AQUITAINE. - A natural region of southwestern France, bounded by the Pyrenees, the Massif Central and the Atlantic Ocean, already inhabited by tribes of Iberian stock. Conquered by Caesar, in the administrative division of Augustus it embraced a larger territory, including Celtic tribes living between the Garonne and the Loire. In the time of Diocletian, A. comprised three provinces: Novempopulana (Iberians), with Eauze as its capital; A. Prima and A. Secunda, with capitals at Bourges and Bordeaux respectively.
The origins of Christianity in A. are obscure; taking local traditions into account as well, it is not possible to go back much beyond the 4th century. The first Churches of which there is record are Bordeaux, Eauze and Gabales, whose representatives were present at the Synod of Arles in 314. During the 6th century, now favored by the State, the Gospel made progress in these regions, though hindered by the pagan customs of the natives. Under Constantius and Julian (353-63) the Arian crisis had its repercussions in A., where some bishops fell victim to their own good faith, while others took a clear position; thus Paternus of Périgueux, who placed himself in the service of Arianism; Hilary of Poitiers and Phaebadius of Agen, on the other hand, opposed it.
More serious was the crisis of Priscillianism (v.), which raised problems of practical life accessible to everyone, especially to women. The church of Bordeaux defended itself, but in Novempopulana Priscillianism won successes whose effects still persisted in the 5th century. The ferment died out with the barbarian invasions that began in 407. In the following years the Goths tore two Aquitanian provinces from imperial administration; Bourges held out, falling in 475 under the Visigoths. The first years after the annexations were hard for the Church, and only under the reign of Alaric II (484-507) was there a more tolerant regime. Great changes were brought about by the victory of Clovis (508), which put an end to the Visigothic kingdom. Divided into three ecclesiastical provinces, with several bishoprics and a primate at Bourges, A. then formed a unit of its own, separated from the rest of France, later broken up by the successors of Clovis and by the Merovingian kings. In the 7th century the aspiration to independence is evident, of which expression is
(propr. Enc. Catt.)
AACHEN - Cathedral.
Plan of the Palatine Chapel (late 8th century).
the various duchies that came into being in A. and the struggle they waged against the kings of Neustria, but, with the victories of Charles Martel against the Saracens, A. passed under the dominion of the Frankish kings.
The Carolingians made it a kingdom more or less subject to the empire. The frameworks of the ecclesiastical administration reproduced those of the Roman one, except in a few cases. In the 5th century the civitas Boiatum was absorbed by Bordeaux, which later became a primatial see. Bayonne was an episcopal see in the 11th century (it is probable that its origins should be traced back to the 8th and perhaps the 6th century), which brings the number of bishoprics in that period to 25. Eauze disappeared in the 9th century. Under John XXII, in 1317, several bishoprics were divided, especially in the two northern provinces, whose number rose to 33. In 1617 a new metropolis was established: Albi, with Rodez, Cahors and Mende as suffragans. The Napoleonic Concordat of the last century respected the old sees, annulling the erections of John XXII. The four metropolitan circumscriptions were also preserved, except in the case of Perpignan, annexed to Albi.
Bibliography4 works
Mario Scaduto