Duchesne believes that the two saints suffered at an earlier date, and disputes the inference of the ancient writer concerning the absence of the bishop.

The Saint Aemilianus supposed to have been Bishop of Nantes in Charlemagne's reign and to have fought the Saracens in Burgundy is considered legendary.

Among the noteworthy bishops is Felix (550-83), whose municipal improvements at Nantes were praised in the poems of Venantius Fortunatus, and who often mediated between the people of Brittany and the Frankish kings.

[5] During his son's reign, the Breton prince, in his conflict with the metropolitan see of Tours, created a see at Guérande c. 853, and filled it with the deposed usurper of the see of Nantes, who had been expelled.

[9] Widowed in 1457, she resisted the intrigues of Louis XI, who urged her to contract a second marriage, and even attempted to persuade her personally during a pilgrimage to Redon in the Spring of 1462; she sought refuge in Nantes;[10] in 1468 she became a Carmelite nun at Vannes.

[14] The mausoleum of Francis II, Duke of Brittany in the cathedral, executed in 1507 by Michel Colomb, is one of the finest monuments of the Renaissance.

It consisted of six dignities (the Dean, the Grand-Archdeacon, the Archdeacon of the Mée, the Cantor, the Treasurer, and the Scholasticus) and fourteen canons.

[citation needed] A provincial council was held at Nantes by Archbishop Vincent de Pirmil of Tours on the Tuesday after the Feast of Ss.

[18] Bishop Daniel Vigier (1304–1337) established a regulation, stating that there would be a general synod every year at Pentecost, and study conferences for clergy on the Feast of St. Luke (18 October), at Christmas, and during Lent.

[20] At Pentecost 1389, Bishop Jean de Montrelais held a diocesan synod, and published twenty statutes.

[24] A provincial council was held in Nantes on 23 April 1431, by Archbishop Philippe de Coëtquis of Tours.

[26] Bishop Pierre du Chaffault (1477–1487) held a diocesan synod on the Thursday after Pentecost, 14 May 1478, and issued statutes.

[31] Another synod was held on 24 May 1646, under the authority of Bishop de Beauvau, by his vicar-general; it issued five statutes, including arrangements for financing a new seminary.

The pope responded on 1 August 1414, not with a university charter, but with a grant of one-third of all the ecclesiastical revenues within the duchy for a period of one year.

[37] After his synod of 12 June 1642, bishop Gabriel de Beauvau announced the establishment of a seminary for the diocese.

Previous to this, candidates for the priesthood studied at home or in parish rectories, and were required to partake in a retreat of several days, conducted by the Oratorian fathers.

[39] A college was created at Nantes c. 1680, with the permission of Bishop Jean-François de Beauvau du Rivau (1677–1717),[40] for the education of Irish ecclesiastics.

[44] The Abbey of La Meilleraye, founded in 1132, was the beginning of an establishment of Trappist Fathers, who played a part in the agricultural development of the country.

[47] The Maréchal de Thémines, governor of Brittany, died on 1 November 1627; his funeral was held in Nantes, though his remains were taken to his home town, Cahors, for burial.

[48] On 30 March 1654, Cardinal de Retz, who was struggling to maintain his right to the archbishopric of Paris against the opposition of the French court because he had been a leading Frondeur, was transferred from his imprisonment in the Chateau de Vincennes, and lodged in the castle of Nantes by order of Cardinal Mazarin and Louis XIV.

On 13 February 1790. it issued a decree which stated that the government would no longer recognize solemn religious vows taken by either men or women.

Members of either sex were free to leave their monasteries or convents if they wished, and could claim an appropriate pension by applying to the local municipal authority.

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.

[58] During the French Revolution, certain regions of the diocese were the scene of the War of La Vendée, waged in defence of religious freedom and to restore the monarchy.

He conducted a reign of terror, called the Drownings at Nantes, between November 1793 and February 1794, which resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 persons, many of them priests and nuns.

[63] The Soeurs de la Providence, a diocesan congregation, were founded at Nantes in 1758, but dispersed by the French Revolution; they returned in 1810.

[65] The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, a teaching and nursing order, were founded in 1853 (mother-house at La Haye Mahéas).