The Roman Catholic Diocese of Montauban (Latin: Dioecesis Montis Albani; French: Diocèse de Montauban) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with Tarn-et-Garonne, and is currently a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toulouse. The episcopal seat of the Diocese of Montauban is in Montauban Cathedral. Suppressed under the Concordat of 1802 and divided between the three neighbouring dioceses of Toulouse, Agen, and Cahors, Montauban was re-established by imperial decree of 1809, but this measure was not approved by the Holy See. Re-established by the Concordat of 1817, the diocese did not receive a bishop approved by the Papacy until 1824. History Legend attributes to Clovis the foundation of Moissac Abbey in 506, but Saint Amand (594–675) seems to have been the first abbot. The abbey grew, and in a few years its possessions extended to the gates of Toulouse. The church of Moissac, formerly the abbey church, has a portal built in 1107 which is a veritable museum of Romanesque sculpture; its cloister (1100–1108) is one of the most remarkable in France. Moissac Abbey The threats and incursions of the Saracens, Hungarians, and Northmen brought the monks of Moissac to elect "knight abbots" who were laymen, and whose mission was to defend them. From the tenth to the thirteenth century several of the counts of Toulouse were knight-abbots of Moissac; the death of Alfonso, Count of Poitou (1271) made the King of France the legitimate successor of the counts of Toulouse, and in this way the abbey came to depend directly on the kings of France, henceforth its "knight-abbots". The union of Moissac with Cluny was begun by Abbot Stephen as early as 1047, and completed in 1063 under Abbot Durand. Four filial abbeys and numerous priories depended on Moissac Abbey. In 1618 Moissac was transformed into a collegiate church which had, among other titulars, Cardinal Mazarin (1644–1661), and Cardinal de Loménie de Brienne, minister of Louis XVI (1775–1788). Montauriol Abbey In 820 Benedictine monks had founded Montauriol Abbey under the patronage of Saint Martin; subsequently, it adopted the name of its abbot Saint Theodard, Archbishop of Narbonne, who died at the abbey in 893. The Count of Toulouse, Alphonse Jourdan, took from the abbey in 1144 its lands on the heights overlooking the right bank of the Tarn, and founded there the city of Montauban; a certain number