Roman Catholic Diocese of Évreux

Tradition has it that the diocese of Évreux was founded by Saint Taurinus. That tradition claims that he was born during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian (81-96), and was baptized by Pope Clement I (ca, 91-101). He set out for Gaul in the company of Saint Denis, who founded the Church of Paris. He went on an embassy to Rome, where he received the blessing of Pope Sixtus (ca. 116-125), after which he returned to Gaul. Shortly after the death of Sixtus, the barbarians overran the province. The last remark, on top of the unlikeliness of the other statements, makes it clear that the story is fiction. An attempt to fix the chronology places Taurinus in the time of Sixtus II (257-258), not Sixtus I. There were indeed barbarian incursions under the Emperor Gallienus (253-268) in those years, and Saint Denis is usually put in the third century; but then the part of the story involving Taurinus' first-century origins must be jettisoned, leaving practically nothing; and one must admit that the third-century date depends on a scholarly conjecture.[1]

Other writers suggest other dates. Chassant and Sauvage opt for dates of ca. 380–410.[2] Le Brasseur indicates a preference for the time of the Vandals in the fifth century,[3] but neither presents any evidence. Gams assigns a date of 412 in his list of Bishops of Évreux, and provides a day of death, 11 August.[4] Fisquet provides a rationale for the date of 412, but it too is composed of suppositions and conjectures, not facts.[5] In reality there are no facts at all.

There is, however, a body. The remains were discovered by an inhabitant of Évreux named Laudulphus,[6] who had retired to a nearby cave for prayer and meditation. In a dream he heard a heavenly choir chanting that the day was the Feast of Saint Taurinus.Laudulphus set off to inform his bishop, Bishop Viator,[7] but amazingly the bishop died before Laudulphus could tell him the tale. Laudulphus was elected Viator's successor, and he immediately had a second vision, of a column extending from heaven to a certain spot on earth, where, upon investigation, they found a tomb, conveniently supplied with the inscription: HIC REQUIESCIT BEATUS TAURINUS, PRIMUS EPISCOPUS EBROICAE CIVITATIS ('Here lies Blessed Taurinus, first Bishop of Évreux). A little wooden chapel was built on the spot, out of which grew the Abbey of Saint-Taurin.[8] During the invasions of the Northmen under Rollo (ca. 875 ff.), the body was moved twice, first to the Auvergne and then to Castrum Laudosum (Lezoux).[9] When the remains were taken up, the translators found the inscription just quoted, which may have given rise to an element in the traditional story. The sack of Évreux by Rollo was witnessed by Bishop Seibardus.[10]

In the eighteenth century the Chapter of the Cathedral had a Dean, three archdeacons (Évreux, Neubourg and Ouche), a Treasurer, a Cantor, and a Penitentiary; there were thirty-one Canons, of whom the Abbot of Bec was the first. Eight of the senior canons were considered barons, and the most senior was the Baron of Angerville. There was also a Succentor and forty-five chaplains. There were some 550 parish churches in the diocese, of which eight were in Évreux itself.[11]

Part of the lower portion of the nave of Évreux Cathedral dates from the 11th century; the west facade with its two ungainly towers is, for the most part, the work of the late Renaissance, and various styles of the intervening period are represented in the rest of the church. A thorough restoration was completed in 1896. The elaborate north transept and portal are in the flamboyant Gothic. The choir, the finest part of the interior, is in an earlier Gothic style. Cardinal de la Balue, bishop of Évreux in the latter half of the 15th century, constructed the octagonal central tower, with its elegant spire; to him is also due the Lady chapel, which is remarkable for its finely preserved stained glass. Two rose windows in the transepts and the carved wooden screens of the side chapels are masterpieces of 16th-century workmanship.

The episcopal palace, a building of the 15th century, adjoins the south side of the cathedral. An interesting belfry, facing the handsome modern town hall, also dates from the 15th century. The church of St Taurin, in part Romanesque, has a choir of the 14th century and other portions of later date; it contains the shrine of St Taurin, a work of the 13th century.

From 1982 to 1995 the bishop of Évreux was the dissident cleric Jacques Gaillot who was subsequently demoted to the titular see of Partenia.

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