ANGOULEME, DIOCESE OF. - An episcopal see, suffragan of Bordeaux, A. (Angoulême) is a city in western France, situated on a hill bordered by the Charente, formerly the capital of Angoumois.
St. Ausonius (3rd or 4th century) is the first known bishop of A. A sanctuary was dedicated to his name in the episcopal city as early as the 10th century. The origins of the diocese, however, remain shrouded in obscurity until the Merovingian period, when the names of some bishops of A. are revealed by the legend of St. Cybard (537-81), a famous hermit in whose honor Pepin I, King of Aquitaine (817-38), founded, at the request of the bishop of A., Fredbert, the famous abbey that took his name.
Several councils were held in the episcopal city: in 1117, 1118, and 1121; under the presidency of Bishop Gerard (1102-1135), and in 1170, under that of Peter I Laumond. Bishop Gerard played a particularly important role in the position he took in favor of Anacletus II during the schism of 1130-38. Situated on the borders of French and English influence, Angoumois, first an independent county and then annexed to the kingdom of France in 1307, suffered greatly from political rivalries. After the Hundred Years' War, which ruined many monasteries, the Reformation began to take hold there in 1534 through Calvin himself, and by 1559 it raged with numerous atrocities. It was only at the end of the century that Catholicism and, with it, monastic life were restored.
The diocese, after having seen its boundaries altered in 1798, 1802, and 1823, is today composed of the department of Charente (5,938 sq. km.). It comprises 362 parishes. The Catholic population is 300,000; there are 260 diocesan priests and 30 regular clergy.