Diocese of Courland
The diocese of Courland existed from around 1234 to 1583 and, apart from Reval , was the smallest of the dioceses in the Livonian area.
In the state of the Teutonic Order
After the conquest of the northern part of Courland by the Teutonic Order , the papal legate Wilhelm von Modena divided the land of the diocese into three thirds in 1245, namely the Teutonic Order, the Bishop and the Cathedral Chapter . The diocese was incorporated into the church province of Riga in 1255 . The establishment of a cathedral chapter was first carried out by Bishop Edmund von Werth OT in 1290. It was - like the diocese - incorporated into the Teutonic Order , so only priest brothers of the order could belong to it. Its territory included Courland and consisted of three parts. Smaller urban centers developed only in Hasenpoth and Pilten . The cathedral chapter also moved to Hasenpoth in the 14th century, while the bishop resided at his castle in Pilten.
As part of Poland-Lithuania
The area ruled by the bishop did not become part of the Duchy of Courland in 1561 . Bishop Johann IV secularized the monastery between 1555 and 1560 and converted to Lutheranism . The last bishop of Courland, Magnus , died in 1583 without an heir. In 1585 Denmark renounced all legal claims for 30,000 thalers and Poland-Lithuania gained sovereignty. For lack of money, the Pilten district was pledged to Prussia until 1609 . From 1611 it was administered by Poland-Lithuania as part of the Duchy of Livonia , and from 1617 it was called the Catholic " Diocese of Pilten ". In 1656 the Duke of Courland bought the rulership rights over the Piltene district, which, however, retained a special legal status. In 1717 membership of Poland-Lithuania ( Livonia Voivodeship ) was enforced again before all of Courland became part of Russia in 1795.
See also
literature
- Erwin Hertwich: The Courland Cathedral Chapter until 1561. Investigations into the personal composition of the chapter with regard to the origin and career of its bishops and canons . In: Radosław Biskup, Mario Glauert (ed.): The cathedral chapters of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and Livonia . Aschendorff, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-402-00541-7 , pp. 147-267.
- Konstantin von Kurnatowski: Georg Friedrich Margrave of Brandenburg and the acquisition of the diocese of Courland. A contribution to the Courland history of the XVI. Century . Junge & Sohn, Erlangen 1903.
- Gert von Pistohlkors : German history in Eastern Europe: Baltic countries . Siedler Verlag, Berlin, 2nd edition 2002, ISBN 3-88680-774-6 .
- Jānis Turlajs: Latvijas vēstures atlants . Jāņa sēta, Riga 1998, ISBN 9984-07-122-7 , p. 16.
Footnotes
- ↑ Bogusław Dybas: pin Pilten or circle Pilten? A contribution to the denominational politics of Poland-Lithuania in Livonia in the 17th century . In: Joachim Bahlcke (ed.): Confessional plurality as a challenge. Coexistence and Conflict in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times . Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-86583-081-1 , pp. 507-520, here p. 516.