CLERMONT-FERRAND, Diocese of. – In France, currently comprising the department of Puy-de-Dôme; it is a suffragan of Bourges, includes 5 archpriestships (Clermont, Ambert, Thiers, Issoire, and Riom), 53 deaneries, and 520 parishes, and has approximately 500,000 inhabitants. The major seminary is located at Richelieu (Chamalières). The bishop of Clermont has the privilege of the sacred pallium (28 January 1894). The city of Clermont, known in antiquity as Arverni, became an episcopal see in the second half of the 3rd century. Initially, it encompassed the entire ancient *civitas* of the Arverni (Auvergne); in 1317, the diocese of Saint-Flour was separated from II. The first bishop was Austremonius; among the most notable others are Sidonius Apollinaris (q.v.), who was Prefect of Rome in 468 and bishop of Clermont from 470 to 489; Stephen Aubert (1340–42), who became a cardinal in 1342 and pope under the name Innocent VI in 1352; and the famous preacher Massillon (1717–42). Gregory of Tours (d. 594) and Blaise Pascal (1623–62) were born in Clermont.
In 1095, Pope Urban II held a council in Clermont at which the First Crusade was proclaimed.
Clermont possesses a state university with faculties of Law, Letters, and Sciences, as well as a preparatory school of medicine and pharmacy. The patron saint of the diocese is St. Austremonius. The cathedral, Notre-Dame, is a fine example of French Gothic architecture, begun in 1248 and consecrated in 1346. The church of Notre-Dame du Port, in Romanesque style (11th century), is a pilgrimage destination.
Archaeology. – Gregory of Tours carefully collected memories of the martyrs, shrines, and bishops of his homeland (*Historia Francorum*, I, 33; *De gloria martyrum*, 43, 64, 66; *De gloria confessorum*, 35). From Gregory of Tours, we learn that Clermont had its local martyrs (such as Antolianus); a basilica was built over his tomb at the beginning of the 6th century; a second basilica contained the tombs of Sts. Cassius and Victorinus; a martyr named Liminus was buried in the church of St. Venerandus. However, other churches honored martyrs from elsewhere, namely Sts. Peter, Andrew, Stephen, Lawrence, and Quiricus.
Around the middle of the 5th century, Namatius, bishop of Clermont (c. 442–62), sent a priest to Bologna and obtained some relics of Sts. Vitalis and Agricola, which were solemnly welcomed in Clermont; a great procession went out to meet them (*Gregory of Tours, De gloria martyrum*, 44). They were deposited in the principal church. The *Martyrologium Hieronymianum* preserves two anniversaries: on 14 May, the dedication of the church: *Arvernus dedicatio ecclesiae s. Agricolae*; on 10 December: *in civitate Arvernis Agricolae et Vitalis martyrum*. Notable shrines are also remembered in the region; on 28 August, the same Martyrology places in *Averno vico Bricatense* the passion of St. Julian the martyr; his tomb became the most venerated sanctuary in Auvergne. At Riom, St. Polycarp was venerated, and at Thiers, the stones stained with the blood of St. Symphorian of Autun; there, too, Bishop Avitus built in 571 the church of St. Genesius, a saint distinct from that of Arles. Gregory of Tours devotes three chapters (*De gloria confessorum*, 35–37) to describing the cemetery basilica of St. Venerandus (d. c. 380); the subsoil was entirely filled with tombs; inside stood altars to St. Julian and St. Basilissa of Antioch. Many carved sarcophagi come from this site. Another church filled with tombs was that of St. Illidius, or Allirius, a bishop buried in the suburb, where other bishops also rested; the church was later called St. Mary among the Saints.
The church of St. Stephen in the suburb of Clermont was erected by Bishop Namatius (446–62), and the subjects for the frescoes that were to adorn its walls were indicated to the painters by the illustrations in a manuscript containing *historias actionis antiquas* (*Gregory of Tours, Historiae Francorum*, II, 17). The fine series of Christian carved sarcophagi depicting scenes from the New and Old Testaments shows how flourishing the church community of Clermont was. They were first published by Le Blant and more recently by Wilpert. Sidonius Apollinaris (d. 489) was buried in the church of St. Saturninus and later transferred to that of St. Genesius. His metrical epitaph was copied and preserved in a manuscript in Madrid (*E. Le Blant*, II, no. 562). Also known is the sepulchral poem of Gallus, son of Gregory of Tours (d. 551), who was buried in the basilica of St. Lawrence (*ibid.*, no. 359). There are also inscriptions of a priest named Privatus, of two deacons, Innocent (*CIL*, XIII, I, 1489) and Emellius, who died in the 37th year of Clotaire (in 548 if Clotaire I; 621 if Clotaire II); in St. Cassius was buried a Georgia *sacrata Christi* (*CIL*, XIII, I, 1491). Gregory of Tours records the metrical inscription composed by Sidonius Apollinaris for the tomb of Abbot Abraham of St. Quiricus (d. c. 477), for whom he built the church (*Vitae patrum*, 3). The epitaph of a woman named Lupa dates to 555, in the time of King Theobald; another, of a man named Remestus, to 612. See Plate CXX.