usual energy. In this respect, sources indicate that his approach contrasted starkly with the more reactive attitude of his predecessor. There now emerged a flood of written advices and admonitions, issued in parallel with a hectic schedule of pastoral visit. After the two decades of revolutionary "modernising" secularism that had formally come to an end in 1815, there was still much to be done to restore the church to its former central role in the communities of the predominantly rural archdiocese. Nor did he neglect basic spiritual support. In this connection, a significant move was the publication of, "Instruction pour le Jubilé", a little book that many of his brother bishops commended to priests and people in their own dioceses. Two actions of enduring impact were the creation of two new Suffragan dioceses, established during 1824/25, one of them to look after the towns and villages of the Tarentaise valley and the other at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. He was in addition able, formally on 21 September 1825, to welcome back to Chambéry the Carmelites, who had been expelled in 1792 by the secularist armies of the revolution. At the start of 1827 Archbishop Bigex was still full of plans and projects for advancing the work of the church in his archdiocese, but with little warning his incumbency was cut short. At the end of a pastoral mission to Bourget, during which the weather was exceptionally cold, he caught a chill. The condition was bad enough to force him to take to his bed, and after a few days it became clear that he was seriously ill. On 15 February 1827 he drafted and issued a final "mandement" (set of written instructions) filled with wise and loving advice, addressed to those under his care. Still preoccupied with his episcopal work, and still fervent in his piety, he received the last rites and died at around 10 in the morning on 17 February 1827, widely mourned. One source refers to the "universal regrets" which followed his death. Membership On 7 July 1822 Mgr. Bigex became a member of the Académie de Savoie, which had been founded in Chambéry just two years earlier. Notes References Bishops in Piedmont Archbishops of Chambéry 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France 1751 births 1827 deaths