Bernard de Castanet

Bernard de Castanet
Cardinal Bernard de Castanet
Orders
Created Cardinal	17 December 1316
Personal details
Born	c. 1240 Montpellier
Died	14 August 1317 Avignon
Nationality	French
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Bernard de Castanet (c. 1240 – 14 August 1317) was the bishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Castenet was not a Dominican, though he had an excellent relationship with the order of the Preachers. He was Inquisitor of Languedoc and Vice-Inquisitor of France.

Castanet was born in Montpellier and obtained a law degree from the University of Montpellier. He conducted diplomacy for the Church in Italy and Germany.

Castanet was appointed the Bishop of Albi (1276 to 1308). In this post, Castenet engaged in a power struggle with the local landowners. He used accusations of heresy and the inquisition to control and punish those who opposed his right to arrest any citizen in the diocese and other political power prerogatives he held.

In 1287 Castanet ordered the start of construction on a new fortress-like cathedral at Albi.

In 1307, he was accused of murder, pastoral neglect, simony, cruelty in the exercise of justice. No sentence was issued, but he was transferred to become the Bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay.

Pope John XXII, an old friend, made Castanet a cardinal on 17 December 1316 and he joined the papal curia. In Avignon, he wrote the initial indictment of Bernard Délicieux.