Le chef-lieu de la cité des Vellaves et les origines du siège épiscopal du Velay

Abstract

In the absence of fresh discoveries, this article summarizes what is known at present and outlines remaining problems: what was the capital of the Vellaves? Where and when were the first bishops installed? Was the episcopal see transferred from Saint-Paulien to Le Puy as tradition says? Ruessium, capital of the Vellaves in the High Empire according to Ptolemy, should be identified with Saint-Paulien; despite its administrative importance, the city (a rival of Le Puy, an ancient settlement where there was a sanctuary of Celtic origin) did not undergo a truly monumental development. Saint-Paulien lost its status as a capital between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 10th century, but it is difficult to know exactly when. Archaeological research shows its decline from the 3rd century, and neither fortification walls nor ancient Christian traces have been found there. By contrast, Le Puy seems to have been fortified in the Late Empire. Christianity is attested there in the 5th century at the latest (sarcophagus of Roman-Aries type) and there were discovered vestiges of a pre-Carolingian structure at the site of the pagan sanctuary. The first historically attested bishop is Aurelius, who resided in Le Puy in 591. There is no record of a pontiff holding his see at Saint-Paulien and even the idea that there may have been one seems late: indeed, epigraphic and liturgical documents suggest that in the Carolingian period, when a cult was formed to honor the founding saints of the Vellave Church (Evodius, Scutarius, etc.), it was believed they had held their see in Le Puy. Apparently it was not before the 10th century that Saint-Paulien claimed to have received the first missionary of Velay, George, a companion of Saint Front of Perigueux. It may well be that no bishop ever held his see at Saint-Paulien and that Le Puy, probably fortified in the Late Empire, thus became the capital of the region and the episcopal seat. As an hypothesis, one may assign Saint-Paulien's eclipse to the 5th century, contemporary with that of Javols among the Gabales. [Auteur. Trad. D. Parrish]