but had to live in rented quarters until a new building could be erected. The Basilica of Saint-Jerôme, which served as a cathedral after the Huguenot devastations of the 16th century, had its foundations begun by Bishop Antoine Guiramand in 1490. He chose a site in the citadel, next to the fortifications. Notre-Dame du Bourg continues to be the cathedral down to the present time, and episcopal functions are regularly held there. A priest and a deacon were ordained in the cathedral on 18 June 2017. Chapter In the medieval period the Cathedral Chapter of Digne was composed of a Provost and thirteen Canons, among whom were the Archdeacon, the Sacristan, and the Precentor. The earliest known Provost was Guillaume de Benevento in 1175. In 1669 it was composed of four dignities (dignités, not 'dignitaries') and nineteen canons. In 1742 there were three dignities and ten canons. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Chapter was composed of the two Archdeacons (who were Vicars General of the diocese) and nine titular Canons; there were also thirty honorary Canons, of whom ten had to be from the diocese. Plague In 1629 all of Provence was struck by a visitation of the (bubonic) plague. Fears of an invasion had already been aroused in 1628, and the Parliament of Aix issued orders to every commune in Provence to be on watch and to establish a bureau of sanitation in its area. On 10 September 1628 Digne complied and established its bureau of ten members; it also ordered the Consuls of Digne to secure the highways. The plague made its appearance in Digne by the first week in June. From 5 October 1629 to 21 March 1630 the inhabitants were quarantined inside the city. Plague returned at the beginning of June 1631, lasting through the middle of November. In July it struck the convent of the Récollets. An infirmary was set up in the convent of the Franciscans (Cordelliers), though this order was countermanded, so that the chapel could remain in service. The shortage of priests was such that the church of Saint-Jérôme had no clergy at all. The convent and church of the Observant Franciscans were closed. Only the chapel of the Récollets continued to hold services. Pierre Gassendi, who was Provost of the Cathedral Chapter of Digne from 1634 to 1655, reported that, at Digne, before the plague there were some ten thousand inhabitants,