Diocese of Nevers

The Diocese of Nevers (Latin: Dioecesis Nivernensis; French: Diocèse de Nevers) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Nièvre, in the Region of Bourgogne.

Suppressed by the Concordat of 1801 and united to the See of Autun, it was re-established in 1823 as suffragan of the Archdiocese of Sens and took over a part of the former Diocese of Autun and a part of the ancient Diocese of Auxerre.

The claim that Savinian and Potentian were the first to christianize Nevers (Noviodunum) on instructions from the Apostle Peter c. 45 is not sustainable. The earliest signs of Christianity in the area date from the mid-3rd century.

At the beginning of the 5th century, Nevers became part of the kingdom of Burgundy. In 763, King Pepin the Short held a placitum generale for the Franks at Nevers, at which the Bavarian Duke Tassilo was present. In 952, Hugues le Blanc, Count of Paris, seized and burned the city of Nevers. In 960, Kign Lothair of France gave Burgundy, including the Nivernais, to Odo I, Duke of Burgundy, the son of Hugues. At some tme before 990, he gave Nevers and the Nivernais as a fief to Count Landri.

In 1194, Peter II of Courtenay, count of Nevers through his marriage to Countess Agnes, began to build the first set of walls around the city of Nevers. It was at the same time that the commune of Nevers was officially recognized.

The diocese of Nevers was established at the end of the 5th century. Three catalogues of bishops of Nevers are found, inserted into liturgical books, and dating from the 9th to 11th centuries.

The Gallia Christiana mentions Eladius as first Bishop of Nevers, who was restored to health by St. Severinus, Abbot of St. Maurice, in the reign of King Clovis I (481-509). The place of Euladius in the episcopal lists is, as Louis Duchesne indicated, uncertain; the first attested bishop is Tauricianus, who was present at the Council of Epaone in September 517.

In 802, Bishop Jerome (800–816) who had rebuilt the cathedral, dedicated it in honour of the martyrs Cyricus and Julitta; until then it had been dedicated to Saints Gervasius and Protasius. He had obtained the arm of Saint Cyricus (Cyr) from Bishop Aaron of Auxerre. The cathedral was reconstructed by Bishop Hugues de Champ-Allemand (1013–1065). In the early 13th century, a reconstruction was undertaken by Bishop Guillaume de Saint-Lazare (1204–1221), but this building seems to have suffered extensive damage or complete destruction by the fire of 1308. Another new cathedral was constructed, and dedicated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierre de La Palu, O.P., on 31 March 1331; the Bishop of Nevers, Bertrand Gascon (1322–1332) was ill and had delegated his episcopal powers to the Patriarch.