The French Revolution 423 VII. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy The reorganization of the Church which followed upon 401. The the confiscation of its vast possessions is an excellent "viiconsti- 1 tution of illustration of the spirit of the National Assembly. The the clergy demand for complete uniformity and simplification is iipoT. 12 ' especially pronounced in the reform of this most vener- , able institution of France, the anomalies and intricacies of which were hallowed not only by age but by religious reverence. The chief articles are given below, and indi- cate how completely the Assembly desired to bring the Church under rules similar to those which they were drawing up for the state. The National Assembly, after having heard the report of the ecclesiastical committee, has decreed and do decree the following as constitutional articles : Title 1 Article I. Each department shall form a single dio- cese, and each diocese shall have the same extent and the same limits as the department. II. The seat of the bishoprics of the eighty-three depart- ments of the kingdom shall be established as follows : that of the department of the Lower Seine at Rouen ; that of the department of Calvados at Bayeux. 1 . . . All other bishoprics in the eighty-three departments of the kingdom, which are not included by name in the present article, are, and forever shall be, abolished. The kingdom shall be divided into ten metropolitan dis- tricts, of which the sees shall be situated at Rouen, Rheims, Besancon, Rennes, Paris, Bourges, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Aix, and Lyons. These archbishoprics shall have the following denominations : that of Rouen shall be called the Archbish- opric of the Coast of the Channel. 2 . . . 1 The names of the remaining episcopal sees are here omitted. 2 The remaining names of the archbishoprics are here omitted. New bishop- rics to coin- cide with the departments-
