CHÂLONS-SUR-MARNE, DIOCESE of. — City and department of the Marne, in Champagne, suffragan of Reims. Formed by a vast plain watered by the Marne, the region of C. was crossed several times over the centuries by armies that invaded northern France. In the 4th century C. was already one of the most notable cities of Belgica secunda: Duro Catalaunos of the Itinerary of Antoninus. The Catalaunian Plains are known for the battle between Aetius and Attila in the year 451.
The spread of Christianity in the region of C. dates back to the 4th century. The diocese of C. has an episcopal list known from a copy by Mabillon, which Delisle identified in a Sacramentary formerly held in the episcopal library of C. Another text of the catalogue is preserved by Robert of Torigni. Mabillon’s copy, in its original form, extended to Wido (1048), and was then continued until the 14th century; it also records four bishops of the 17th–18th centuries. First in the list is Memmius, whose sanctuary Gregory of Tours mentions (In gloria confessorum, 65), and who is commemorated on 5 August in the Hieronymian Martyrology, but his Passio (BHL, 5907-14) is without value. Famous are s. Alpinus, disciple of s. Lupus of Troyes, and Hildegrim, bishop of C. in the year 802, who greatly contributed to the evangelization of Frisia and Saxony; he inherited from his brother the abbey of Werden on the Ruhr, where he was buried in the year 827.
In the 9th century the bishops of C. became lords of the county. In 1111 the papal legate Conon convened at C. a council against Henry V, excommunicated by Paschal II during the struggle over the Investitures. Subsequently, other synods were held at C. in 1559, 1631, 1647, etc. The beautiful Gothic cathedral is dedicated to the protomartyr s. Stephen; it was consecrated by Eugene III in 1147, restored in the 13th century, and enlarged in the 17th century; the interior has three naves with large stained-glass windows from the 13th, 14th, and 16th centuries.
Francis I fortified the city with powerful works, but C. suffered greatly during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century. The Parliament of Paris moved there in 1592.
Within the territory of the diocese is the sanctuary of N.-D. de l'Epine, recently awarded the title of minor basilica. The diocese covers 6476 sq km and includes the entire department of the Marne (except the arrondissement of Reims), with a population of 217,127, of whom 183,000 are Catholics (1948).
Suppressed by the Concordat of 1801 and annexed to that of Meaux, the diocese was re-established in 1882 and, as in the past, made suffragan of Reims.
It is divided into 12 archpriestships and 5 deaneries, with 475 parishes, 268 diocesan priests, and 9 religious; the patron of the diocese is s. Memmius. This region, whose geographical situation exposes it dangerously in the event of armed conflicts, is one of those dioceses of France where the war of 1914–18 caused the greatest accumulation of ruins, recently increased by the last war, which destroyed the parishes of Hurlus, Le Mesnil-les-Hurlus, Perthes-les-Hurlus, Ripont, and Tahure; there are 183 municipalities without a church.