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 RODEZ

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RODEZ

Goths left it at that date without bishops. Amantius, who ruled about the end of the fifth centurj-, is the first bishop mentioned. Among others are: S. Quint ianus who assisted at the Councils of Agde (506) and Orleans (511), afterwards Bishop of Cler- mont; S. Dalmatius (524-80); S. Gausbert (tenth century), probablj' a Bishop of Cahors; Jean de Cardaillac (1371-9); Patriarch of Alexandria, who fought against English rule; Blessed Francis d'Estaing (1501-29). ambassador of Louis XII to Juluis II; Ivouis Avelly (ItHU-G) who wrote the life of St. Vincent of Paul; Joseph Bourret (1871-96), made Cardinal in 1893. The Benedictine Abbey of Vabres, founded in 862 by Raymond I, Count of Toulouse, was raised to episcojxil rank in 1317, and its diocesan territory was taken from the south- eastern portion of the Diocese of Rodez. Some

The Cathedral, Rodez

scholars hold that within the limits of the modern Diocese of Rodez there existed in Merovingian times the See of Arisitum which, according to Mgr Duchesne, was in the neighbourhood of Alais.

During the Middle Ages the Bishop of Rodez held temporal <lominion over that portion of the town known as the Cile, while in the eleventh century the Bourg became the County of Rodez. The cathedral of lifjdez (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries) is a beautiful Gothic building, famous for its belfry (1510-20) and unique rood-beam. It wa,s spared during the Revolution for dedication to Marat. The town of Milhau adopted Calvinism in 1534, and in 1573 and 1620 was the scone of two large a.ssemblie3 of Protestant de|)iiii(.s. In 1629 Milhau and Saint- Afriqiie, another Protestant stronghold, were taken and di.smantled by Ixmis XIII. In 1628 a pest at Villefranche carried ofT K(XX) inhabitants within six months; Fatli<T Ambroise, a Franciscan, and the chief of fxilice Jean de Pomayrol saved the lives of many little children by causing th(!m to be sucklcid by eoatH. The Cistercian Abbeys f)f Silbanc^s, Beaulieu, IxK--Dieu, Bonneval, and Bonn(!combe were mrMlel-furrns dez, Nazac, and IJ«^>zoul», hoHpitalu, Htyled " Commander ics", of

this order of Aubrac adopted the rule of St. Augustine in 1162.

The Diocese of Rodez is famous also through the Abbey of Conques and the cult of Sainte Foy. Some Christians, fl.ying from the Saracens about 730, sought a '•efuge in the "Val Rocheux" of the Dourdou and built an oratory there. In 790 the hermit Dadon made this his abode and aided by Louis the Pious, then King of Aquitaine, founded an abbey, which Louis named Conques. In 838 Pepin, King of Aqui- taine, gave the monastery of Figeac to Conques. Between 877 and 883 the monks carried off the body of the youthful martjT Ste-Foy from the monastery of Sainte Foy to Conques, where it became the object of a great jjilgrimage. Abbot Odolric built the abbey church between 1030 and 1060; on the stonework over the doorway is carved the most artistic representation in France of the Last Judgment. Abbot Begon (1099-1118) enriched Conques with a superb rel- i(|uary of beaten gold and cloisonn6s enamels of a kind extremely rare in France. Pascal II gave him permission for the name of Ste-Foy to be inserted in the Canon of the Mass after the names of the Roman virgins. At this time Conques, with Agen and Schelestadt in Alsace, was the centre of the cult of Ste. Foy which soon spread to England, Spain, and America where many towns bear the name of Santa Fe. The statute of Ste-Foy seated, which dated from the tenth century, was originally a small wooden one covered with gold leaf. In time, gems, enamels, and precious stones were added in such quantities that it is a living treatise on the history of the gold- smiths art in France between the eleventh and .six- teenth centuries. It was known during the Middle Ages as "Majeste de Sainte Foy". The shrine en- closing the relics of the Saint, which in 1590 was hid- den in the masonry connecting the pillars of the choir, was found in 1875, repaired, transferred to the cathedral of Rodez for a no vena, and brought back to Conques, a distance of 25 miles, on the shoulders of the clergy.

Among Saints specially honoured in the Diocese of Rodez and Vabres are: S. Antoninus of Pamiers, Apostle of the Rouergue (date uncertain) ; S. Gratus and S. Ansutus, martyrs (fourth century); S. Naama- tius, deacon and confessor (end of fifth century); Ste. Tarsicia, grand-daughter of Clothaire I and of Ste-Radegunda, who retired to the Rouergue to lead an ascetic life (sixth century); S. Africanus, wrongly styled Bishop of Commingcs, who died in the Rouer- gue (sixth century); S. Hilarianus, martyred by the Saracens in the time of Charlemagne (eighth and ninth century); S. George, a monk in the Diocese of Vabres, afterwards BLshop of Lodeve (877); S. Gua.sbert, founder and first abbot of the monastery of Montsalvy in the modern Diocese of St. Flour (eleventh century). Among natives of the diocese are: Cardinal Bernard of Milhau, Abbot of St. Victor's at Marseilles in 1063, and l(>gatc of Gregory VII; Theodatus de Gozon (d. 1353) and John of La Valotta (1494-1.568), grand m,asters of the order of St. John of Jerusalem; the former is famous for his victory over the dragon of Rhodes, the latter for his heroic defence of Malta; Frassinous (1765- 1841), preacher and minister of worsiii)) under the Restoration; Bonald (1754-1840) and Laroiiiiguidre (173- 18.37), pliilosophers; Affre (17;»3 ISIS), born at St. Roinf! fie Tarn and slain at tlie Barricades as y\rclihisIiop of Paris. The chief shrines of (lie diocese are: Notre; Dame de Ceignac, an ancient shrine re- built anfl enlarged in 14.55, which over 15,000 ))ilgrim8 visit annually; Notre Dame du Saint Voile at Coupiac, another ancient shrine; Notn; Dame des Treize Pierrcs at Vilhifranche, a pilgrimage dating from 1.509.

Brjfore the application of the Associations' Law in 1901, there were in the Diocese of Rodez, Capuchins,