Hugh of La Tour-du-Pin

Ruins of Sauxillanges today, where Hugh was prior
Main entrance of the Gothic cathedral of Clermont, begun by Hugh

Hugh of La Tour-du-Pin[1] (1197/1198 – December 1249) was the bishop of Clermont from 1227 until his death.[2]

Hugh was a son of Albert, lord of La Tour-du-Pin, and Marie d'Auvergne.[2] He is called magister, showing that he had a formal education. Before his election as bishop, he was the prior of the Cluniac abbey of Sauxillanges, where many members of his family had served as prior. By 1227, he was also the provost of Clermont and a subdeacon. That year, he was elected to succeed his uncle, Robert of Auvergne, as bishop of Clermont after the latter was transferred to the archdiocese of Lyon. Since he was at the time only twenty-nine years old, Pope Gregory IX appointed him diocesan administrator on 30 April 1227. He was confirmed as bishop after he turned thirty.[3][4]

In 1229, Hugh, with Bishop Milo of Beauvais, brought French troops to Italy at the request of Gregory IX to fight against Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the so-called War of the Keys.[5] In 1242, during the Saintonge War, King Louis IX sent Hugh, joined by Humbert of Beaujeu, to harass the possessions of the rebellious Count Raymond VII of Toulouse in the Quercy.[2] Raymond surrendered the castles of Saverdun and Bram to Hugh and Humbert.[2][6]

In 1243, Pope Innocent IV suspended Hugh and placed him under interdict for failing to attend a synod of the ecclesiastical province of Bourges, whose authority Hugh refused to recognize.[2][7] In 1245, Hugh attended the ecumenical council of Lyon.[2]

In 1246, Hugh completed construction on a Dominican convent in Clermont, although it burned down in 1398. That year, Innocent IV granted him an indulgence for his contribution to the construction of a Franciscan convent in Brioude. On 26 April 1248, Hugh attended the dedication of Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.[2] He is usually thought to have initiated the construction of the current Gothic cathedral of Clermont after seeing Sainte-Chapelle, but there is evidence that preparation for a new cathedral was underway as early as 1244.[7] The design of the new cathedral was the work of the architect Jean des Champs [fr].[2][8][7]

Hugh joined the Seventh Crusade under Louis IX, embarking at Aigues-Mortes on 26 August 1248.[2][9] Before leaving, he ceded part of the episcopal palace complex to the cathedral chapter for the new construction.[7] He died in Egypt in December 1249.[10] He was succeeded as bishop by his nephew, Guy.[2]

  1. ^ Labouderie 1833, p. 36, gives his name in French as Hugues or Hues de la Tour and in Latin as Hugo de Turre.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Labouderie 1833, p. 36.
  3. ^ Eubel 1913, p. 192.
  4. ^ Prou 1890, pp. 152–153.
  5. ^ Strayer 1969, pp. 349–350.
  6. ^ Griffiths 1964, p. 33.
  7. ^ a b c d Davis 1981, pp. 182–184.
  8. ^ Claverie 2014, p. 45.
  9. ^ Jordan 1979, p. 69.
  10. ^ Various days are given: 23 (Davis 1981, p. 184n), 28 (Eubel 1913, p. 192) and 29 (Labouderie 1833, p. 36).