Charles Le Goux de La Berchère | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Narbonne | |
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| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Archdiocese of Narbonne |
| In office | 12 November 1703 to 2 June 1719 |
| Predecessor | Piero de Bonzi |
| Successor | René François de Beauvau du Rivau |
| Previous posts | Archbishop of Albi (1687 to 1703; confirmed 1693) Archbishop of Aix (1685 to 1687) Bishop of Lavaur (1677 to 1685) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 12 April 1678 by François de Harlay de Champvallon[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1647-10-23)23 October 1647 |
| Died | 2 June 1719(1719-06-02) (aged 71) Narbonne, Kingdom of France |
Charles Le Goux de La Berchère (23 October 1647 to 2 June 1719) was a French Catholic prelate. He was Bishop of Lavaur, Archbishop of Aix, Archbishop of Albi and Archbishop of Narbonne. His episcopal career is associated with Catholic Reform in southern France and with an early eighteenth-century attempt to continue the construction of Narbonne Cathedral.[2][3]
Biography
Le Goux de La Berchère was born in Vif on 23 October 1647 to a Burgundian family of magistrates. He studied at the Collège d'Harcourt in Paris, earned a doctorate at the Sorbonne, and attended the seminary of Saint-Sulpice before becoming almoner to Louis XIV.[2]
He was selected Bishop of Lavaur on 18 June 1677, confirmed on 11 October 1677, and consecrated on 12 April 1678 by François de Harlay de Champvallon. He was appointed Archbishop of Aix on 13 November 1685, selected Archbishop of Albi on 18 January 1687 and confirmed there on 12 October 1693. He was selected Archbishop of Narbonne on 15 August 1703 and confirmed on 12 November 1703.[1]
At Albi, Le Goux de La Berchère promoted diocesan reform through preaching, missions, pastoral visits, ecclesiastical conferences and the diocesan seminary. He issued synodal statutes at Lavaur in 1679, Albi in 1695 and Narbonne in 1706.[2]
His transfer to Narbonne gave him the presidency of the Estates of Languedoc. He promoted the publication of the Histoire du Languedoc and presided over the assembly of the French clergy in 1715.[2] During his Narbonne episcopate, he undertook to continue Narbonne Cathedral, whose choir had been completed in the thirteenth century. Work began in 1708; Hélène Rousteau identifies him as the principal patron of the unfinished eighteenth-century Gothic-style transept and nave, financed partly from his own resources and partly through appeals for royal aid.[3]
Le Goux de La Berchère died at Narbonne on 2 June 1719.[1]
References
- "Archbishop Charles Le Goux de la Berchère". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
- Nélidoff, Philippe. "Les statuts synodaux des archevêques d'Albi (1679-1763)". Conciles provinciaux et synodes diocésains du concile de Trente à la Révolution française. Presses universitaires de Strasbourg. pp. 279 to 296. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
- Rousteau, Hélène (1995). "La nef inachevée de la cathédrale de Narbonne: un exemple de construction en style gothique au XVIIIe siècle". Bulletin Monumental. 153 (2): 143 to 165. doi:10.3406/bulmo.1995.3576. Retrieved 27 June 2026.