Diocese of Schleswig
The diocese of Schleswig was a Roman Catholic diocese in Denmark from the 10th to the 16th centuries. From 1542 to 1624 it was an Evangelical Lutheran diocese.
Catholic diocese 948–1542
Bishops in the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen
948 was first with Hored mentions a bishop of Schleswig, which, however, the German king I. Otto was appointed. Like his successors, it was consecrated by Archbishop Adaldag of Hamburg and was under his jurisdiction. Whether these bishops were ever active on site is not documented and rather doubtful, since the Danish kings were mostly hostile to Christianity at this time. The bishop's seat would initially have been Haithabu (in Saxon: Sliaswig), where at least two churches are proven. At the latest after the destruction of the place, it was moved to today's Schleswig . A regular diocese organization can be expected to have been established around the late 11th century.
In the Archdiocese of Lund
After the archbishopric in Lund was established in 1103, it was under the authority of the Lund archbishop. The affiliation of the diocese to the Danish or German empire was controversial. If, on the one hand, some of the local clergy saw the diocese belong to the nine Danish dioceses, the Imperial Chamber Court of Speyer, on the other hand, took the view that the diocese was a German imperial fief. The area corresponded to the three Sysseln between the rivers Eider and Königsau in Southern Jutland .
In 1268 the Schleswig bishop Bonde had to cede his castle Gottorf an der Schlei to the dukes of Schleswig and in return received the ducal share of the southern goeshard . With this "Andel" was probably meant the area around Schwabstedt , which has been the episcopal residence since then . In 1318 the fortified bishopric was first named "Schwabstedt". The bishops expanded the castle and the area next to it, which remained the seat of the bishop until the Reformation.
Lutheran diocese 1542–1624
With the introduction of the Reformation in the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein and after the death of the last Catholic Bishop Gottschalk von Ahlefeldt , the Diocese of Schleswig also became Evangelical-Lutheran in 1542. As provided for in the church ordinance, Tilemann von Hussen, a theologian , was initially appointed as bishop, but already when the country was divided in 1544, King Christian III. him to accept his youngest brother Friedrich as coadjutor , so that the proceeds went to the princely administrator. The actual pastoral work was entrusted to superintendents (general superintendent from 1564), who were appointed by the Danish king and the duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf for their respective areas. After the death of Ulrich of Denmark in 1624, the diocese was dissolved. The income now went directly to the Danish krone.
See also
Individual evidence