Charrier de la Roche, Louis

At the age of 11 he was tonsured a monk, in 1764 he became a doctor of theology, then he served as a canon in Lyon, in 1777 he became a pre-cure in Ainu. Being a man of liberal views, a supporter of Gallicanism and even Jansenism, he, like most of the Lyon clergy, adopted new trends and was a big fan of Russo and Voltaire. He was elected deputy from the Lyon clergy to the general states in 1789. In parliament, he voted for the civic organization of the clergy, took the civil oath and was elected March 24, 1791 as bishop of the Lower Seine department in Rouen. Supporting the French Revolution, he resigned on October 26, 1791.

During the revolution, he was delegated by the clergy of Lyon to the National Assembly and was ordained by the Bishop of Lower Seine in 1791 by the Archbishop of Paris, Jean Baptiste Gobel, and issued several pastoral letters in defense of the new order of things, but resigned the same year after the outbreak of terror, refusing to carry out episcopal functions. He was imprisoned for some time, his property was confiscated, but he was soon released. After his release, he swore allegiance to the Pope on May 17, 1797, having separated from constitutional bishops.

Cardinal Caprara, together with Portalis, inspired by Talleyrand, invited him to become the first bishop of Versailles. Under the old regime, such a bishopric did not exist; as of 1802, it included 689 parishes. Charrier, from then Monsignor de la Roche, was appointed first bishop of Versailles on April 9, 1802 after the reorganization of the French episcopate in accordance with the 1801 concordat. In the same 1802 he was appointed chaplain of the First Empire and baron, and in 1804 - the first confessor (aumônier) of Napoleon Bonaparte.

During his 25-year-old bishop, Charrier de la Roche, like all bishops of France, prescribed that the feast of the Assumption and Saint-Napoleon be celebrated on the same day as August 15, 1806. In his letters, he glorified the emperor’s victories, but in 1814 he quickly turned his back on him and switched to the Bourbon side. He owned the castle of Estur.

Major works: “Du culte public de la religion nationale catholique en France” (1790); “Réfutation de l'Instruction (d'Asseline) contre la constitution civile du clergé” (1791); "Quels sont les remédes aux malheurs qui désolent la France?" (1791).

• Charrier de la Roche, Louis // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Biography (Fr.) .