Troyes, Diocese of
Troyes, a diocese and the chief city of the department of the Aube, was formerly the capital of the *Chambre des comptes*, through which the Canal de la Haute-Seine now passes.
It covers an area of 60 sq. km. with the same boundaries as the department; it has a population of 255,237 inhabitants, of whom 210,000 are Catholic. The diocese is divided into 5 archpriestships, 32 deaneries, and comprises 457 parishes, served by 200 diocesan priests and 39 regular clergy; it has a major and a minor seminary, 9 male and 18 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 433). The patrons of the diocese are the Apostles Peter and Paul.
It was the capital of the tribe of the Tricasses, from which the name of the city is derived; it was also known as Augustobona. The Counts of Champagne favored the Jewish community, and among the rabbis there emerged Rashi or Jarchi (1040-1105), founder of the Talmudic school of Troyes. The city was burned by the Normans but soon flourished again. The power of the bishops waned with the rise of the Counts of Troyes, who were later Counts of Champagne; Troyes became famous for its fairs and obtained its franchises between 1230-42. In 1128 a council was held there which approved the constitution of the Order of the Templars. Champagne was reunited with the French crown by the marriage of Philip the Fair in 1248. It suffered greatly from the fire of 1524 and during the Wars of Religion. Gradually Troyes became a notable artistic center, especially under Louis IX, Charles VIII, and Louis XII; from 1480 to about 1635 a school of architecture, sculpture, painting, and stained glass flourished there, particularly through the work of J. Soudan, J. Macadré, and L. Goutier.
A manuscript from Auxerre (no. 132) contains the catalogue of the bishops of Troyes, continued up to Nicolas de Brie (1232-69). The list begins with Amator about the year 300; he was succeeded by Octavian about 346, then Leo, Heraclius, Melanius, Aurelian, Ursus, and Lupus, to whom Sidonius Apollinaris wrote several times (Epist., VI, 1, 4, 9; IX, 11); he was bishop from 426 to 478 or 479, went to Brittany with St. Germanus of Auxerre, and vigorously opposed the invasion of Attila. He is commemorated on 29 July in the *Martyrologium Hieronymianum*. Gregory of Tours recounts a miracle that occurred in his basilica (In Gloria Confessorum, 66); his life was written shortly after his death (Acta SS. Julii, VII, p. 80). His successors were Camillian, who attended the Council of Orléans in 521 and is commemorated on 28 July in the *Hieronymianum*; Vincent about 540, who built a church to St. Aventinus; Ambrose, who attended the Council of Orléans in 549; Gallomagnus, who attended the Councils of Paris in 573 and of Lyon in 581; he is mentioned by Gregory of Tours (Vitae Patrum, VIII, 8); then Agrecius, Lupus II, Evodius, Modegisus, Ragnegisus about 667, who built a church in honor of St. Sabina; St. Leunius (venerated on 1 April); Bertolandus about 660; Vanmarius, Abbo about 667, who buried St. Frodebertus, founder of the monastery of Montier-la-Celle; Fulcherius, Otulf who in the 8th century attended the Council of Attigny, and received Pope John VIII at Troyes, where he held a synod (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3179); Bodo about 800; Riveus, for whom Pope Formosus intervened (Flodoard, *De Christi triumphis*, 12,5; P.L.