# Count of Lyon
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In [France of the Ancien Régime](/source/Ancien_R%C3%A9gime), the title of '''Count of Lyon''' was purely honorific. There had been a count of Lugdunensis, a military governor, in the early 5th-century Roman [Notitia dignitatum](/source/Notitia_dignitatum), and among the [Merovingians](/source/Merovingians) an Armentarius was count of Lugdunensis during the tenure of Nicetius, Bishop of Lyon (552–573).[Ralph W. Mathisen, ''Studies in the history, literature and society of Late Antiquity'', (1991:63)] In a document of 818, a Bermond is noted as count of Lugdunensis, a non-hereditary appointment made by [Charlemagne](/source/Charlemagne).[Noted in Peter Godman and Roger Collins, ''Charlemagne's heir: new perspectives on the reign of Louis the Pious (814-840)'' 1990:49.] But the title as inheritable was attached to the [Count of Forez](/source/Forez) in a document of ''ca'' 1097, confirming the founding of a hospital at Montbrison,[Noted by André Barban, "Receuil... de fiefs relevant du comté de Forez: XVI. Comté de Forez — ses limites", ''Recueil de mémoires & documents sur le Forez'' (Diana, société historique et archéologique du Forez, Montbrison), '''8''' (1885:66f)] and it fell from use with Count Guy IV in the early 13th century.[''ibid.'']
The title "Count of Lyon" was not subsequently attached to a [seigneurie](/source/seigneurie) nor was it hereditary but was carried by the [Dean](/source/Dean_(religion)) and each of the [canon](/source/Canon_(priest))s of the [cathedral of Lyon](/source/Archdiocese_of_Lyon). The [cathedral chapter](/source/cathedral_chapter) of Lyon was among the most eminent of France and claimed to have been founded by "John, king of Burgundy" [sic] who filled it with lords of the noblest houses.["Elle fut fondée par Jean Roi de Bourgogne qui la remplit des Seigneurs des meilleurs maisons des ses Etats" (''Nouveau Voyage de France'', 1771:77, quoted in "The canon-counts of Lyons", ''[The Gentleman's Magazine](/source/The_Gentleman's_Magazine)'', February 1855:163; [Jean-Aymar Piganiol de La Force](/source/Jean-Aymar_Piganiol_de_La_Force) wrote the ''Nouveau Voyage de France'', first edition 1724 ).] The canons in public proclamations, "most noble counts of Lyon",[Antoine-François Delandine, ''Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque de Lyon'', 1812, ms 1443 (''Gentleman's Magazine'')] had to prove that they were ''nobles de quatre races'', on both the paternal and maternal side, in other words that all their great-grandparents had been noble, the notorious ''[seize quartiers](/source/seize_quartiers)'' or "sixteen quarterings" of a [coat-of-arms](/source/coat-of-arms).
The canons enjoyed some extraordinary privileges: they officiated at [mass](/source/mass_(liturgy)) with the [mitre](/source/mitre) of a bishop on their heads, whether priest or deacon or sub-deacon.[''Nouveau Voyage de France''] A transcription made in 1672, of an old document records that "none, with the exception of the counts, may put his coat-of-arms on the altar during celebration of [masses for the dead](/source/Requiem)".[Delandine, ms. 1533.] Their extraordinary pretension drew a censure from the [Sorbonne](/source/University_of_Paris), 18 April 1555, condemning the refusal of the canon-counts to [genuflect](/source/Genuflexion) at the elevation of the Host; the dispute, in which the Dean and the canon-counts were opposed, had to be taken to the [Cardinal of Lorraine](/source/Charles%2C_Cardinal_of_Lorraine) and the [Cardinal de Tournon](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Tournon) for adjudication, where they were reminded that even the [kings of France](/source/kings_of_France) bent the knee at this occasion; however, the canons obtained an order in council on 23 August 1555 maintaining them in this privilege,[The [canons of Verdun](/source/Verdun_Cathedral) practiced a similar privilege, of not bending the knee and remaining covered while joining in procession.] which they renounced voluntarily in the reign of [Louis XIV](/source/Louis_XIV) for fear of the king's displeasure.[Jacques-Antoine Dulaure, ''Histoire de Paris'', vol. v, [1846]:61, noted in ''The Gentleman's Magazine''.]
[François-Joachim de Pierre, Cardinal de Bernis](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Joachim_de_Pierre_de_Bernis), who owed his preferment to [Madame de Pompadour](/source/Madame_de_Pompadour), was taxed by her, when they eventually broke: "I raised you out of the mud". The Cardinal, who had arrived in Paris very young, with only 1500 ''[livres](/source/French_livre)'' in income, but agreeable in face and manners, and a count of Lyon, replied justly: "un comte de Lyon ne peut pas être tiré de la boue"— "a ''count of Lyon'' cannot be raised from the mud".[[Jean-François de la Harpe](/source/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_de_la_Harpe), "''Lycée''", i.e. ''Cours de littérature ancienne et moderne'', viii:204-07, noted in ''The Gentleman's Magazine''.]
==References==
{{reflist}}
Lyons
Category:Medieval Lyon
Category:18th century in Lyon
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Count of Lyon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_Lyon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_Lyon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.