The Breton and French Catholic diocese of Dol, situated in the northern part of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, 6 km (3.8 mi) from the English Channel coast and 22 km (14 mi) southeast of Saint-Malo, existed from 848 until the French Revolution. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801.[1]
The Life of St. Samson,[2] which cannot be of earlier date than the seventh century, mentions the foundation of the monastery of Dol by Samson of Dol. Georges Goyau speculates that Samson was most likely already a bishop when he arrived in Armorica from Great Britain, but finds no evidence in the Life that Samson founded the See of Dol or became its first bishop.[3]
In the twelfth century, to support its claim against the Metropolitan of Tours, the Church of Dol produced the names of a long list of archbishops: St. Samson, St. Magloire, St. Budoc, St. Génevée, St. Restoald, St. Armel, St. Jumael, St. Turian. Louis Duchesne discounted and doubted this list. He was of the opinion that the abbey of Dol may have had at its head from time to time abbots with episcopal jurisdiction, but that Dol was not the seat of a diocese.[4][3]
Baldric of Dol (1107–30), author of a Latin poem on the conquest of England by William the Conqueror, the Historia Hierosolymitana, 123 poems, lives of several persons, and other works.[5] When still Abbot of Borgueil, Baldric was accused of simony by Bishop Ivo of Chartres, for having attempted to bribe his way into the bishopric of Orleans in 1096. He held a diocesan synod in 1128, attended by a papal legate, Gerard Bishop of Angoulême.[6]
Alain de Coëtivy (1456–74) had been Bishop of Avignon since 30 October 1437, and a cardinal since 20 December 1448. He was named bishop of Dol on 18 June 1456 by Pope Calixtus III[7] Since he would not personally take up episcopal functions in Dol, he had Bishop Ambroise de Cameraco of Alet appointed his coadjutor.[8] He was sent as legate of Pope Callistus to France, to persuade King Charles VII of France to participate in a crusade to assist the Greeks against the Turks who had seized Constantinople.[3]
Metropolitans
There was a struggle from the ninth to the eleventh century to free the Church of Brittany from the Metropolitan of Tours. From a comparison made by Duchesne between the Life of St. Conwoïon, the Indiculus de episcoporum Britonum depositione, and an almost completely restored letter of Pope Leo IV, it would appear that shortly before 850, Nomenoë wishing to be anointed king, and finding opposition among the prelates of Brittany, sought to get rid of them by charging them with simony.[9] Their only real fault was perhaps that they demanded eulogia from their priests when the latter came to synods. After listening to a deputation of Breton bishops and to St. Conwoïon, founder of the Abbey of St-Sauveur at Redon, who had been sent to Rome by Nomenoë, Leo IV declared that the charge of simony must be adjudicated by a competent tribunal of twelve bishops, and must be attested by seventy-two witnesses,[10] thereby disputing Nomenoë's claim to a right to depose bishops. But Nomenoë did depose, and in a brutal manner, the four bishops of Vannes, Aleth, Quimper, and St. Pol de Léon, and made seven dioceses out of their four.[11] One of the new dioceses had its seat in the abbey of Dol and became straightway an archdiocese. The other two dioceses were established in the monasteries of St. Brieuc and Tréguier (Pabu-Tutual).[3]
In Autumn 849, the bishops of the four provinces of Tours, Sens, Reims, and Rouen, wrote a letter of reprimand to Nomenoë and threatened him with excommunication.[12] He paid no heed to them, and died 7 March 851.
Salomon, Nomenoë's second successor, requested Pope Benedict IV to regularize the situation of the Breton hierarchy, but was unsuccessful. He tried again in 865 with Pope Nicholas I, who replied on 26 May 865 that he would not send the pallium to Bishop Festinianus of Dol, unless he could prove that it had been granted to his predecessors.[13] In the name of the Council of Savonnières (859)[14] the seven metropolitans of the three kingdoms of Charles the Bald, of Lothair II, and of Charles of Provence, wrote to the Bishop of Rennes and to the bishops occupying the new Sees of Dol, St. Brieuc, and Tréguier, reproaching them with lack of obedience to the Metropolitan of Tours.[15] This letter was not sent to the Bishops of Vannes, Quimper, Aleth, and St. Pol de Léon who wrongly occupied the sees of the legitimate bishops illegally deposed by Nomenoë. It achieved nothing.[3]
In 862 Salomon dealt directly with Pope Nicholas I, and at first tried to mislead the pope by means of false allegations and forgeries; then he restored Felix of Quimper and Liberalis of Léon to their sees, but still kept Susannus of Vannes and Salocon of Aleth in exile. Nicholas I died in 867. Pope Adrian II (867-72) and Pope John VIII (872-82) continued to uphold the rights of the Metropolitan of Tours. Following the deaths of Salomon and of Susannus, a conciliatory atmosphere developed.[3]
12th century struggle
There was never a formal act on the part of the Holy See recognizing Dol as a new metropolitan church. Dol never had control over Rennes or Nantes, and it was mainly over the new Sees of St. Brieuc and Tréguier that it exercised ascendancy, if not canonical authority. On 15 May 1144, Pope Lucius II issued yet another bull, "Quae iudicii veritate," in which he repeated the rulings of his predecessors Nicholas, John, Leo IX, Gregory VII, and Urban II, that Dol and all the other dioceses of Brittany must recognize Tours as their metropolitan. After the death of Bishop Roland of Dol, no bishop of Dol should aspire to the use of the pallium.[16] Pope Lucius was generous to Bishop Gaufridus, the current bishop of Dol, however, ruling that he could keep the pallium, but that none of his successors should have it. On the same day, Lucius II issued an order to the bishops of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier, releasing them from any obedience to the bishop of Dol, and ordering their obedience to the metropolitan of Tours.[17] On 3 March 1154, Pope Anastasius IV made the same ruling in favor of the metropolitan of Tours.[18]
Finally in a bull of 1 June 1199,[19]Pope Innocent III restored the old order of things, and subordinated anew all the dioceses of Brittany to the metropolitan of Tours;[20] he did not, however, interfere with the diocesan boundaries set up by Nomenoë, which remained in force until the Revolution.[21] The Bishop of Dol retained until 1789 the title and insignia of an archbishop, but without an archbishop's privileges or an ecclesiastical province.[3]
Concordat of Bologna
In 1516, following the papal loss of the Battle of Marignano, Pope Leo X signed a concordat with King Francis I of France, removing the rights of all French entities which held the right to elect to a benefice, including bishoprics, canonicates, and abbeys, and granting the kings of France the right to nominate candidates to all these benefices, provided they be suitable persons; each nominee was subject to confirmation by the pope. This concordat removed the right of cathedral chapters to elect their bishop, or even to request the pope to name a bishop. The Concordat of Bologna was strongly protested by the University of Paris and by the Parliament of Paris.[22] The agreement was put to the test at Dol in 1522, following the deaths of Pope Leo X on 1 December 1521, and of Archbishop Geoffrey de Coetmoisan on 10 (or 24) December 1521.[23]
The new pope, Adrian VI, was in Spain, acting as Regent for the Emperor Charles V and Grand Inquisitor, when he was elected on 9 January 1522. He did not arrive in Rome until August, where he was confronted by a raging pestilence, which kept papal business to a minimum until Spring 1523.[24] In the consistory of 29 June 1523, he appointed Thomas le Roy to the vacant see of Dol.[25] Thomas was a native of Messe (diocese of Rennes), and held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure; he was named archdeacon of Ploughastel (diocese of Treguier) and master of requests in the council of Brittany. He was sent by Queen Anne of France to Rome on royal business, where Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X made him a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber (Treasury), secretary of briefs, and president of apostolic letters. He was papal procurator at the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517). In May 1522, he received a patent of nobility from King Francis, but when the king heard about his appointment to Dol without having received the royal nomination, he refused to accept the appointment and archbishop-elect Thomas never entered the diocese. He was still in Rome on 27 July 1524, when Pope Clement VII wrote to the king, saying that he could not confirm the royal nomination of François de Laval, since Adrian VI had appointed Thomas Regis (le Roy). Thomas died shortly thereafter, never having been consecrated a bishop.[26]
In the consistory of 26 August 1524, Pope Clement VII appointed Joannes Staphileo[27] as archbishop of Dol, but Joannes did not receive possession of the diocese, and his bulls were not sent. He died on 22 July 1528.[28] On 23 November 1524, sede vacante, the canons of the cathedral of Dol appointed a procurator to the Estates of Brittany.[29] Following the death of Stephileo, in the consistory of 6 November 1528, Pope Clement appointed King Francis' nominee, François de Laval, to the post of archbishop of Dol, despite his youth and illegitimacy. He was consecrated a bishop on 10 December 1530.[30]
Seminary
The diocesan major seminary was established by Archbishop Jean-François de Chamillart (1692–1702) in 1701. It was abolished by the National Constituent Assembly in 1790, and its property seized and sold "for the benefit of the people." The buildings survived, however, and became a hospital, staffed after the restoration, by the Dames de Saint-Thomas-de-Villeneuve.[31]
French Revolution
Formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789 during the first stages of the French Revolution, the National Constituent Assembly ordered the replacement of political subdivisions of the ancien régime with subdivisions called "departments", to be characterized by a single administrative city in the center of a compact area. The decree was passed on 22 December 1789, the boundaries fixed on 26 February 1790, with the institution to be effective on 4 March 1790.[32] The territory of Dol was assigned to the Departement d' Ille-et-Vilaine, with its administrative center at Rennes. The National Constituent Assembly then, on 6 February 1790, instructed its ecclesiastical committee to prepare a plan for the reorganization of the clergy. At the end of May, its work was presented as a draft Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which, after vigorous debate, was approved on 12 July 1790. There was to be one diocese in each department,[33] requiring the suppression of approximately fifty dioceses.[34] The diocese of Dol was an obvious target, given the relatively small population,[35] its scattered territories, and its strongly royalist stance. The suppression of ecclesiastical dioceses by the state was uncanonical.[36]
In 1801, when Pope Pius VII restored the hierarchy in France, the diocese of Dol was not restored.[37] Its scattered territories were distributed among the dioceses of Rennes and other dioceses.[38]
Modern survival
By a papal brief of Pope Leo XIII, dated 13 February 1880, the archbishops of Rennes were permitted to add to their title the titles of Dol and Saint-Malo.[39]
^ abcdefgh One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Goyau, Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges (1911). "Archdiocese of Rennes". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^Duchesne, p. 387: "En somme, il semble bien que les communautés bretonnes de Dol et de Pental aient eu souvent à leur tête, après saint Samson comme de son temps, des abbés revêtus du caractère épiscopal . Mais il n'y a pas lieu d'en conclure qu'il existât à Dol une succession épiscopale régulière, ni que Dol fût le chef-lieu d'un diocèse délimité. Dol était un monastère et non une cité ."
^Baldricus Dolensis Archiepiscopus. Opera. (in Latin). In: Jacques-Paul Migne (ed.), Patrologiae latina cursus completus ..., series secunda, Volume 166. Paris: Aqud Editorem, 1854. Pp. 1049-1214.
^Tresvaux, L'église de Bretagne..., p. 271. Ivo Carnotensis, "Epistle 66," in: J.-P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae latina cursus completus ... series secunda, Volume 162, (in Latin), Paris: Aqud Editorem, 1854, pp. 82-85, at p. 84. Christolf Rolker, in: Olivier Descamps, Rafael Domingo (edd.), Great Christian Jurists in French History, (Cambridge University Press, 2019), Chapter 1: "Ivo of Chartres", note 8.
^Tresvaux, L'église de Bretagne..., p. 287. Eubel II, p. 149
^A. W. Haddon; W. Stubbs, Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 2, part 1 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1873), pp. 91-92.
^J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin) Vol. 14 (Venice: A. Zatta 1769), pp. 882-883.
^"Quomodo Nomenoius tyrannus Brittonum de quatuor episcopatibus fecit septem, tempore Karoli Calvi Regis Francorum," (in Latin), in: Étienne Baluze, Capitularia Regum Francorum: Additae sunt Marculsi monachi & aliorum formulae veteres, & Notae doctissimorum virorum, Volume 2 (Paris: Muguet 1677), pp. 822-823.
^J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin) Vol. 14 (Venice: A. Zatta 1769), pp. 923-925. Haddon & Stubbs, p. 92. Charles Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles, (in French), Vol. 4 (Paris: Letouzey 1911), pp. 162-164.
^J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CXIX (Paris 1852), p. 925: "Igitur deprecamini nos ut pallium fratri et coepiscopo nostro Festiniano, qui ecclesiae S. Saxonis praesse dignoscitur, dirigamus, quod interim ideo non facimus, quia, sicut olim nos scripsisse meminimus, ut pro tantae dignitatis gratia nulla solemnis videtur fuisse emissa petitio."
^Charles Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles, (in French), Vol. 4 (Paris: Letouzey 1911), pp. 216-219.
^J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, (in Latin) Vol. 15 (Venice: A. Zatta 1770), pp. 532-533.
^"...ut tam Dolensis episcopus, quam caeteri deinceps Britannorum episcopi Turonensem Ecclesiam suam esse metropolim recognoscerent... nec ullo ulterius tempore post Rolandi obitum, qui tunc Dolensi episcopus praesidebat, ad pallii usum Dolensis episcopus aspiraret."
^J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLXXIX (Paris: Garnier 1899), pp. 875-878. Haddan & Stubbs, pp. 93-94.
^J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLXXXVIII (Paris: Garnier 1855), pp. 1040-1041. Haddan & Stubbs, p. 95.
^J.P. Migne (ed.) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CCXIV (Paris: Garnier 1890), pp. 625-634.
^Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 257. Haddan & Stubbs, p. 96.
^Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 282. Eubel III, p. 186.
^J,N,D, Kelly and M.J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, second edition (OUP 2010), pp. 261-262.
^Eubel I, p. 186. Pope Adrian died on 14 September 1523,
^Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 290. Hauréau, Gallia christiana XIV, p. 1063: "Cathedralem vero Dolensem nunquam adiit, vetante Francisco rege."
^Stiphelio was an Auditor of the Rota in the Roman Curia, and titular bishop of Sebenico (Dalmatia). Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 291.
^Eubel III, p. 186 with note 5. Hauréau, Gallia christiana XIV, p. 1063.
^Eubel III, p. 187. Bertrand de Broussillon, "La maison de Laval," (in French), in: Bulletin de la Commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne Vol. 16 (Laval: Commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne, 1900), p. 194.
^Tresvaux, L'église de Bretagne..., p. 259. John McClintock, James Strong (edd.), Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Volume 10 (New York: Harper & brothers, 1889), pp. 785-786.
^"Civil Constitution," Title I, "Article 1. Chaque département formera un seul diocèse, et chaque diocèse aura la même étendue et les mêmes limites que le département."
^Ludovic Sciout, Histoire de la constitution civile du clergé (1790-1801): L'église et l'Assemblée constituante,(in French and Latin), Vol. 1 (Paris: Firmin Didot 1872), p. 182: Art. 2 "...Tous les autres évêchés existant dans les quatre-vingt-trois départements du royaume, et qui ne sont pas nommément compris au présent article, sont et demeurent supprimés."
^In 1702, and still in 1767, the city of Dol had a population of c. 500 persons. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 186, note 1; VI, p. 198, note 1.
^Juthoven: Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., pp. 264-265.
^Bishop Juhel, a simoniac, was condemned along with his "suffragans" by the Council of Reims in 1049, and excommunicated by Pope Leo IX in 1050. He was expelled from Dol in 1076. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 265-267.
^Ivon died on 17 November 1081, Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 267-269.
^Archbishop Johannes died in Rome on 10 December 1092. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 269. Duine (1923), Annales de Bretagne Vol. 35 (1921–1923), p. 98.
^Baldric was appointed on 24 November 1107, and was granted the pallium by Pope Paschal II in 1109, to be used only on certain specified days. He died on 6 January 1130. Morice, Memoires... I, p. 498. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 271-273.
^On the death of Archbishop Olivier, the cathedral Chapter of Dol elected the Cistercian monk, Guillaume. The General Chapter of the Cistercian Order, however, at the request of the archbishop of Tours, voided his election, on the canonical grounds that he had not made application to accept a prelacy from his Order. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 274.
^Archbishop Hugues resigned in 1161, due to blindness. He retired to Mont Saint-Michel. Hauréau, Gallia christiana 14, pp. 1050-1051.
^Bishop Jean died on 25 January 1324. Eubel I, p. 225.
^Guillaume had been bishop of Troyes (1317-1324). Because of a reservation placed on the next vacancy to the see of Dol, Pope John XXII transferred him to Dol on 26 April 1324. Guillaume died on 15 March 1328. G. Mollat, Jean XXII: Lettres communes, (in Latin), (Paris: Fontemoing 1909), p. 115, no. 19441. Eubel I, pp. 225, 493.
^Pope John XXII exercised his reservation on the appointment of the next bishop of Dol, and, on 27 April 1328, he transferred Bishop Jean from the diocese of Saint-Brieuc to Dol. Archbishop Jean died on 8 May 1340. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 274. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 281. G. Mollat, Jean XXII: Lettres communes, Vol. 7 (Paris: E. de Boccard 1919), p. 235, no. 41001. Eubel I, p. 225.
^Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 290. Eubel III, p. 186. Hauréau, Gallia christiana XIV, p. 1063: "Cathedralem vero Dolensem nunquam adiit, vetante Francisco rege."
^Joannes was an Auditor of the Rota, and titular bishop of Sebenico (Dalmatia). He was appointed archbishop of Dol by Pope Clement VII in the consistory of 26 October 1524, but he was not granted possession. Eubel III, p. 186.
^François de Laval was the natural son of Guy (XVI) de Laval, Governor of Bretagne (d. 20 May 1531), and Anne d'Épinay. He was appointed archbishop of Dol by Pope Clement VII in the consistory of 6 March 1528. He required a dispensation for bastardy, and a dispensation for being underage. In 1530 he was named abbot commendatory of Paimpont, and in 1534 abbot of Tronchet; King Francis did not withdraw his sequestration of the temporalities of Dol, Painpont and Tronchet until 4 March 1539, after having received François' oaths of fidelity (Bulletin, p. 486, no. 2454). He held the post of Aumonier to the King. He was legitimized by King Francis I in March 1540. He died on 2 July 1556. Bertrand de Broussillon, "La maison de Laval," (in French), in: Bulletin de la Commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne Vol. 16 (Laval: Commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne, 1900), pp. 194-197. Eubel III, p. 187 with note 6.
^Jean had been Dean of the cathedral Chapter of Angers. He was appointed archbishop of Dol and took possession by proxy on on 25 September 1556. He was never consecrated a bishop. He died on 12 September 1557, still archbishop-elect. Hauréau, Gallia christiana XIV, p. 1063 Eubel III, p. 187 with note 7.
^Despinay was a cleric of Rennes, and abbot of Saint-Gildas-des-Bois. His name was proposed in consisitory on 20 July 1558, and again on 15 February 1559. Despinay was appointed on 29 May 1560, by Pope Pius IV. He was consecrated a bishop on 16 September 1565. He died on 12 September 1591. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 292. Eubel III, p, 187 with note 8.
^Enemond was the son of Louis Revol, secretary of state under Henri III and Henri IV. He never received his bulls, but enjoyed the revenue of the diocese for 13 years. Henri IV at the time was a Protestant, and did not have the right to nominate. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 292.
^Antoine Revol: Eubel III, p. 187. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 175.
^François Duine, Cohon, évêque de Nîmes et de Dol, (in French), (Rennes: Impr. F. Simon, 1902), pp. 1-3.
^Joseph Bergin, The Making of the French Episcopate, 1589-1661 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), p. 35.
^A native of Paris, Chamillart held the degree of doctor of theology (University of Paris). He was nominated archbishop of Dol by King Louis XIV on 5 April 1692, and confirmed by Pope Innocent XII on 6 October 1692. He was transferred to the diocese of Senlis on 31 July 1702, by Pope Clement XI. He died on 16 April 1714. Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 297. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 186 with note 3; 357 with note 3.
^Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson: Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., p. 297. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 186 with note 4.
^Boucher: Tresvaux, L' église de Bretagne..., pp. 297-298. Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 186 with note 5.
^De Hercé emigrated to Jersey, and then to England. He returned to France, in the royalist Invasion of France (1795), was captured, and executed at Vannes, on 30 July 1795. Jean, pp. 436-437. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 198 with note 3.
Duine, François (1923). "Un second manuscrit de la Chronique de Dol. Les archevêques Baudry et Roland. Le catalogue des archevêques," in: Annales de Bretagne Vol. 35 (Rennes: Plihon & Hommay 1921–1923), pp. 92-99.
Morice, Pierre-Hyacinthe (1742–1746). Mémoires pour servir de preuves à l'Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne.(in French and Latin). Paris: imprimerie de Charles Osmont. Volume I (1742); Volume II (1744); Volume 3 (1746).
