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Local tradition states that the diocese was evangelized by Saints
Ferreolus and Ferrutio (Ferréol and Ferjeux),[1] who were sent here by
St. Irenaeus,
Bishop of Lyon. According to the Catholic encyclopedia, "
Louis Duchesne proved that these legends belong to a chain of narratives forged in the first half of the 6th century and of which the "passion" of
St. Benignus of Dijon was the initial link."[1]
St. Peter Fourier (1565–1640), who inaugurated systematic education for girls, was born in the diocese. The miracle attributed to the "Sacred Host of Faverney", during a fire in the year 1608, was annually commemorated by elaborate ceremonies. The places of pilgrimage were Notre Dame du Chêne at
Scey; Notre Dame d'Aigremont; the pilgrimage of
Saint Peter of Tarentaise at
Cirey-les-Bellevaux, where St. Pierre de Tarentaise died in 1174; Notre Dame des Jacobins at Besançon; and Notre Dame de la Motte at
Vesoul.
Few 19th-century dioceses have undergone similar territorial changes. The Concordat of 1802 gave the Diocese of Besançon all those districts which, in 1822, constituted the
Diocese of St.-Claude. In 1806, Besançon was given jurisdiction over the three parishes of the
Principality of Neufchâtel (
Switzerland) which fell under the control of the
bishopric of Lausanne in 1814. In 1870, after the annexation of
Alsace-Lorraine by Germany, the district of Belfort was withdrawn from the
bishopric of Strasburg and attached to the diocese of Besançon.
The metropolitan jurisdiction of Besançon also underwent changes. In 1802 its suffragans were the Bishoprics of
Dijon and
Autun (in Burgundy),
Metz,
Nancy and
Strasbourg (in Alsace-Lorraine). Under the
Bourbon Restoration, Dijon and Autun were withdrawn from Besançon, which became the metropolitan of the sees of
Saint-Dié,
Verdun and
Belley. In 1874, after the
Franco-Prussian War, the churches of Metz and Strasburg were
exempt, under the direct control of the
Holy See.
On 3 November 1979,
Belfort, Montbéliard, and the canton of Héricourt (Haute-Saône) were detached from the diocese of Besançon and constituted into a new autonomous diocese, that of
Belfort-Montbéliard.[2]
Abbeys founded from the diocese
The
monastery of Luxeuil, founded by
St. Columbanus (d. 615), gave to the diocese of Besançon a series of saints. First came the direct successors of St. Columbanus: the Abbot
St. Eustasius who founded a celebrated school in this monastery; the Abbot
St. Valbert who sent monks to found the Abbeys of St. Valéry,
St. Omer, and
St. Bertin, and died in 665; the Abbot
St. Ingofroid;
St. Donatus, who became Bishop of Besançon; and
St. Ansegisus, author of a celebrated collection of capitularies.
The
Abbey of Lure (in
Haute-Saône) was founded at the beginning of the 7th century by
St. Déicole (Deicolus), or Desle, disciple of St. Columbanus; later its abbots were
princes of the Holy Empire. The
Abbey of Beaume les Dames, founded in the 5th century and in which
Gontram,
King of Burgundy, was buried, was the school where
St. Odo, afterwards
Abbot of Cluny, studied in the tenth century; at the end of the eighth century there was built near it an abbey for Benedictine nuns, members of the nobility. During the French Revolution the superb church of this abbey was laid waste. Other saints of the Diocese of Besançon include the
hermitSt. Aldegrin (10th century).
Bishops
To 1000
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "the catalogue of the earliest bishops of Besançon is to be read with caution."[1]
Jacques-Marie-Adrien-Césaire Mathieu (1834–1875) (Cardinal in 1850), who defended episcopal temporal power, and was a member of the "Opposition" at the
First Vatican Council. He opposed strenuously in his diocese the "simultaneous churches" which sprang up throughout the district of
Montbéliard where there were many
Protestants.
Pierre-Antoine-Justin Paulinier 1875–1881
Joseph-Alfred Foulon (30 Mar 1882 - 26 May 1887), appointed Archbishop of Lyon (-Vienne) (Cardinal in 1887)
Marie-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste-André-Clément-Fulbert Petit 1894–1909
^Bishop Pancharius (not "Pancratius") attended the synod of Cologne on 12 May 346. Duchesne,
p. 212, no. 1. Charles Munier, Concilia Galliae, A. 314 – A. 506,(in Latin) (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 27. The name "Pancratius" occurs in the "Nomina episcoporum Vesontionensis" as the 6th bishop, who was consecrated by Pope Julius]] (337–352): DUchesne, p. 200.
^Hugh I of Salins, prince of the Empire, founded markets and schools in Besançon
Hours, Henri (ed.) (1999): Fasti Ecclesiae Gallicanae. Répertoire prosopographique des évêques, dignitaires et chanoines des diocèses de France de 1200 à 1500. IV. Diocèse de Besançon. Turnhout, Brepols. (in French)