AUTUN, Diocese of. - In central-eastern France, in the department of Saône-et-Loire. The episcopal see is at A., situated on a small hill in the area between the Côte d'Or and the mountains of the Morvan, a city that today has 14,873 inhabitants. It was founded between 15 and 10 B.C. by the emperor Augustus, who gave it his name: Augustodunum. It was meant to replace Bibracte, the ancient oppidum of the Aedui, situated 25 km. away on the summit of Mount Beuvray. Nothing was spared to give it splendor. There the Menian Schools (Scholae Menianae) were founded, where the rector Eumenus taught. The city had its its Forum of Mars, built by order of Augustus, and a flourishing emporium until, in the 2nd cent., Lugdunum (Lyons) became the capital of Gallia Lugdunensis.
We possess a precious document of the faith of the first Aeduan Christians in the Greek epitaph of Pectorius (v.), discovered near A. in 1893.
The martyr greatly venerated at A. since antiquity is St. Symphorian, commemorated on 22 Aug. in the Jeronymian Martyrology; his passio is not without value (BHL, 7967; W. Meyer, Fragmenta Burana, Berlin 1901, pp. 161-63).
The first historical bishops of A. are: Reticius, who took part in the Councils of Rome, in 313, and of Arles, in 314, against the Donatists, and Cassian, who was living in 337. Around 450, Euphronius, the friend of Sidonius Apollinaris, was bishop of A. Also worthy of note are the bishops: Siagrius (v.), Leodegarius (v.), and Adalgarius, who lived toward the end of the 9th cent.
The diocese, which at first comprised the entire Civitas Educorum, was divided in the 5th cent. to form the diocese of Chalon and, at the beginning of the 6th, to constitute the two dioceses of Mâcon and Nevers. From then on it kept its boundaries until 1790.
Today it is the first suffragan of the metropolis of Lyons and, since 19 July 1855, its bishops bear the titles of the suppressed dioceses of Chalon and Mâcon. Its boundaries are those of the department of Saône-et-Loire. Its population is 525,796 inhabitants, of whom 520,000 are Catholics. It has 551 parishes, 531 diocesan priests and 30 regulars. Near the ancient Christian cemetery of A. arose the basilica of St. Stephen, mentioned by St. Gregory of Tours (In gloria confessorum, chap. 72), destroyed in 1775; the ancient basilica of St. Peter is also recalled, reduced to a civil building in 1792.
Among the numerous abbeys, besides the very famous one of Cluny (v.), mention is made of the abbey and basilica of St. Symphorian, erected at the end of the 5th cent. by Euponius, later bishop of A., sacked by the Saracens in 731; the church, rebuilt between the 11th and 12th cent., burned in 1570, was rebuilt in 1734, demolished in 1806, and the high altar was transferred to the parish of Notre-Dame.
The abbey of St. Martin, founded by Queen Brunhilda in 589, had a basilica with three naves with precious marble columns and an apse decorated with mosaics of which traces remained as late as 1724; it too was sacked in 731, rebuilt and reconsecrated in 870, transformed in 1795.
The Cathedral dedicated to St. Lazarus, begun in 1120, was consecrated by Innocent II on 30 Dec. 1132. It is in the form of a Latin cross, with three naves and a transept. At the end of the 12th cent. a portico with three richly carved portals was added to the facade, representing scenes drawn from the Old and New Testaments or from the lives of the saints (Conversion of St. Eustace, St. Jerome removing a thorn from a lion). In the central tympanum is the Last Judgment with the characteristic psychostasis or weighing of souls; the artist has signed: Gislebertus hoc fecit.
The ancient chapel of the hospital of St. Nicholas, with a fresco of a Maiestas Domini, was converted in 1861 into a Lapidary Museum. - See Pl. XXXIII.
Also belonging to this diocese is the well-known monastery-sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial (v.).
Bibliography7 works
Antonio Soirat.
COUNCILS OF AUTUN
The first was convened under the episcopate of St. Leodegar (659-70), but the date is uncertain; it is generally placed around 670. Since we do not have the original text, we must content ourselves with the redaction of Angers, today represented by the manuscripts of Berlin, Vienna and St. Gall. The first canon reads thus: "If a cleric does not know exactly the symbol of the Apostles or the attestation of faith of St. Athanasius, let him be condemned by the bishop." Among the other canons that follow there is also one of excommunication for the laity who do not approach the sacred table on the days of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
In 1065 Hugh, abbot of Cluny, convened an assembly to put an end to the violence and depredations of Robert I, duke of Burgundy. The bishop of A., Aganon, had reason to complain about the disorders stirred up by the duke of Burgundy. The latter made a show of entering A. solemnly, without however being willing to take part in the Council. Seeing this, Hugh went to meet the duke, and pleaded so well with his words that Robert, deeply moved, restored peace to his people. In 1077, under the presidency of Hugh of Die, legate of the Pope, the Fathers of the Council came to an agreement with Hugh I, duke of Burgundy and nephew of Robert I, to make amends for the damages and violence committed by his grandfather. There was then also the case of the archdeacon of Reims, Manasses, accused of having bought his episcopate, to be examined. Manasses, who had not presented himself to defend himself, was deposed.
In 1094 the Council, presided over by Hugh of Die, excommunicated the emperor Henry IV and the antipope Guibert. Eudes I, duke of Burgundy, who was present, undertook to restore to the church of A. the lands that belonged to it.
Bibliography4 works
Romualdo Souarn