GALLIA CHRISTIANA. – Abbreviated title of the well-known work in 13 vols. in-folio on the bishoprics of ancient Gaul, published in the 18th century by the Benedictines of the Congregation of St-Maur (Maurists). The bishoprics are arranged according to ecclesiastical provinces, listed alphabetically by the initials of their Latin names. A complete list of the dioceses contained in G. C. is found in the *Catalogus alphabeticus des livres imprimés mis à la disposition des lecteurs dans la salle de travail*, followed by a list of the usual catalogues of the manuscript department (4th ed., Paris 1933; cf. also P. B. Gams, *Series Episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae*, Ratisbon 1873, pp. 476-568). Each province is prefaced by a general historical notice; then each diocese has its own historical notice, the chronology of its bishops and dignitaries, and information on the abbeys within its territory. At the end of each volume are the supporting instruments and documents. Despite its gaps, errors, and omissions, the work remains a monument of erudition and an indispensable tool for historians of Christianity in Gaul. Monsignor L. Duchesne, with his three volumes of *Fastes episcopaux de l’ancienne Gaule* (Paris 1907-1910-15), revised with his vast and sure erudition the episcopal lists of G. C. from the origins to the 9th century, purging them of the dross left by the meritorious Maurists.
Among the immediate precursors of this work must be numbered various scholars, the principal of whom are: in Italy, Ferd. Ughelli, known author of *Italia Sacra* (9 vols. in-fol., Rome 1644-62), who inspired the brothers de Sainte-Marthe; in France, the priest Jacques Severi, who compiled and published the episcopal lists of France and the entire Church in his work: *Chronologia historica successionis hierarchica antistitum Lugdunensis archiepiscopatus, Galliarum primatus et suffraganearum dioecesium* (1 vol. in-fol., Rome 1667); the lawyer Jean Chenu, author of the work: *Archiepiscoporum et episcoporum Galliae chronologica historia, qua ordo eorundem temporibus apostolorum inceptus ad nostra usque, per traducere succedentium servatus ostenditur* (1 vol. in-fol., Rome 1667).
GALLIA CHRISTIANA – GALLICANA LITURGIA
Volumes VII and VIII were devoted to the province of Paris (Paris 1744); IX and X to the province of Reims (Paris 1751). The work suffered a delay due to the death in 1755 of the two directors; volume XI to the province of Rouen (Paris 1759) under the direction of dom Pierre Henri and dom Jacques Taschereau; volume XII to the provinces of Sens and Tarentaise (Paris 1770); volume XIII to the provinces of Toulouse and Trier (Paris 1785).
The Revolution interrupted the work, whose supporting documents for volume XIV, devoted to the province of Tours, were printed in 1790, but it was completed by the lay heir Barthélemy Hauréau, who published volumes XIV (Tours, 1856), XV (Besançon, 1860), and XVI (Vienne, 1865). These three volumes were dubbed by the priests Tresvaux (*Revue des questions historiques*, 11 [1872], p. 210) *Gallia profana* for the secular spirit in which they were written.
Dom Paul Piolin undertook a second edition of the thirteen volumes edited by the Maurists, but his work did not improve the original. The *G. C.* [title as above]. *Editio altera labore et curis Domini Pauli Piolin recensita et aucta* was published in Paris between 1870 and 1877, but only volumes I-V, XI, and XIII appeared; the remaining volumes were reprinted anastatically by the publisher H. Welter (Paris 1899). Canon J.-H. Albanès sought to correct the errors overlooked by the first authors of G. C. with his *G. C. novissima*, later published by his friend U. Chevalier. Though the idea itself was excellent, it proved, upon the author’s death, to be practically useless to scholars. The volumes of the *G. C. novissima* are seven (in-4 format) and concern Provence: vol. I devoted to Aix, Apt, Fréjus, Gap, Riez, Sisteron (Montbéliard 1899); II to Marseille (Paris 1899); III to Arles (Paris 1901); IV to Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Paris 1909); V to Toulon (Paris 1911); VI to Orange (Paris 1916); VII to Avignon (Paris 1920). H. Fisquet published in Paris, between 1864 and 1869 in 22 volumes without a date, a free version of G. C. with additions on the modern state of the dioceses, under the title *France pontificale (Gallia Christiana)*, *histoire chronologique et biographique des archevêques et évêques de tous les diocèses de France, depuis l’établissement du Christianisme jusqu’à nos jours*, divided into eighteen ecclesiastical provinces (Paris). None of the proposed projects for a complete reworking of G. C. has thus far met with success.