The Roman Catholic Bishop of the crusader diocese of Bethlehem, in the Holy Land, was favored by William IV, the Count of Nevers who died in Bethlehem as crusader, and inherited from him land near Clamecy, where a hospice had been established. In 1223, after the 1187 fall of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in Palestine to Ayyubid Sultan Saladin, the Bishop Rainiero took residence in Clamecy. Although the see was never granted membership in the French States-General, the cathedral was the formal seat of the Diocese of Bethlehemin partibus infidelium from 1223. Several of its bishops didn't actually reside in their tiny Burgundian bishopric, taking up clerical offices elsewhere, as Auxiliary bishop or vicar general in larger dioceses. The Dominican Guillaume probably was the last incumbent of Bethlehem to set foot in his 'original' Palestinian diocese, where he hoped to restore the basilica and may have died. During the long-standing Papal schism, Clamecy had two rivaling series of Bishops from 1379 to 1422 : those loyal to Rome, hence canonical, but in Italian exile, where they could only collect revenues from the see's Italian possessions, and schismatical pretenders, who however took actual possession in Burgundy in the name of Antipopes at Avignon or Pisa. In 1413, King Charles VI of France agreed the see should have the same privileges as all residential French bishoprics, but his clergy kept arguing Clamecy was 'only' a titular see in partibus infidelium, even after the regular legal and canonical nomination by the crown and the Holy see was clearly covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges from 1438 and by the Concordat of Bologna, after which the king delegated his nomination for Clamecy to the Duchy of Nevers. Especially the Diocese of Auxerre and other neighbor sees kept contesting Clamecy's spiritual and canonical jurisdiction, and of course its benefices, seeking recourse in lawsuits, notably with the parliament on 22 February 1674 and the general assembly of the French clergy on 27 August 1770. In the second half of the 16th century, they see remained vacant as the nominees of the Dukes of Nevers were refused papal confirmation. The Bishopric of Bethlehem in the Holy Land was nominally restored in 1462, existing as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric alongside the residential Clamecy until its suppression in 1603. In 1790, the Diocese of Bethléem à Clamecy was abolished as a residential see during the French Revolution, its territory being merged on 29 November into the Diocese of Autun. Presently it is part of the Archdiocese of Sens. The Bishopric of Bethlehem in the Holy Land was nominally restored again on 3 July 1840 by Pope Gregory XVI as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric and this time give the Apostolic succession of the Burgundian Bethlehem; its title was however vested in the Territorial Abbots Ordinaries of the Territorial Abbacy of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune held the title of Bishop of Bethlehem in personal union from 1840.07.03 until 1970; it has been vacant since 1987.
Its cathedral episcopal see , dedicated to Our Lady of Bethlehem, now the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bethléem, was started in the 12th as episcopal chapel and completed in the 15th century. Bishop Arnaud de Limone restored the chapel of Our Lady and fitted it with a chapter of canons. The hospital and the chapel are now a hotel and restaurant. The area immediately surrounding the church, on the east side of the Yonne River, is now known as Bethléem, though it is within the commune of Clamecy.
