Theodulf of Orléans was a writer, poet and the Bishop of Orléans during the reign of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. He was a key member of the Carolingian Renaissance and an important figure during the many reforms of the church under Charlemagne, as well as almost certainly the author of the Libri Carolini, "much the fullest statement of the Western attitude to representational art that has been left to us by the Middle Ages". He is mainly remembered for this and the survival of the private oratory or chapel made for his villa at Germigny-des-Prés, with a mosaic probably from about 806. In Bible manuscripts produced under his influence, the Book of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah became part of the Western (Vulgate) Bible canon.
The oratory at Germigny-des-Prés, after a restoration in the 19th century.
Mosaic of the Ark of the Covenant, c. 806
Roman Catholic Diocese of Orléans
The Diocese of Orléans is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese currently corresponds to the Départment of Loiret. The current bishop is Jacques André Blaquart, who was appointed in 2010.
Orléans Cathedral
Orléans Cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Cross, built from 1278 to 1329; after being pillaged by Huguenots in the 1560s, the Bourbon kings restored it in the 17th century.