Ancient Diocese of Saintes

Saintes has numerous Roman monuments, including a large amphitheater and an arch dedicated to Germanicus, the nephew of the Emperor Tiberius.

A poem written by Venantius Fortunatus in the second half of the sixth century makes explicit mention of Eutropius in connection with Saintes: Urbis Santonicae primus fuit iste sacerdos.

Eutropius was said to have been consecrated a bishop and sent to Gaul by Pope Clement I in the late first century; at Saintes he is said to have begun converting people to Christianity, but was killed by a blow to the head struck by enraged pagans.

In the early 13th century, when the future cathedral was still a collegiate church, Innocent III had to warn the chapter not to allow the number of canons to exceed forty.

[14] As a result of the negotiations leading to the Concordat of 1801 between First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, the diocese of Saintes was suppressed.

On 19 May 1843 the supposed relics of Saint Eusebius were discovered in the crypt of the cathedral, and on 14 October 1845 they were solemnly translated to a new resting place.

[15] On 22 January 1852, the title 'Bishop of Saintes' (though not the diocese itself) was revived by Pope Pius IX and conferred on the Bishop of La Rochelle, Clément Villecourt (1836–1856).

The King, however, was greatly angered at the bishops, since his late father had ordered the consecration and installation of Emerius, whose deposition was therefore an insult to royal power.