by Protestants living in Gap, seized and sacked the city. The bishop, Paparin de Chaumont, fled. The episcopal palace, the residence of the canons, the cathedral, and six religious establishments were damaged or destroyed. They held the city until 1581. In September, Bishop Paparin de Chaumont was able to return, under the protection of the Duc de Mayenne and the forces of the Catholic League. French revolution In 1790 the National Constituent Assembly decided to bring the French church under the control of the State. Civil government of the provinces was to be reorganized into new units called 'départements', originally intended to be 83 or 84 in number. The dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church were to be reduced in number, to coincide as much as possible with the new departments. Since there were more than 130 bishoprics at the time of the Revolution, more than fifty dioceses needed to be suppressed and their territories consolidated. Clergy would need to take an oath of allegiance to the State and its Constitution, specified by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and they would become salaried officials of the State. Both bishops and priests would be elected by special 'electors' in each department. This meant schism, since bishops would no longer need to be approved (preconised) by the Papacy; the transfer of bishops, likewise, which had formerly been the exclusive prerogative of the pope in canon law, would be the privilege of the State; the election of bishops no longer lay with the Cathedral Chapters (which were all abolished), or other responsible clergy, or the Pope, but with electors who did not even have to be Catholics or Christians. All monasteries, convents and religious orders in France were dissolved, and their members were released from their vows by order of the National Constituent Assembly (which was uncanonical); their property was confiscated "for the public good", and sold to pay the bills of the French government. Cathedral Chapters were also dissolved. The diocese of Gap and the diocese of Embrun were suppressed by the Legislative Assembly, and the territories combined into a new diocese, Hautes-Alpes, with its seat at Gap. A new bishop, to replace Bishop La Broue de Vareilles, whose seat was declared vacant since he had refused to take the oath to the Civil Constitution, was to be elected. Ignace de Cazeneuve, a Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Gap, was