BAYEUX. - A city on the Aure River, in the Calvados department; it had various names in antiquity: Ptolemy calls it *Arigenus Biducosiorum*, the Peutinger Table: *Arigenus*, then *Baiocum*, *Inlobona*, *Biduatium*. Conquered by the Romans, it became part of the Second Lyonnais province. Taken by Clovis, under the Franks it constituted the *comitatus Baiocensis*. It was repeatedly devastated by the Normans.
The origins of the diocese of B. are uncertain. Neither the first two versions of the *Martyrologium Hieronymianum* nor Ado’s Martyrology mention any saint of this diocese; in the incomplete one by Usuard, only Bishop St. Vigor is mentioned, who is also found in a 10th-century manuscript of the *Hieronymianum* along with Bishop John. As for tradition, it is summarized in three legends, the oldest of which may date back to the 8th century. The episcopal lists that have come down to us date from the 12th century; the first bishop mentioned is Eusebius, whose name is engraved on a silver dish he donated to the church (cf. G. Morin, *Missonium de Saint-Exupère. Note sur un plateau offert à l'Eglise de B. par son premier évêque*, in *Mélanges d'arch. et d'hist.*, 18 [1898], pp. 363-79). In modern times B. is often called the diocese of the Saints, as it boasts more than thirty, including recently canonized St. John Eudes.
The cathedral, built in the 6th century, burned down in 1105; surviving are the capitals of the crypt and the towers of the façade, from the 12th century, to which period also belong
from J. Clédat, *Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouit*, in: *Mélanges publiés par les membres de l'Inst. franc. d'arch. orient., XII*, Cairo 1901)
Bawir - Paintings from Chapel XVII (c. 12th century).
volume of plates without text). But of far greater importance are the many paintings