Louis Duchesne holds that its earliest episcopal catalogue represents the ecclesiastical tradition of Poitiers in the twelfth century. The catalogue reckons twelve predecessors of
Hilary of Poitiers, among them Nectarius, Liberius, and Agon, and among his successors Sts. Quintianus and Maxentius. Duchesne does not doubt the existence of the cults of these saints, but he questions whether they were bishops of Poitiers. In his opinion, Hilary (350 – 367 or 368) is the first bishop of whom we have historical evidence. In this he concurs with the Benedictine editors of
Gallia Christiana.
Notable bishops Among his successors were
Arnauld d'Aux (1306–1312), made cardinal in 1312;
Guy de Malsec (1371–1375), who became cardinal in 1375;
Simon de Cramaud (1385–1391), indefatigable opponent of the
antipope Benedict XIII, who became cardinal in 1413; Louis de Bar (1394–95), cardinal in 1397 who administered the diocese (1413–1423); Jean de la Trémouille (1505–07), cardinal in 1507; Gabriel de Gramont (1532–1534), cardinal in 1507;
Claude de Longwy de Givry (1538–1552), became cardinal in 1533;
Antonio Barberini (1652–1657), cardinal in 1627; Abbé de Pradt (1805–1809), Chaplain of Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and afterwards Archbishop of Mechlin,
Louis Pie (1849–1880), cardinal in 1879.
St. Emmeram was a native of Poitiers, but according to the
Bollandists and Duchesne the documents which make him Bishop of Poitiers (c. 650) are not trustworthy. On the other hand, Bernard Sepp, while admitting that there is no evidence (
at vero in catalogo episcoporum huius dioecesis nomen Emmerammi non occurrit...), nonetheless points out that there is space after the death of Dido and the accession of Ansoaldus for Emmeramus, that is, between 674 and 696. Dom François Chamard, Abbot of Solesmes, claims that he did hold the see, and succeeded Didon, bishop about 666 or 668.
Education at Poitiers As early as 312 the bishop of Poitiers established a school near his cathedral; among its scholars were Hilary, St. Maxentius,
Maximus, Bishop of Trier, and his two brothers St.
Maximinus of Chinon and St.
John of Marne,
Paulinus, Bishop of Trier, and the poet
Ausonius. In the sixth century Fortunatus taught there, and in the twelfth century students chose to study at Poitiers with
Gilbert de la Porrée. Bishop Gilbert de la Porrée attended the
concilium generale which began at Reims on 21 March 1148 and continued for the rest of the month, under the presidency of
Pope Eugenius III. After the conclusion of the council, he was attacked in a papal consistory by Bernard of Clairvaux, always searching for heretics, schismatics and other deviants from his strict view of orthodoxy, for various heterodox theological opinions. Gilbert demanded that he be judged on the basis of what he had written, not on what people believed that he had said, and he was able to argue each charge successfully against Bernard. Pope Eugene ruled in Gilbert's favor, with the full agreement of the cardinals in attendance, and sent the bishop back to his diocese with his powers undiminished and in full honor.
The University Charles VII of France erected a university at Poitiers, which was his temporary capital, since he had been driven from Paris, in 1431. The new foundation stood in opposition to Paris, where the city was in the hands of the English and the majority of the faculty had accepted
Henry VI of England. With a Bull of 28 May 1431, on the petition of Charles VII,
Pope Eugene IV approved the new university and awarded it privileges similar to those of the University of Toulouse. In the reign of Louis XII there were in Poitiers no less than four thousand students — French, Italians, Flemings, Scots, and Germans. There were ten colleges attached to the university. In 1540, at the Collège Ste. Marthe, the famous Classicist Marc Antoine Muret had a chair;
Gregory XIII called him to Rome to work on his edition of the
Septuagint, pronouncing him the torch and the pillar of the Roman School. The famous Jesuit Juan Maldonado and five of his confrères went in 1570 to Poitiers to establish a Jesuit college at the request of some of the inhabitants. After two unsuccessful attempts, the Jesuits were given the Collège Ste. Marthe in 1605.
François Garasse was professor at Poitiers (1607–08), and had as a pupil
Guez de Balzac. Garasse was well known for his violent polemics. He died of the plague at Poitiers in 1637. Among other students at Poitiers were
Achille de Harlay, President
de Thou, the poet
Joachim du Bellay, the chronicler
Brantome Descartes,
François Viète the mathematician, and
Francis Bacon. In the seventeenth century the Jesuits sought affiliation with the university and in spite of the opposition of the faculties of theology and arts their request was granted. Jesuit ascendancy grew; they united to Ste. Marthe the Collège du Puygareau. Friction between them and the university was continuous, and in 1762 the general laws against them throughout France led to the Society being expelled from Poitiers and from France. Moreover, from 1674 the Jesuits had conducted at Poitiers a college for clerical students from Ireland. In 1806 the State reopened the school of law at Poitiers and later the faculties of literature and science. These faculties were raised to the rank of a university in 1896. From 1872 to 1875
Cardinal Pie was engaged in re-establishing the faculty of theology. As a provisional effort he called to teach in his Grand Séminaire three professors from the Collegio Romano, among them Fr. Clement Schrader, S.J., formerly a professor at Vienna and the commentator of the Syllabus, who died at Poitiers in 1875. The effort does not appear to have borne fruit, a casualty of the
1905 Law of the Separation of Church and State. ==Bishops==