Ancient Diocese of Carpentras

Carpentras (Lat. dioecesis Carpentoratensis) was a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Provence region (later part of France), from the later Roman Empire until 1801. It was part of the ecclesiastical province under the Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Arles.

The first bishop of Carpentras historically documented is Constantinus, who was represented at the Council of Riez in 439, of Orange in 441, and of Vaison in 442. Bishop Julianus was present at a council held at Epaone in 517, and attended local synods in 524, 527 and 529. Siffredus, the patron-saint of Carpentras, succeeded Julianus, and ruled at some time during the period 530-540; he was consecrated bishop by Caesarius of Arles (502-542)

At a national council held at Orléans in 541, Clematius presented himself as Bishop of Carpentras and Venasque, though in the council of 549 he signed only as Bishop of Carpentras. He was also present at the council of Paris in 552.

Later 6th and 7th centuries the bishops called themselves bishops of Venasque, with the exception of Boethius, who at Valence in 584 signed the acts of the council as Bishop of Carpentras. This suggests that, after Carpentras had fallen into ruin, the bishops lived in nearby Venasque.

In 1313, at the beginning of the Avignon Papacy, Pope Clement V took up residence, with the Roman Curia, in Carpentras. The popes resided in the Episcopal Palace in Carpentras. Their comings and goings can be followed by noting the places at which their documents were written and signed.

Following the death of Pope Clement V, and once the mourning for the deceased pope was ended, the Conclave met in the Episcopal Palace at Carpentras. It began around 1 May 1314. The twenty-three cardinals in the Conclave proceeded at a leisurely pace, though without coming to an agreement on the election, until the Feast of S. Mary Magdalen on Monday, 22 July 1314. The Italian cardinals were supporting Guillaume de Mandagot of Lodève, Bishop of Palestrina, who was a Frenchman and a subject of Philip IV of France. The Gascon cardinals, however, who had been appointed by Clement, and were not French subjects, refused to agree. On 22 July rioting broke out among the entourages of various cardinals, and some Gascons (it is claimed) burned down the palace and much of the city. The cardinals scattered, the Italian ones reassembling at Valence and complaining loudly about the Gascons and demanding that the papal Court return to Rome where a proper Conclave could be held. It was not until 28 June 1316, nearly two years later, that the Cardinals reassembled, this time at Lyon, and on 7 August elected Cardinal Jacques Duèse, who became John XXII.

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