MENDE, DIOCESE OF. – Diocese and chief town of the Lozère department (France), on the left bank of the Lot. It covers an area of 5,000 sq. km., with a population of 95,000, of whom 80,000 are Catholic. The diocese is divided into 4 archdeaconries, 28 deaneries, and 215 parishes served by 400 diocesan priests and 15 regular clergy, as well as a major and minor seminary (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 268). The diocese belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Aquitaine I, and its original see was at Gabales, whose name later became Javouls.
The church of Gabales was represented at the Council of Arles (A.D. 314) by the deacon Genialis. Much later, the venerated tomb of the martyr-bishop St. Privatus made Mende a religious center of Gévaudan. As for the period in which Bishop Privatus lived, Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc., X, 29; Virtutes s. Iuliani, 30) places him in the time of Valerian and Gallienus and states that he was put to death by the Alemannic invader Croco; Fredegarius, however, in his Chronicle (II, 60) makes Croco a Vandal king, thus around the year 407; L. Duchesne prefers to place Croco’s invasion at the beginning of the reign of Constantine, perhaps before the Council of Arles (Fastes épiscopaux de l’ancienne Gaule, II, 2nd ed., Paris 1910, pp. 54-55 and 124-26); finally, G. Bardy considers it preferable to follow Gregory of Tours (Recherches sur un cycle hagiographique. Les Martyrs de Chrocus, in Rev. de l’hist. de l’Egl. de France, 21 [1935], pp. 5-29).
St. Privatus is commemorated in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 21 August; he is also mentioned by Fortunatus (Carm. VIII, 161). Gregory of Tours refers to the basilica in his honor (Hist. Francorum, VI, 37). Among other bishops are known Leoninus, who attended the Council of Agde in 506; Hilary at that of Clermont in 535; Evantius at Orléans in 541; Partenius between 561 and 575 (Gregory of Tours, op. cit., IV, 39). Bishop Agricola attended the councils of Paris in 614 and Clichy in 627; Agenulf at that of Pontion in 876, to whom Pope John VIII wrote (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3220). Pope Urban II consecrated at Mende the church and monastery of St. Saviour at Chirac (1095). During the episcopate of Aldebert III (1151-86), Pope Alexander III stayed in Mende for several days in 1162. Between 1285 and 1296 the celebrated William Durand, O.P. (v.), was bishop; his tomb in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome is the work of Giovanni, son of Cosmas, who depicted him kneeling at the feet of the Madonna, between the bishop of Mende, St. Privatus, and St. Dominic (G. B. De Rossi, Musaei christiani delle chiese di Roma anteriori al sec. XV, Rome 1872-99, tav. 40, 1); he was succeeded by his nephew Durand the Younger (1296-1328). Between 1368 and 1370 the see was administered by Pope Urban V, born at Grisac (diocese of Mende) c. 1310; for a few months by Guillaume de Chanac, then a cardinal; later by Cardinal Pietro Riario in commendam in 1473; by Giuliano della Rovere, later Pope Julius II (1478-83); he was succeeded by his nephew Cardinal Clemente della Rovere (1483-1504) and Francesco della Rovere (1504-24); Monsignor Castellane was shot at Versailles on 9 September 1792.
The present cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady and St. Privatus, was largely built 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 at the behest of Bishop F. della Rovere (1504-24). It contains the great bell called “la non pareille,” weighing 20 tons; broken in 1579, the enormous clapper remains, 2.15 m. high. The interior has three naves, without a transept. In 1692 a rood screen of wood separated the choir; some of its decorations now adorn the baptismal chapel. From the same period date the stalls of the choir with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. On the high altar is displayed the “Black Virgin” or “Notre-Dame de Mende,” brought from Palestine by the Crusaders. Beneath the choir windows are eight tapestries from Aubusson (1708) depicting scenes from the life of the Madonna. Beneath the central nave lies the crypt containing the tomb of Bishop St. Privatus and the remains of the pri-
Mende, diocese of – General view. The cathedral at center.
Mende, diocese of – Notre-Dame Bridge (14th century).