{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{For|the village in the Eure department|Chaise-Dieu-du-Theil}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2017}}

{{Infobox French commune |name = La Chaise-Dieu |commune status = Commune |image = La-Chaise-Dieu JPG0 (7).JPG |caption = [[Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu]] |image coat of arms = Blason ville fr ChaiseDieu (HauteLoire).svg |arrondissement = Brioude |canton = Plateau du Haut-Velay granitique |intercommunality = [[Communauté d'agglomération du Puy-en-Velay|CA du Puy-en-Velay]] |mayor = André Brivadis<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=2 December 2020|language=fr}}</ref> |term = 2020&ndash;2026 |coordinates = {{coord|45.3222|3.6975|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation m = 1083 |elevation min m = 916 |elevation max m = 1120 |area km2 = 13.58 |population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}} |population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}} |population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}} |INSEE = 43048 |postal code = 43160 }}

'''La Chaise-Dieu''' ({{IPA|fr|la ʃɛz djø}}; [[Auvergnat dialect|Auvergnat]]: ''La Chasa Dieu'') is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Haute-Loire]] [[Departments of France|department]] in south-central [[France]]. Its inhabitants are called ''Casadéens'', from the [[Latin]] name of the city.

==Geography== La Chaise-Dieu occupies a 1082 m [[butte]] which dominates a plain between the mounts of [[Livradois]] and [[Velay]]. The closest cities are [[Brioude]], [[Ambert]], and [[Le Puy-en-Velay]].

The [[Senouire]] forms most of the commune's eastern and western borders.

==History== [[Image:La-Chaise-Dieu JPG0 (6).JPG|thumb|left|The abbey church]] La Chaise-Dieu means "the Seat of God" in French (from the [[Occitan language|Occitan]] "Chasa Dieu") and is a reference to [[Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu|the Benedictine abbey]]<ref>[http://www.abbaye-chaise-dieu.com/ La Chaise-Dieu Abbey website]{{in lang|fr}}</ref> which was founded on the site in 1043 by [[Robert de Turlande]], a kinsman of [[Gerald of Aurillac]] and canon of [[St. Julian of Brioude|Saint Julian's]] church at Brioude, nearby. Robert served an apprenticeship at [[Cluny Abbey|Cluny]] under [[Odilo of Cluny|Abbot Odilo]], then served as abbot in the community he founded in the wilderness here, initially in the company of a repentant knight, Stephen. The traditional date of the founding is 28 December 1043. The abbey had over 300 monks and 42 outlying [[priory|priories]] depending on it when Robert de Turlande died, probably in 1067. After his death, Robert was quickly canonized (1095) as '''Saint Robert de Turlande''' (also known as Saint Robert of Chaise-Dieu).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0417.shtml |title=Saint of the Day |access-date=2009-04-17 |archive-date=2011-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408225145/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0417.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Chaise-Dieu continued to grow throughout the [[Middle Ages]], becoming the motherhouse of further congregations of Black Monks. [[Pope Clement VI]] began his vocation as a monk at Chaise Dieu and was the patron of the vast abbey church (built 1344–1350), a suitable setting for his tomb.

The monks were driven out and the abbey secularized during the [[French Revolution]]. Clement's vast abbey church, his tomb and the abbey cloister remain. The fresco of the [[Danse Macabre|Dance of Death]] (ca 1470) is a famous example of this motif, which gained wide currency following the visitations of the [[Black Death]]. The partners of the figures are skeletons and the parade strictly follows precedence of contemporary society, with Adam and Eve preceding all: the pope then the emperor, the legate, the prince, the cardinal, the High Constable, the patriarch, the knight, then the abbot, the townsman, the merchant, the lady, ending with the lawyer, the minstrel, the clerk, the ploughman, the monk, the innocent child and the pilgrim.

Between 1727 and 1740, the [[Jansenism|Jansenist]] [[bishop]] [[Jean Soanen]] was exiled to the abbey.

==Population== {{Historical populations |source = INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/7633058?geo=COM-43048#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref> |percentages = pagr |align = none |1968 |900 |1975 |907 |1982 |789 |1990 |778 |1999 |772 |2009 |730 |2014 |630 |2020 |608 }}

==Culture== French pianist [[Georges Cziffra]] started an annual [[Festival de musique de La Chaise-Dieu|festival of sacred music in La Chaise-Dieu]] in 1966.

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==See also== *[[Communes of the Haute-Loire department]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons}} *[https://www.vacances-livradois-forez.com/destination/une-destination-quatre-territoires/la-chaise-dieu-chef-d-oeuvre-d-architecture-gothique-et-volcans/ Visit La Chaise Dieu - Official website for tourism] * {{in lang|pl}} [https://sekulada.com/opactwo-w-la-chaise-dieu/ Photos of La Chaise-Dieu]

{{Haute-Loire communes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaisedieu}} [[Category:Communes of Haute-Loire]] [[Category:Auvergne]]