Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux

[3] Local traditions also make Saints Eusebius, Torquatus, Paulus, Amantius, Sulpicius, Bonifatius, Castorinus and Michael early bishops of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in the 3rd to 6th centuries.

[4] Of those, Louis Duchesne regards St. Paulus (fourth or sixth century), patron saint of the city, as the earliest attested bishop, after whom the diocese was later named.

[6] Owing to Saracen ravages from Iberia (827-29) the see of St-Paul-Trois-Châteaux was, by a decree of Gregory IV,[7] united aeque principaliter (i.e. in personal union) with that of Orange.

[16] Bishop Guillaume Adhémar de Monteil (1482-1516) died on 23 July 1516, and the Chapter of the cathedral duly met to elect a successor.

They chose Jacques de Vesc, and applied to the metropolitan, Archbishop Jean Ferrier of Arles, for canonical confirmation.

[17] In reply, on 10 September 1516, Pope Leo issued the bull "Decet Romanum pontificem," in which he voided the election of Jacques de Vesc, on the grounds that the papacy had previously reserved to itself the appointment of the next bishop.

[22] One of the first acts of the French Revolution was the abolition of feudalism and its institutions, including estates, provinces, duchies, baillies, and other obsolete organs of government.

The National Constituent Assembly ordered their replacement by political subdivisions called "departments", to be characterized by a single administrative city in the center of a compact area.

[29] The pope then recreated the French ecclesiastical order, respecting in most ways the changes introduced during the Revolution, including the reduction in the number of archdioceses and dioceses.

Its former cathedral, Ancienne cathédrale Notre-Dame et Saint-Paul, dedicated to Saint Paul and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was not granted co-cathedral status.