * 22 December 1423 – 18 May 1425: Arnaldus * 1425-1428: Jean III * 1428-1432: Gérard II. Faidit * before 23 March 1439 - 1440: André * 18 April 1440 - 1443: Jordanes II. d'Aure * 1443-c. 1444: Raymond VI. de Tullio * 1444-1460: Tristan * 5 November 1460 - 10 March 1475: Guiscard d'Aubusson * 1480-1515: Jean IV. d'Aule * 25 June 1515 - 24 April 1523: Charles de Grammont * 28 April 1523 - 19 September 1524: Gabriel I. de Grammont * 1524-1548: Ménald de Martory * 1548-1574: Hector d'Ossun * 1581-1584: François Bonard * 1593-1612: Jérôme de Langue (de Lingua) * 1614–14. November 1621: Octave de Bellegarde * 7 June 1623 - October 1642: Bruno Ruade, O.Cart. * 1642-1654:

* 28 May 1654 - 22 January 1680: Bernard IV. de Marmiesse * 1680 - 24 December 1707: Gabriel II. de Saint-Estève * 24 June 1708 - October 1725: Isaac-Jacob de Verthamont * 12 January 1727 - 1752: Jean-François de Machéco de Prémeaux * 22 October 1752 - 28 September 1779: Joseph de Saint-André-Marnays de Vercel * 1780 - 1795: Dominique de LasticDominique de Lastic was born at Saint-Chatély in the diocese of Mende, and obtained a Licenciate in theology from the University of Paris. He was the nephew of Antoine de Lastic Bishop of Comminges (1740–1763). For twelve years he served as a Vicar General of Rouen. He was nominated bishop of Couserans on 3 October 1779 by

King Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

, and approved (preconized) by

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

on 13 December 1779. He died in exile in Münster on 3 March 1795. Jean, p. 79. Ritzler, VI, p. 179 with note 3; 181.

References

Bibliography

Reference works

* pp. 540–541. (Use with caution; obsolete) * (in Latin) pp. 103–104. * (in Latin) p. 134. * p. 176. * p. 160. * p. 169. * p. 179. *

Studies

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Couserans Former Roman Catholic dioceses in France Dioceses established in the 5th century