Ancient Diocese of Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon was not made a city, separate and distinct from Autun, until the fifth century, and it is probably as a consequence of this development that a bishop, Paul (I.

The rest were executed, but Marcellus, eschewing martyrdom, managed to break out of prison and escape north along the Saône river, first to Tournus and then to Chalon.

The method of death may be shocking, but Marcellus was a prison escapee, who refused a patriotic sacrifice, and disobeyed a Roman governor.

King Charles IX turned the monastic buildings into a fortress in 1566 and paid the monks an annual pension in recompense.

In 1310 extensive repairs were necessary, and Bishop Robert de Decize taxed every curé in the diocese the sum of its first year's income upon entry into office to pay for the works.

[18] The abbey of Saint Marcellus (Marcel) was founded by King Guntram of Burgundy (561–592), where he completed a church in 577, and in which he was buried.

[22] In 603 a council was held at Chalon, in which, at the instigation of Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia, Bishop Desiderius of Vienne was deposed and exiled.

Bishops Agapius of Digne and Bobo of Valence were degraded from the episcopal order for disregarding church canons.

[25] In 732 Chalon was captured and held by the Arabs of Spain, led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-General of al-Andalus, until after their defeat by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours.

Gerfredus was able to demonstrate his innocence by taking an oath and receiving holy communion, and was purged of the charge by all of the bishops.

[32] A council was held at Chalon by Cardinal Peter Damiani, the Papal Legate, and thirteen bishops in 1063 in the reign of Pope Alexander II.

Bishop Drogo of Mâcon had violated the privileges of the monastery of Cluny, and Abbot Hugh had gone to Rome and complained.

[33] In 1115 a council was held at Tournus in the diocese of Chalon, presided over by Archbishop Guy of Vienne, the Papal Legate, at which Bishop Gualterius was present.

Pope Paschal II had previously committed the case to Archbishop Guillaume of Besançon, who was unable to bring the two parties to agreement.

The establishment of a Jesuit college in Autun kindled local patriotism, led by the Sieur de Pontoux who was serving as Mayor, and a committee of lawyers was appointed to try to obtain a royal brevet, which, succeeded, but this second project also failed for financial reasons.

In 1618 yet another attempt was made under a new mayor, Sieur Mathieu, who convinced the town council to begin by consulting the Jesuit Provincial in Dijon, Fr.

Then, in 1618, it was learned that the Baron de Huxelles was willing to resign his benefice of the Priory of Saint-Marcel, and the town officials considered whether it could be handed over to the Jesuits.

In 1626 the Marquis de Huxelles inspired the convocation of a general assembly of the burghers and citizens of Chalon to provide the needed funds, but an opposition party proposed the introduction of the Oratorians instead, and nothing was accomplished.

When the Prince de Condé obtained the government of Burgundy, he visited Chalon in December 1632, and ordered the Mayor to convoke an assembly, which he would attend personally.

Filleau, as well as the Prince, that the arrangements were all in order, and on 26 June 1634 the contracts were finalized and the Jesuits placed in possession of the Collège de Chalon.

[38] In April 1635 Bishop de Neuchèze entertained in the episcopal palace for six days Zaga Christos, the (purported) twenty-two-year-old son of the Emperor of Ethiopia, who was on his way to the French Court.

The unhappiness of the population was increased by the end of the siege of Dôle, which let loose on the countryside numbers of marauders who burned villages and robbed everyone and everything.

In the same year the government demanded the registration of all adherents of the Protestant religion, and with the agreement of the Prince of Condé and Bishop de Neuchèze this was begun.

In 1853, the Bishop of Autun was granted the title of Bishop of Autun-Châlon-sur-Saône-Mâcon, in memory of the suppressed dioceses, and on 8 December 2002, as part of a general reorganization of the ecclesiastical map of France, Pope John Paul II created a new archdiocese at Dijon, and made the diocese of Autun-Châlon-sur-Saône-Mâcon-Cluny its suffragan.