ANGOULÈME, DIOCESE of. — Episcopal see, suffragan of Bordeaux, A. (Engolisma) is a city of western France, on a hill washed by the Charente, and the ancient 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 several bishops of A. are revealed by the legend of St. Cybard (537–81), a famous solitary in whose honor Pepin I, king of Aquitaine (817–38), founded, at the request of the bishop of A., Fredebert, 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 Pietro I Laumond. Bishop Gerard was particularly important for 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, at first an independent county and later 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 be introduced there in 1534 by Calvin himself; from 1559 onward it raged there with numerous atrocities. It was necessary to await the end of the century to see Catholicism and, with it, monastic life flourish there again.
After seeing its boundaries reorganized in 1798, 1802, and 1823, the diocese today consists of the department of Charente (5,938 sq. km.). It comprises 362 parishes. The Catholic inhabitants number 300,000; there are 260 diocesan priests and 30 religious.