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{{Original research|date=July 2024}}
[[Gaul]] was an important early center of [[Latin Christianity]] during [[late antiquity]] and the [[Merovingian period]].
By the middle of the 3rd century, there were several churches organized in [[Roman Gaul]], and soon after the cessation of persecution, the bishops of the Latin world assembled at Arles The Church of Gaul passed through three crises in the late Roman period, [[Arianism]], [[Priscillianism]] and [[Pelagianism]].
Under [[Francia|Merovingian rule]], a number of "[[Frankish synods]]" were held, marking a particularly Germanic development in the Western Church.
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{{See also|Persecution in Lyon}}
No records survive of how Christianity first reached Gaul. The 1913 [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] speculates that early missionaries may have arrived at [[Marseilles]] by sea, and continued up the river [[Rhône]] to the central metropolis at [[Lyon]]. Missionaries from [[Early centers of Christianity#Anatolia|Asia]], such as [[Saint Pothinus|Pothinus]] and his successor [[Irenaeus]] (both disciples of [[Polycarp]]), established the faith more firmly.<ref name=Lejay/> As a result, the Christians of the community in Lyon and Vienne were "predominantly of eastern background"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&dq=christianity+in+gaul&pg=PA366 Behr, John. "Gaul", ''Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 1, Origins to Constantine'', (Margaret M. Mitchell, Frances M. Young, K. Scott Bowie, eds.) Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 371] {{ISBN|9780521812399}}</ref> and maintained close ties with the community in Rome.
The first mention of Christianity in the context of [[Roman Gaul]] dates to AD 177 and the [[persecution in Lyon]],<ref name=Lejay>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06395b.htm Lejay, Paul. "Christian Gaul." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 Aug. 2020 {{PD-notice}}</ref> the religious center of [[Roman Gaul]], where the [[Sanctuary of the Three Gauls]] was located. The sole account of this persecution is a letter preserved by [[Eusebius]]<ref>''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'', V, i-iv.</ref> from the Christians of Lyon and [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], the latter still known then as ''Vienna Allobrogum'' and the capital of the [[continental Celts|continental Celtic]] [[Allobroges]]. The letter implies that the Church of Lyons was the only organized church in Gaul at the time. That of Vienne appears to have been dependent on it and, to judge from similar cases, was probably administered by a deacon.
The forty-eight martyrs of [[Lyon]] (ancient [[Lugdunum]], "citadel of [[Lugus]]" the Gallic equivalent of [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]) represented every rank of [[Gallo-Roman]] society. Among them were Vettius Epagathus, an aristocrat; the physician Attalus of Pergamus, from the professional class; from the Church, [[Saint Pothinus]] [[Bishop of Lyon]], with the [[wikt:neophyte|neophyte]] Maturus and the deacon Sanctus; and the young slaves [[Blandina]]<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02594a.htm Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Blandina." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.{{PD-notice}}</ref> and Ponticus.
Eusebius speaks of letters written by the Churches of Gaul, of which Irenaeus is bishop.<ref>Hist. Eccl., V, xxiii.</ref> These letters were written on the occasion of the second event, which brought the Church of Gaul into prominence. [[Easter]] was not celebrated on the same day in all Christian communities; towards the end of the 2nd century, [[Pope Victor I|Pope Victor]] wished to universalize the Roman usage and [[excommunication|excommunicated]] the [[Early centers of Christianity#Anatolia|Churches of Asia Minor]] which were [[Quartodeciman]]. Irenaeus intervened to restore peace. About the same time, in an [[epigraphy|inscription]] found at [[Autun]] (ancient Augustodunum, the capital of the Celtic [[Aedui]]), a certain Pectorius celebrated in [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] verse the [[Ichthys]] or fish, symbol of the [[Eucharist]].<ref>See also [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun#History|Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun: History]].</ref> A third event in which the bishops of Gaul appear is the [[Novatianism|Novatian controversy]]. Bishop [[Faustinus of Lyon]] and other colleagues in Gaul are mentioned in 254 by [[Cyprian|St. Cyprian]]<ref>''Ep.'' lxviii.</ref> as opposed to [[Novatian]], whereas [[Marcianus of Arles]] was favourable to him.
===Local legends===
Local legends attribute the founding of principal [[Episcopal see|sees]] in Gaul to the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] or their immediate successors. In the 6th century, [[Caesarius of Arles]] claimed that [[Daphnus]], the first [[Bishop of Vaison]], was a disciple of the Apostles, despite Daphnus attending the [[Council of Arles (314)|Council of Arles in 314]].<ref>Lejay, Paul. ''Le rôle théologique de Césaire d'Arles'', p. 5.</ref> A hundred years earlier, his predecessor [[Patrocles (bishop)|Patrocles]] made the same claim about [[Trophimus of Arles|Trophimus]], founder of the [[Ancient Diocese of Arles|Diocese of Arles]].
Such claims were flattering to local vanity. During the [[Middle Ages]] and over the centuries many legends grew up in support of them. The [[evangelization]] of Gaul has often been attributed to missionaries sent from Rome by [[Pope Clement I|St. Clement]]. This theory inspired a whole series of fallacious narratives and forgeries that complicate and obscure the historical record.<ref name=Lejay/>
===Gregory of Tours===
[[File:Grégoire de Tours, Histoire des Francs, livres 1 à 6, page de frontispice.jpg|thumb|left|Frontispiece of the {{lang|la|Historia Francorum}}, in which Gregory of Tours gives an account of the evangelisation of Gaul]]
In the ''[[Historia Francorum]]'', [[Gregory of Tours]] gives another narrative of the evangelisation of Gaul. According to him, in the year 250, Rome sent seven bishops, who founded as many churches in Gaul:
* [[Gatianus]] founded the [[Diocese of Tours]]
* [[Trophimus of Arles|Trophimus]] founded the [[Diocese of Arles]]
* [[Paul of Narbonne|Paul]] founded the [[Diocese of Narbonne]]
* [[Saturnin]]us founded the [[Diocese of Toulouse]]
* [[Denis of Paris|Denis]] founded the [[Diocese of Paris]]
* [[Austromoine]] founded the [[Diocese of Clermont]]
* [[Saint Martial|Martialis]] founded the [[Diocese of Limoges]]
The 1913 [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] considers Gregory's account more credible than the local legends, but maintains some reservations, assessing the narrative overall as tradition rather than fact. The encyclopedia notes that Gregory was writing three hundred years after the purported events, and highlights chronological issues with his account.
==Spread of Christianity==
Cyprian describes several churches organized in Gaul by the middle of the third century. These churches were largely unaffected by the [[Diocletianic Persecution]], due to the influence of [[Constantius Chlorus]], who was not hostile to Christianity.
The 314 Council of Arles was convened shortly after the end of the persecutions. Signatures on surviving documents show that bishops from the following dioceses were in attendance:
{{columns-list|colwidth=10em|
*[[diocese of Vienne|Vienne]]
*[[diocese of Marseilles|Marseilles]]
*[[diocese of Arles|Arles]]
*[[Ancient Diocese of Orange|Orange]]
*[[diocese of Vaison|Vaison]]
*[[diocese of Apt|Apt]]
*[[diocese of Nice|Nice]]
*[[diocese of Lyon|Lyon]]
*[[diocese of Autun|Autun]]
*[[diocese of Cologne|Cologne]]
*[[diocese of Trier|Trier]]
*[[diocese of Reims|Reims]]
*[[diocese of Rouen|Rouen]]
*[[diocese of Bordeaux|Bordeaux]]
*[[diocese of Gabali|Gabali]]
*[[diocese of Eauze|Eauze]]
*[[diocese of Toulouse|Toulouse]]
*[[diocese of Narbonne|Narbonne]]
*[[diocese of Clermont|Clermont]]
*[[diocese of Bourges|Bourges]]
*[[diocese of Paris|Paris]]
}}
===
[[File:Linz Dom Fenster 09 img03.jpg|thumb|right|Paulinus, an early Christian intellectual in Gaul]]
During the 4th and 5th centuries, Christianity slowly began to spread among the educated classes in Gaul. The poet [[Ausonius]] may have been a convert to Christianity; his pupil [[Paulinus of Nola|Paulinus]] entered a monastery, sparking controversy among his peers. Non-Christian intellectuals, such as those in the schools of [[Autun]], sometimes praised the virtues of the Christian emperors.
By the close of the 5th century, the majority of scholars in Gaul were Christians. These included:
* [[Salvian]]
* [[Hilary of Poitiers]]
* [[Sulpicius Severus]]
* [[Paulinus of Nola]]
* [[Sidonius Apollinaris]]
=== In rural areas ===
[[File:Högling Deckenfresko.JPG|thumb|left|Martin of Tours, depicted felling a sacred tree]]
Rural areas in Gaul remained strongholds of [[Ancient Celtic religion|traditional Gallic]] and [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] religions, and [[Gallo-Roman religion|syncretic fusions]] of the two.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://history-world.org/celts%20religious_beliefs_and_practices_.htm |title=The religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Celts |access-date=2015-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030061853/http://history-world.org/celts%20religious_beliefs_and_practices_.htm |archive-date=2015-10-30 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Missionaries such as [[Martin of Tours]], [[Victricius of Rouen]], and {{ill|Martin of Brives|fr|Martin de Brive}} worked to stamp out these practices, especially in central Gaul. A famous legend tells of Martin of Tours felling a sacred tree near Autun and being attacked by a peasant. The efforts of these missionaries were largely unsuccessful, and a quote from 395 refers to the Christian deity as "that God Who alone is worshipped in the large cities".<ref>[[Alexander Riese]], {{lang|la|[[Anthologia Latina]]}}, no. 893, v. 105</ref>
At the beginning of the 5th century, there took place in the neighbourhood of Autun the procession of Cybele's chariot to bless the harvest. In the 6th century, in the city of Arles, one of the regions where Christianity had gained its earliest and strongest foothold, Bishop Caesarius was still attempting to suppress traditional beliefs, and some of his sermons are important sources of information on folk-lore.
==Gallic monasticism==
The Christianization of the lower classes of the people was greatly aided by the newly established monasteries. In Gaul as elsewhere the first Christian ascetics lived in the world and kept their personal freedom. The practice of religious life in common was introduced by Saint Martin (died c. 397) and Cassian (died c. 435). Martin established [[Marmoutier Abbey, Tours|Marmoutier Abbey]] near Tours, where in the beginning the monks lived in separate grottoes or wooden huts. A little later Cassian founded two monasteries at Marseilles (415). He had previously visited the monks of the East, and especially Egypt, and had brought back their methods, which he adapted to the circumstances of Gallo-Roman life. Through two of his works, {{lang|la|De institutis coenobiorum}} and the {{lang|la|Collationes XXIV}}, he became the doctor of Gallic asceticism.
[[File:Abbaye st honorat de lerins - 003.jpg|thumb|right|Lérins Abbey]]
About the same time, [[Honoratus]] founded a monastery on the [[Lérins Islands]] near Marseilles. [[Lérins Abbey]] became a centre of Christian life and ecclesiastical influence. Episcopal sees of Gaul were often objects of competition and greed, and were rapidly becoming the property of certain aristocratic families. Lérins took up the work of reforming the episcopate, and placed many of its own sons at the head of dioceses:
* Honoratus, [[Hilary of Arles|Hilary]], and [[Caesarius of Arles|Caesarius]] at [[Diocese of Arles|Arles]]
* [[Eucherius of Lyon|Eucherius]] at [[Diocese of Lyons|Lyons]]
* [[Salonius]] at [[Diocese of Geneva|Geneva]]
* [[Veranus of Vence|Veranius]] at [[Diocese of Vence|Vence]]
* [[Lupus of Troyes|Lupus]] at [[Diocese of Troyes|Troyes]]
* Maximus and [[Faustus of Riez|Faustus]] at [[Diocese of Riez|Riez]]
Lérins too became a school of mysticism and theology and spread its religious ideas far and wide by useful works on dogma, polemics, and hagiography.
Other monasteries founded in Gaul included:
* [[Monastery of Grigny|Grigny]] near [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]]
* [[Île Barbe]] at [[Lyon]]
* [[Moutiers-Saint-Jean Abbey|Réomé]]
* Morvan
* [[Condat Abbey|Saint-Claude]] in the [[Jura Mountains]]
* {{ill|Collégiale Saint-Mexme de Chinon|fr}}
* [[Loches ]]
.The monks had not yet begun to live according to any fixed and codified rule. For such written constitutions we must await the time of Caesarius of Arles. Monasticism was not established without opposition. [[Rutilius Namatianus]], a pagan, denounced the monks of Lérins as a brood of night-owls; even the effort to make chastity the central virtue of Christianity met with much resistance, and the adversaries of Priscillian in particular were imbued with this hostility to a certain degree. It was also one of the objections raised by [[Vigilantius]] of [[Calagurris]]. The law of ecclesiastical celibacy was less stringent, less generally enforced than in Italy, especially Rome. The series of Gallic councils before the Merovingian epoch bear witness at once to the undecided state of discipline at the time, and also to the continual striving after some fixed disciplinary code.
==Theological strife==
The Church of Gaul passed through three dogmatic crises.
===Arianism=== Its bishops seem to have been greatly preoccupied with [[Arianism]]; as a rule they clung to the teaching of the [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea]], in spite of a few temporary or partial defections. Athanasius, who had been exiled to Trier (336-38), exerted a powerful influence on the episcopate of Gaul; one of the great champions of orthodoxy in the West was [[Hilary of Poitiers]], who also suffered exile for his constancy. ===Priscillianism===
Priscillianism had a greater hold on the masses of the faithful. It was above all a method, an ideal of Christian life, which appealed to all, even to women. It was condemned in 380 at the [[Synod of Saragossa]] where the Bishops of Bordeaux and Agen were present; nonetheless it spread rapidly in Central Gaul, Eauze in particular being a stronghold. When in 385 [[Magnus Maximus]] put Priscillian and his friends to death, Saint Martin was in doubt how to act, but repudiated with horror communion with the bishops who had condemned the unfortunates. Priscillianism, indeed, was more or less bound up with the cause of asceticism in general.
===Pelagianism===
Finally the bishops and monks of Gaul were long divided over Pelagianism. [[Proculus, Bishop of Marseille]], had obliged Leporius, a disciple of Pelagius, to leave Gaul, but it was not long before Marseille and Lérins, led by Cassian, Vincent and Faustus, became hotbeds of a teaching opposed to St. Augustine's and known as [[Semipelagianism]]. [[Prosper of Aquitaine]] wrote against it, and was obliged to take refuge at Rome. It was not until the beginning of the 6th century that the teaching of Augustine triumphed, when a monk of Lérins, [[Caesarius of Arles]], a follower of Augustine, caused it to be adopted by the 529 [[Council of Orange (529)|Council of Orange]].
In the final struggle Rome intervened. We do not know much concerning the earlier relations between the bishops of Gaul and the pope. The position of Irenaeus in the Easter Controversy shows a considerable degree of independence; yet Irenaeus proclaimed the primacy of the See of Rome, which he based on the Apostolic Succession and, equally importantly, right teaching, orthodoxy (whereas the Gnostics whom he opposed were mere itinerant preachers without authority). About the middle of the 3rd century the pope was appealed to for the purpose of settling difficulties in the Church of Gaul and to remove an erring bishop (Cyprian, Epist. lxviii). At the Council of Arles (314) the bishops of Gaul were present with those of Brittany, Spain, Africa, even Italy; Pope Sylvester sent delegates to represent him. It was in a way a Council of the West. During all that century, however, the episcopate of Gaul had no head, and the bishops grouped themselves according to the ties of friendship or locality. Metropolitans did not exist as yet, and when advice was needed Milan was consulted. "The traditional authority", says Duchesne, "in all matters of discipline remained always the ancient Church of Rome; in practice, however, the Council of Milan decided in case of conflict." The popes then took the situation in hand, and in 417 Pope Zosimus made Patrocles, Bishop of Arles, his vicar or delegate in Gaul, and provided that all disputes should be referred to him. Moreover, no Gallic ecclesiastic could have access to the pope without testimonial letters from the Bishop of Aries. This primacy of Aries waxed and waned under the succeeding popes. It enjoyed a final period of brilliancy, under Caesarius, but after his time it conferred on the occupant merely an honorary title. In consequence, however, of the extensive authority of Arles in the 5th and 6th centuries, canonical discipline was more rapidly developed there, and the "Libri canonum" that were soon in vogue in Southern Gaul were modelled on those of the Church of Aries. Towards the end of this period Caesarius assisted at a series of councils, thus obtaining a certain recognition as legislator for the Merovingian Church.
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Gradually the necessities of life imposed a policy of moderation. The [[Council of Agde]], really a national council of Visigothic Gaul (506), and in which Caesarius was dominant, is an evidence of the new temper on both sides. The Acts of this council follow very closely the principles laid down in the ''[[Breviarium Alarici]]''—a summary of the Theodocian Code drawn up by [[Alaric II]], the Visigothic king, for his Gallo-Roman subjects—and met with the approval of the Catholic bishops of his kingdom.
Between 410 and 413 the Burgundians had settled near Mains and were settled in Savoy in 443. In 475 they moved
The transition from one regime to another was eased by the bishops of Gaul. The bishops had frequently played a role as intermediaries with the Roman authorities. It was long believed that they had been invested with special powers and the official title of ''defensores civitatum'' (defenders of the states). While this title was never officially borne by them, the popular error was only formal and superficial.
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They also indicate a growing congruence between church and state. While Arian rulers kept their distance from the general councils, Visigoth rulers began influencing the councils only after the conversion of [[Reccared I]]. As soon as they had established themselves, Merovingian kings (and the Carolingians after them) exerted their influence on the councils.<ref>Rahner, Karl (1975). Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi, 301f.</ref> According to Gregory Halfond, such congruence was a particular quality of the Gallo-Roman church, in which the Roman aristocracy made up an important part of the leadership of the Gallo-Roman (and later the Frankish) church; continuity in this power nexus is indicated also by the continued use of Roman procedures in the councils.<ref>Halfond, Gregory I. (2009). ''Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768'', pp. 4-6.</ref>
An early important churchman is [[Caesarius of Arles]], who
A model for the following Frankish synods was set by [[Clovis I]], who organized the [[First Council of Orléans]] (511); though he did not himself attend it, he set the agenda and followed the proceedings closely (at stake was "the unification of the Roman church under Frankish rule").<ref>Halfond, Gregory I. (2009). ''Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768'', pp. 8f.</ref> After the waning of Caesarius's influence and the establishment of Merovingian rule, the focus of the soon-to-be Frankish Church shifted north, to deal with the growing problem of adjusting to "deeply embedded Germanic practices"; rather than Pelagianism or Predestinatarianism, bishops now had to deal with problems involving "marriage, the relations between a warrior aristocracy and clergy, or monks and nuns, the conflicts born of royal influence and control, or of property rights".<ref name=markus155/>
By the eighth century,
==See also==
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