held in the church. The church of Champigny has a magnificent crypt dating from the thirteenth century. The cathedral of St-Etienne de Meaux is a fine Gothic edifice begun about 1170. The pouillé of 1353 shows that the Chapter of the Cathedral had six dignities and at least thirty-seven Canons (who are named). The dignities were: the Dean, the Archdeacon of Meaux, the Archdeacon of Brie, the Cantor, the Treasurer and the Chancellor. Notable events Pope Eugene III stayed some days at Meaux from 12 June to 30 June 1147. In 1562 most of the inhabitants of Meaux had become Protestants. In the First War of Religion Joachim de Montluc, sent by the king, proceeded with rigour against them. They were still sufficiently powerful in 1567 to attempt to carry off, in the vicinity of Meaux, Catherine de' Medici and Charles IX; and so for that reason, shortly after St. Bartholomew's day in August 1572, Charles IX ordered the massacre of the Protestants of Meaux. At the château of Fontainebleau, built by Francis I, was held the theological conference of 4 May 1600, between the Catholics (Cardinal du Perron, de Thou, Pithou) and the Calvinists (du Plessis Mornay, Philippe Canaye, Isaac Casaubon). In 1664 Blessed Eudes preached for two months at Meaux, Mme Guyon passed the first six months of 1695 at the Visitation convent of Meaux, where Bossuet had frequent conferences with her, but failed to make her abandon her mystic views. The well-known Père Nicolas Loriquet (1767–1845) was superior of the preparatory seminary (the Pétit Seminaire) of Châage, in the Diocese of Meaux, from 1812 to 1814. He was particularly famous for his insistence on the importance of history in the curriculum, and for his elementary textbooks in the subject. His Histoire de France was anti-revolutionary and anti-Napoleonic, and caused controversy for some decades. Revolution The diocese of Meaux was abolished during the French Revolution by the Legislative Assembly, under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790). Its territory was subsumed into the new diocese, called 'Seine-et-Marne', which was part of the Metropolitanate called the 'Metropole de Paris' (which included seven new 'départements'). The Civil Constitution mandated that bishops be elected by the citizens of each 'département', which immediately raised the most severe canonical questions, since the electors did not need to be Catholics and the approval of the Pope was not only not required, but actually forbidden.