EMBRUN. — Ancient diocese and archdiocese of France in the department of the Hautes-Alpes on the right bank of the Durance. It is the ancient "Eburodunum," on the road leading into Spain; it received the ius Latii from Augustus and was a municipium. Diocletian made it the capital of the Alpes Maritimae.
The bishop Marcellinus, first apostle and bishop of E., was consecrated by Eusebius of Vercelli and Emilianus of Valence between 362 and 370 (Acta SS. Aprilis, II, Paris 1865, p. 751). Among the bishops who followed are Ingenuus (441-65), Catulinus (c. 517), Gallicanus (524-50), and Emeritus (c. 585); in the 7th century, Lopacarus, Aeternus; in the 9th, Agericus, Bermondus, and Aribertus, to whom Pope John VIII wrote (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3001, 3128, 3155). In the 10th and 11th centuries, a group of saints are recorded, such as St. Benedict, martyred by the Saracens, St. Liberalis (920-40), St. Hismius (1027-45), St. William (1120-34), founder of the abbey of Boscodon, St. Bernard Chabert (1213-33), Bertrandinus of Deaux (1233-38); Giulio de' Medici (1510-11), later Pope (1517-26).
Elected Viti, Cardinals Francesco de Tournon (1517-26) and de Tencin (1724-40).
At the end of the 8th century, the ecclesiastical province of E. had the same boundaries as the Roman province of the Alpes Maritimae; in the Middle Ages, the bishops were princes of E. and struck coins. Louis XIII destroyed the archiepiscopal castle.
The archdiocese of E. had as its suffragans Digne, Antibes and Grasse, Vence, Glandèves, Senez, and Nice. The archdiocese was suppressed on 12 July 1790, and E. remained merely the titular see of the bishop of the Hautes-Alpes; the Concordat of 15 July 1801 included E. in the diocese of Digne; Pius VII, by a bull of 27 July 1817, instead included E. in the diocese of Gap; subsequently, by another bull of 6 October 1822, the title of archbishop of E. was transferred to that of Aix.
The cathedral church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, dates from the 10th-12th centuries; notable are: an altarpiece from the 14th century and the stained glass windows from the 15th century.
Very well known is the sanctuary and basilica of Notre-Dame d'Embrun, honored by Charlemagne, visited by Pope Leo III and King Henry II. Also notable is the small church of the Cordeliers (13th-15th centuries). *Vedi tav. XXIII.*