Mende, Diocese of

MENDE, Diocese of. - Diocese and capital city of the department of Lozère (France), on the left bank of the Lot. It has an area of 5,000 sq. km., with a population of 95,000 inhabitants, of whom 80,000 are Catholics. The diocese is divided into 4 archdeaconries, 28 deaneries, 215 parishes served by 400 diocesan priests and 15 regular clergy, a major and a minor seminary (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 268). The diocese belonged to Aquitania I and the original residence was Gabales, whose name was transformed into Javouls.

The church of Gabales was represented at the Council of Arles (a. 314) by the deacon Genialis. Much later the venerated tomb of the martyr bishop St. Privatus made M. the religious center of the Gévaudan. As for the age in which the bishop Privatus lived, Gregory of Tours (Hist. Francorum, X, 29; Virtutes s. Iuliani, 30) places him in the age of Valerian and Gallienus and put to death by the Alemannic invader Crocus; Fredegarius instead in his Chronicle (II, 60) makes Crocus a Vandal king, therefore ca. the year 407; L. Duchesne prefers to place the invasion of Crocus at the beginning of the Empire of Constantine, perhaps before the Council of Arles (Pastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, II, 2nd ed., Paris 1910, pp. 54-55 and 124-26); lastly G. Bardy considers it preferable to adhere to Gregory of Tours (Recherches sur un cycle agiographique. Les Martyrs de Chrocus, in Rev. de l'hist. de l'Egl. de France, 21 [1935], pp. 5-29).

St. Privatus is remembered in the Hieronymian Martyrology on Aug. 21; he is also mentioned by Fortunatus (Carm.

VIII, 161). Gregory of Tours points out the basilica in his honor (Hist. Francorum, VI, 37). Among the other bishops are known Leoninus, who was at the Council of Agde of 506, Hilarius at that of Auvergne in 535, Evantius at that of Orléans in 541, Parthenius between 561 and 575 (Gregory of Tours, op. cit., IV, 39). The bishop Agricola was at the Councils of Paris in 614 and at Clichy in 627; Agenolf at that of Ponthion of 876; Pope John VIII wrote to him (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3220). Pope Urban II consecrated at M. the church and monastery of St. Salvator of Chirac (1095). At the time when Aldebert III was bishop (1151-86), Pope Alexander III stayed for some days at M. in 1162. Between 1285 and 1296 the famous William Durand, O. P. (v.), was its bishop; his tomb in the church of St. Mary sopra Minerva is the work of Giovanni, son of Cosma, who portrayed him kneeling at the feet of the Madonna, between the bishop of M., St. Privatus and St. Dominic (G. B. De Rossi, Musaici cristiani delle chiese di Roma anteriori al sec. XV, Rome 1872-99, pl. 40, 1); he was succeeded by his nephew Durand the younger (1296-1328); between 1368 and 1370 its administrator was Pope Urban V, born at Grisac (diocese of M.) ca. 1310; then for a few months William de Chanac, later cardinal; later still card. Pietro Riario in commendam in 1473; Giuliano della Rovere, later Julius II (1478-83); he was succeeded by his nephew card. Clemente della Rovere (1483-1504) and Francesco della Rovere (1504-24); mons. Castellane was shot at Versailles on Sept. 9, 1792.

The present Cathedral, dedicated to Notre-Dame and to St. Privatus, was built in large part at the expense of Pope Urban V (1362-70) whose bronze statue stands (1874) before the façade, which is preceded by a portico built in 1900. To the right and left rise two bell towers; the one on the left, taller, was erected by bishop F. della Rovere (1504-24). It contained the great bell called the "non pareille" weighing 20 tons; broken in 1579, the enormous clapper remains, 2.15 m. high. The interior has three naves, without a transept. The choir in 1692 was separated by a wooden "jubé" whose decorations today partly adorn the chapel of the baptismal font. From the same period are the choir stalls with scenes of the Old and New Testament. On the high altar is displayed the "Vierge Noire" or "Notre-Dame de M.", brought from Palestine by the Crusaders. Beneath the windows of the choir hang eight Aubusson tapestries (1708) representing scenes from the life of the Madonna. Beneath the central nave is the crypt with the tomb of bishop St. Privatus and remains of the primitive church. M. suffered much from the sackings of the Huguenots in 1562 and of the adventurer Merle from 1573 to 1581. Mons. Claude de Rosseau restored the Cathedral in 1608. Among the sanctuaries and pilgrimage centers, besides the statue of the black Madonna in the Cathedral, are remembered the hermitage of St. Privatus, "Notre Dame de Quézac" from as early as 1052; "Notre-Dame de tout pouvoir" at Langogne.

M. was first a suffragan of Bourges; Innocent XI in 1678 placed it under the jurisdiction of Albi. The local "Société des lettres, sciences et arts de la Lozère" has established a museum with collections of geology, archaeology and Gallo-Roman ceramics.

Enrico Josi