Constitutional Bishop

In France, a constitutional bishop is a bishop resulting from the clergy having lent the oath of the civil Constitution of the clergy between 1791 and 1801.

The constitutional bishops are often priests having ideas gallicanes and partisans, more or less moderated, French revolution. They are elected by the members of the constitutional Clergé. One can note that the heading of their évêché is not " bishop of… " with the name of the episcopal see, like before, but they bear the name of the department corresponding to their évêché, following the recutting of évêchés according to the limits of the departments created in 1790.

The constitutional bishops organized in 1797 and 1801 of the national councils, in order to mark their independence with respect to the Pape.

During the signature of the Legal settlement of 1801, the pope Black and white VII and Napoleon Bonaparte requested from the constitutional bishops as with the bishops of Ancien Mode remained refractory with the civil Constitution of the clergy to resign their episcopal sees, in order to carry out new nominations. About fifteen constitutional bishops refused to yield their place, estimating their election with the valid episcopal see. Among them, Henri Gregoire, bishop of Loir-et-Cher, signed all its life of this name.

Some constitutional bishops:

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