Montauban, Diocese of

MONTAUBAN, Diocese of. - Diocese and city, prefecture seat of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne in France.

The city of M. lies on a terrace situated between the right bank of the Tarn and its two tributaries, the Tescou and the Lagarrigue. Its origin goes back to the abbey of St. Theodard founded ca. the year 820 in the place called Montauriol; in 1144 the count of Toulouse, Alfonso Jourdain, established the bastide of M., which absorbed the group of inhabitants that had arisen around the abbey. The city was afflicted by the Albigensian heresy; Pope John XXII, with the bull Salvator of 25 June 1317, raised the abbey to a diocese, detaching it from the diocese of Toulouse, of which it became a suffragan. The basilica of St. Theodard was raised to a cathedral. In the 16th century the Calvinists made such progress there that in 1561 they prohibited Catholic worship, destroyed not only the Cathedral but also other churches, and made M. the rallying center of the reformed churches in France between 1578 and 1584. Fighting took place there in 1621 between the army of Louis XIII and the Protestant army led by the duke of Rohan, and only in 1629 was the city occupied by Richelieu. Among the bishops of M. are remembered: Cardinal Georges d'Amboise (1484-89), Msgr. Le Tonnellier de Breteuil (1762-94), imprisoned at Rouen during the Revolution, Msgr. de Cheverus (1824-26), later a cardinal.

Sanctuaries in the diocese that are much venerated are those of Notre-Dame de Livron or de la Delivrance, Notre-Dame de Lorm at Castelferrus, Notre-Dame de la Peyrouse near Lafrançaise. Within the territory of M. is the abbey of Moissac (v.). The new Cathedral (Notre-Dame) was built between 1629 and 1739 in classical forms. The only surviving church is St-Jacques (14th-15th century), entirely of brick, including in the decoration of the portal and in the octagonal tower. The interior has a single nave with side chapels and an apse with seven niches. The old episcopal palace was built in 1659 on the remains of a castle of the counts of Toulouse and of another erected around 1366; it is entirely of brick and is today transformed into a Museum, named after the painter Ingres, a native of M. like the sculptor Bourdelle and the missionary in Oceania Fr. L. Bourjade.

In a part of the building of the « Bourse de Commerce » is housed the Brun Museum with collections of natural history and prehistory.

Enrico Josi