In 1223, after the 1187 fall of Palestine to Saladin, the Bishop took residence in Clamecy; although he was never granted membership in the French States-General, the cathedral was the formal seat of the Diocese of Bethlehem in partibus infidelium (or Bethléem les Clamecy) from 1223 to 1790, when it was abolished as a see during the French Revolution (later affirmed by the Concordat of 1801).
The consecration of Frayssinous as bishop of Hermopolis in partibus, his election to the Académie française, and his appointment to the grand-mastership of the university, followed in rapid succession.