Le berger et son troupeau. Prieurs et curés d'Ayent en conflit (diocèse de Sion, 15ème siècle) (review)

The title of this work is borrowed from the Parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1). It is evoked by the priest of Ayent in the 1483 trial opposing him to the local prior, accused of stealing ewes that were in fact likened to the parishioners. To fully understand this antagonism, one must go back in time.

The Saint Roman Church in Ayent is already mentioned in Pope Pascal II's bull in February 1107 favoring the Benedictine Abbey of Ainay (Province of Lyons). However, the priory will be mentioned only in 1288, the Ayent parish in 1289, and the local priest in 1295. The close overlap of these mentions allowed the set-up of a Benedictine priory as well as a new parish toward the middle of the thirteenth century.

At that time, the "priest" was in reality the prior's vicar. The prior himself did not reside at all times and assumed many other clerical duties, at the Roman Curia in particular. The first commendatory prior (1370) was also prior of Saint Peter of Clages. This situation became quite frequent and obliged him to delegate his parochial obligations to a vicar, either monk or secular priest. The coexistence of the Benedictine prior and of the vicar, who was in fact the parish priest, led to serious conflicts and trials in the fifteenth century. In 1452, the first of these procedures was introduced by the "priest" Pierre Ardi against the prior Henri de Cabanis about the bequest of a parishioner that the latter had appropriated to himself. In 1453, a sentence was rendered to the prejudice of the prior, who then appealed to the archbishop of Tarentaise. Another sentence was handed down by Bishop Henri Asperlin in 1454, which allotted the incomes of the Saint Antoine altar and the administration of the sacraments to the priest. The hostilities, however, did not cease. A new sentence was pronounced in 1457 by the above-mentioned bishop, confirming the previous one and giving all the offerings (oblationes) to the priest. To the detriment of the prior, the priest Pierre Ardi was allotted the largest part of the parish's profits.

In 1475, a new priest, Laurent Aprini,was nominated by the prior Henri de Cabanis. The new priest turned out to be the most tenacious adversary of the successor of Henri de Cabanis, the prior Vincent Benedicti. Not surprisingly, the latter questioned the sentence of 1457. To do so, he brought a new suit before Bishop Henri Asperlin no later than January 1483. This fifth trial is recorded in a registry of fifty-four folios, nearly all transcribed by the author himself, and of which it is the main source. The bishop of Sion's vicar general instructed the case. In conformity to the ordinary canonical procedure, the petitioner produced sixteen positiones, treating of the power given to the priors, who could designate a secular priest as a vicar but not as the parish priest, in particular and finally of the offerings that were wrongfully taken from the prior under the decision of 1487, which he asked to be annulled.The petitioner was allowed to present witnesses. They testified on the contested articles, and the defendant questioned them, as per the inquiry procedure of the common law. Nevertheless, while the petitioner produced fourteen witnesses, the defendant also presented six on articles that have not been preserved. These twenty depositions are integrally transcribed and occupy fifty-six pages of the volume. The testimonies are not constant on the priest's or the vicar's qualifications and do not pronounce themselves on the legitimacy of the ruling of 1457.

As too often, the procedure seems to have dragged on, and no further decision is known to...