[4] The earliest architectural remains on the site where the cathedral now stands consist of a wall of Gallo-Roman construction, which local authorities and amateurs would like to push back to the time of Constantine, or at least, as Canon J.-F. Cruvellier admits, to the Constantinian era.
[7] In 1479, when the Chapter of Digne was attempting to persuade Pope Sixtus IV to grant them the Priory of Saint-Pierre d'Albéra, they impressed him by claiming that their church had been founded and endowed by Charlemagne himself.
[8] In a bull of 1180 (or 1184), addressed to Ugo the Provost and the Canons of S. Maria Dignensis, in which Pope Alexander III takes the Church of Digne under papal protection, the first notation is Burgum Dinense, in quo ecclesia vestra constitit ('Bourg, in which your church is situated').
[9] Jurisdiction over the Bourg belonged to the Provost from 1280, by way of a grant of Count Raymond Berenguer IV of Provence.
[10] On 26 July 1397, during the episcopate of Nicholas de Corbières, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, which had been rebuilt, and consecrated in 1330, and the church of the convent of the Franciscans were burned.
He directed his cannon first against the monastery of Saint-Vincent, which was being fortified and defended by the forces of the League, and then against the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, which received 54 volleys.
They left behind a huge cache of gunpowder in the crypt, however, and, in the removal of those supplies in 1593, further damage was done to tombs and burials.
The wars of religion had done such damage that the new bishop, Antoine de Bologne, was not able to reside there when he arrived in Digne in March 1602, but had to live in rented quarters until a new building could be erected.
[15] The Basilica of Saint-Jerôme, which served as a cathedral after the Huguenot devastations of the 16th century, had its foundations begun by Bishop Antoine Guiramand in 1490.
[16] Notre-Dame du Bourg continues to be the cathedral down to the present time, and episcopal functions are regularly held there.
[17] In the medieval period the Cathedral Chapter of Digne was composed of a Provost and thirteen Canons, among whom were the Archdeacon, the Sacristan, and the Precentor.
Fears of an invasion had already been aroused in 1628, and the Parliament of Aix issued orders to every commune in Provence to be on watch and to establish a bureau of sanitation in its area.
An infirmary was set up in the convent of the Franciscans (Cordelliers), though this order was countermanded, so that the chapel could remain in service.
Bishop François du Mouchet de Villedieu was one of the non-jurors, and consequently a new election was ordered by the Legislative Assembly.
The Electors met at Digne on 20 March 1791, and on the third ballot elected the Curé of Valensole, Jean-Baptiste-Romé de Villeneuve as the bishop of Basses-Alpes.
During the Terror he was ordered to resign his priestly offices, but he refused and spent thirteen months in prison in Digne; he was released only on 9 November 1794.
The diocese of Digne was revived by Pope Pius VII in his bull Qui Christi Domini of 29 November 1801.
[37] Through the influence of General Jean-Joseph Dessole (Dessolles), his uncle was nominated bishop of the restored diocese of Digne by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte on 29 April 1802, and preconised (approved) by Pope Pius VII on 6 May.