Patriot and priest : Jean-Baptiste Volfius and the constitutional church in the Côte-d'Or

A regional study of the French Revolution's constitutional church that examines the career of a committed bishop and revolutionary. A regional study of the French Revolution's constitutional church that examines the career of a committed bishop and revolutionary. "In 1790, the French revolutionary government reformed the Catholic Church and demanded that clerics swear an oath of allegiance to the nation and its vision for French Catholicism. Although half of France's parish clergy refused to accept the state-sponsored reforms, others became embroiled in this decade long ecclesiastical experiment. This included Jean-Baptiste Volfius, a patriot, priest, and professor who embraced the changes in France and believed in the revolution's potential to create a purer church. Patriot and Priest presents a social and intellectual history of the French constitutional church in the Côte-d'Or and the career of Volfius, who became its bishop in 1791, as he struggled to create and run the church. Annette Chapman-Adisho addresses the daily experience of the constitutional clergy over the course of ten years, exploring the interactions between priests and local and national authorities, the response of the laity to the divisions in the French Catholic Church, the evolution of these issues over time, and the eventual reconciliation of the clergy following the Napoleonic Concordat with Pope Pius VII in 1801. Using a rich collection of archival sources, this book demonstrates that although the constitutional church was ultimately a failed project, its legacy endured long after it ended. Tracing the social, political, and theological history of this reform effort, Patriot and Priest offers new insights into the French Revolution and its impact on French Catholicism."-- Provided by publisher In 1790, the French revolutionary government reformed the Catholic Church and demanded that clerics swear an oath of allegiance to the nation and its vision for French Catholicism. Although half of France's parish clergy refused to accept the state-sponsored reforms, others became embroiled in this decade-long ecclesiastical experiment. This included Jean-Baptiste Volfius, a patriot, priest, and professor who embraced the changes in France and believed in the revolution's potential to create a purer church. Patriot and Priest presents a social and intellectual history of the French constitutional church in the Cte-d'Or and the career of Volfius, who became its bishop in 1791, as he struggled to create and run the church. Annette Chapman-Adisho addresses the daily experience of the constitutional clergy over the course of ten years, exploring the interactions between priests and local and national authorities, the response of the laity to the divisions in the French Catholic Church, the evolution of these issues over time, and the eventual reconciliation of the clergy following the Napoleonic Concordat with Pope Pius VII in 1801. Using a rich collection of archival sources, this book demonstrates that although the constitutional church was ultimately a failed project, its legacy had a lasting impact on the catholic Church in France. Tracing the social, political, and theological history of this reform effort, Patriot and Priest offers new insights into the French Revolution and its impact on French Catholicism. Cover PATRIOT AND PRIEST Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 | Creating a Diocese: The Case of Dijon 2 | 1789: The Diocese of Dijon’s Clergy in a Revolutionary Year 3 | A Bishop for the Côte-d’Or 4 | Organizing the Constitutional Church in the Côte-d’Or 5 | The First Terror against the Clergy, 1792 6 | Battling Fanaticism: Dechristianization in the Côte-d’Or 7 | The Campaign for Religious Liberty and Establishing the Gallican Church 8 | Religious Pluralism and the Early Directory, 1795–1797 9 | Targeting Fanaticism and Cultivating Citizens 10 | Reviving Conciliarism in the Gallican Church: National Councils and the Synod of the Côte-d’Or Conclusion Epilogue Appendix A: Careers of Eleven Constitutional Clergy Elected in the District of Arnay-le-Duc in March 1791 Appendix B: Abbé Reinert’s Research on the Ecclesiastical Oath of 1791 in the Côte-d’Or Notes Bibliography Index