Nicolas Pavillon

The thirty-seven years of his episcopate were filled with ceaseless labours for the religious and moral improvement of his diocese; visitation of parishes, holding of synods, and foundation of schools.

He was one of the four bishops who refused to sign the formulary imposed by Alexander VII, on the plea that the pope cannot pronounce on facts but only on rights.

When Louis XIV commanded submission to the papal order, Pavillon in Lettre au roi" (1664) declined to recognize his interference.

The royal attempt at extending to all the provinces of France the so-called droit de regale found in Pavillon a sturdy opponent.

From the data of a contemporary pamphlet (Factum de Messire Vincent Ragot, Paris, 1766) Toreilles shows the effects of Jansenist principles on every branch of Pavillon's diocesan administration and on his relations with the nobility, the clergy, the regulars, and the peasantry.