Diocese of Nanterre
diocese of the Catholic Church in France
The Diocese of Nanterre (Latin: Dioecesis Nemptodurensis; French: Diocèse de Nanterre) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected in 1966, the diocese was split off from the Diocese of Versailles and the Archdiocese of Paris. Currently the diocese remains a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Paris.
History
The parish
In the ancien regime, the parish of Nanterre had belonged to the diocese of Paris. At the beginning of the Revolution, the Constituent Assembly decided that the number of dioceses in France was excessive, and that approximately fifty of them could be eliminated. Those that survived would have their boundaries changed to coincide with new departmental subdivisions of France. As a result of the creation of the system of "departments," Nanterre became part of the diocese of Versailles, which was called the diocese of Seine-et-Oise in the constitutional church (1791–1801).
Canonical establishment of diocese of Versailles
The French Directory fell in the coup engineered by Talleyrand and Napoleon on 10 November 1799. The coup resulted in the establishment of the French Consulate, with Napoleon as the First Consul. To advance his aggressive military foreign policy, he decided to make peace with the Catholic Church and the Papacy.
“Diocese of Nanterre” enters the record as diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Diocese, Nanterre and diocese can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Diocese of Nanterre” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Diocese, Nanterre and diocese provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q872904. VIAF identifies the subject as 156674566. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966, 1791, 1801 and 1799.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Diocese of Nanterre”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Diocese of Nanterre primary sources, Diocese of Nanterre archive and Diocese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Diocese of Nanterre”?
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- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Diocese of Nanterre” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.