MONTAULT
525
MONTBOISSIER
abbots of Moissac; the death of Alfonso II (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, hence-
forth its "knight-abbots". Some of the abbots were
saints: St. Ausbert (663-678); St. Leotadius (678-
691); St. Paternus (691-718); St. Amarandus (718-
720). 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 the Abbey of Moissac.
Among the commendatory abbots were Louis of Lor-
raine, Cardinal de Guise (1556-1578); Charles of
Lorraine, the Cardinal de Vaudemont (1578-1590).
In 1618 Moissac was transformed into a collegiate
church which had, among other titulars, Cardinal
Mazarin (1644-1661), and Cardinal de Lomenie de
Brienne, minister of Louis XVI (1775-1788). On
25 July, 1523, fifteen inhabitants of Moissac, after
they had made a pilgrimage to Compostella, grouped
themselves into a confraternity "a I'honneur de Dieu,
de Notre Dame et Monseigneur Saint Jacques". This
confraternity, reorganized in 1615 by letters patent of
Louis XIII, existed for many years. As late as 1830
"pilgrims" were still seen in the Moissac processions.
In fact Moissac and Spain were long closely united ; a
monk of Moissac, St. Gerault, was Archbishop of
Braga from 1095 to 1109. The general synod of the
Reformers held at Montpellier, in May, 1598, decided
on the creation of an academy at Montauban; it was
opened in 1600, was exclusively Protestant, and gath-
ered students from other countries of Europe. In 1632
the Jesuits established themselves at Montauban, but
in 1659 transferred the Academy to Puylaurens. In
1808 a faculty of Protestant theology was created at
Montauban and still exists.
The principal pilgrimages of the diocese are: Notre Dame de Livron or de la Deliverance, visited by Blanche of Castillo and Louis XIII; Notre Dame de Lorm, at Castelferrus, dating from the fifteenth cen- tury; Notre Dame de la Peyrouse, near Lafran^aise. Before the application of the law of 1901 as to associa- tions, the diocese counted Jesuits, Redemptorists, Marianists, and various orders of School Brothers. Among the congregations of women which originated in the diocese we mention: Sisters of Mercy, hospital- lers and teachers, founded in 1804 (mother-house at Moissac) ; Sisters of the Guardian Angel, hospitallers and teachers, founded in 1839 at Quillan in the Diocese of Carcassonne by Pere Dcshaycs, Superior of the Daughters of Wisdom, whose mother -house was transferred to the chateau of La Molle, near Montau- ban in 1858. At the beginning of the twentieth cen- tury the religious congregations had charge of: 1 creche, 24 day nurseries, 10 girls' orphanages, 1 refuge {aeuvre de rehabilitation), 2 houses for the relief of the poor, 11 hospitals or asylums, 30 houses for the care of the sick in their own homes. In 1908 the Diocese of Montauban counted 188,563 inhabitants, of whom 7000 were Protestants; 31 parishes; 296 succursal parishes; 58 vicariates.
Gallia Christiana, XIII (nom, 1785), 226-260, instrtimcTita, 181-224 : Daux, Rectifications et additions au tome XIII' du Gallia Christiana (dioc&se de Montauban) in Bulletin de la Sociiti archeologique de Tarn et Garonne. IV (1876), 105-112; Idem, Histoire de Viglise de Montauban {2 vols., Montauban, 1879- 1886); RupiN. Les Clottres et VAbbaye de Moissac (Paris, 1897); Daux, Le pklerinage A Compostelle et la confTerie des p&lerins de Monseigneur Saint Jacques de Moissac (Paris, 1898).
Georges Goyau.
Montault, Xaviek Barbier de, b. at Loudun, 6 February, 1830; d. at Blaslay, Vienne (France), 29 March, 1901. He came of a noble and large family, and, when only eight years old, was confided to the care of his great-uncle, Mgr Montault des Isles, Bishop of Angers. He studied theology at the Semi- nary of St. Sulpice, and went to Rome to continue his studies in theology and archeology at the Sapienza
and the Roman College. After four years his health
obliged him to return to France (1857), where he was
appointed historiographer of the Diocese of Angers.
He searched the archives of the diocese with great dili-
gence, studied its inscriptions and monuments, and
founded a diocesan museum, a project in which de
Caumont took a lively interest. Another sojourn of
fourteen years in Rome (1861-75) enabled him to
augment his already extensive knowledge of liturgy
and Christian antiquities. Meanwhile he was of great
service to different French bishops as canonical con-
suitor, and at the Vatican Council acted as theologian
to Mgr Desfleches, Bishop of Angers. His first ar-
chaeological study appeared in 18,51 in the "Annales
archfiologiques", and Didron assigned him the task of
making an index for this publication. Mgr Barbier de
Montault was one of the most prolific contributors to
the "Revue de I'art Chretien" from the inception of
this periodical, his articles continuing to appear until
1903 (two years after his death). He also wrote nu-
merous articles for other reviews as well as several
separate works on iconography, ecclesiastical furni-
ture, liturgy, canon law, etc. In 1889 he began to
reprint his scattered works, classifying them according
to subjects. This publication was to comprise sixty
volumes, but went no further than the sixteenth, and
is to be recommended more for its erudition than for
its critical value. Works: "(Euvres completes" (un-
finished): I. "Inventaires eocl^siastiques"; II. "Le
Vatican"; III. "Le Pape"; IV-V. "Droit papal";
VI-VIII. "Devotions populaires"; IX-XVI. "Hagi-
ographie" (Rome, 1889-1902); "Traite d'icono-
graphie chrdtienne " (2vols., Paris, 1890); "Collection
des ddcrets authentiques des ss. congregations ro-
maines" (8 vols., Rome, 1872).
Helbig, Mgr Xavier Barbier de Montault in Revue de Vart chritien, (1901), 357-60; Giron, Mgr X. B. de Montault, bio-bibl., Hommea (1910).
R. Maere.
Montboissier, Peter of (better known as Peter THE Venerable), Blessed, born in Auvergne, about 1092; died at Cluny, 25 December, 1156. His mother, Blessed Raingarde, offered him to God in the monas- tery of Sauxillanges of the Congregation of Cluny, where he made his profession at the age of seventeen. He was only twenty years old when he was appointed professor and prior of the monastery of Vezelay, and he discharged his duties in that house, and later in the monastery of Domene, with such success that at the age of thirty he was elected general of the order. The order, which then counted not less than 2000 houses throughout Europe, was in need of reform. The ab- bot had begun this work when his predecessor, the Abbot Pontius, who had been deposed by the pope, at- tempted to be reinstated in his office by violence. Our saint had to face other attacks made on his order by St. Bernard himself, who did not fail however to ac- knowledge the eminent virtue of Peter and was the first to call him Venerable. Peter resisted the at- tacks with both firmness and meekness, and took oc- casion of them to write the rules of the Congregation of Cluny, one of the most complete and perfect codes of religious life. He was prominent in resisting the schism caused by the Antipope Anacletus II, after the death of Honorius II (11:30). With St. Bernard, he was the soul and the fight of the General Council of Pisa (1134), and having encouraged Innocent II to stand firm in the midst of persecutions, he predicted the end of the schism, which happened in 1138.
During a visit to Spain (1139) he became interested in Mohammedanism and had the Koran for the first time translated into Latin. He made several jour- neys to Rome, where the popes entrusted him with delicate missions, and he accompanied Eugene III to the Council of Reims (1147), where the doctrines of Gilbert de la Porde were condemned. Kings and em- perors came to him for advice and in the midst of his
