The Diocese of

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

( sv, Västerås stift) is a division of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

. Its home is in the

Västerås Cathedral Västerås Cathedral (Swedish: ''Västerås domkyrka'') is the seat of the Diocese of Västerås in the Province of Västmanland, Sweden. The church building is a five-tiered cathedral, with copper-covered roof as well as a west tower with side ...

History

The diocese existed as a Catholic diocese from the 11th to the 16th century. The see was founded at Munktorp, then moved about 1100 to

by the English

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began ...

missionary David of Munktorp, who was Bishop of Västerå, and one of the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

s of

. Before 1118 the

Diocese of Sigtuna The Diocese of Sigtuna was a Catholic diocese founded in Sigtuna, Sweden, established in the mid 11th century. At the time, the town of Sigtuna, situated to the north of lake Mälaren and to the south of Uppsala in the Swedish province of Uppland ...

was divided into the

Diocese of Uppsala The Archdiocese of Uppsala ( sv, Uppsala ärkestift) is one of the thirteen dioceses of the Church of Sweden and the only one having the status of an archdiocese. Lutheran archdiocese Uppsala is the seat of the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala. Th ...

and that of Västerås. In 1134, Henry, Bishop of Sigtuna was transferred to Västerås. Heathenism was not extinct by 1182. Charles (1257–1277) was a great benefactor, and , O.S.B. (1260–1332; bishop, 1309–1332), mined copper in Dalecarlia and wrote "De Vita et Miraculis S. Erici" (Ser. rev. Svec., II, I, 272-276). Otto (1501–1522) completed the Västerås Cathedral. Peder Sunnanväder (1522–1523), formerly chancellor to

Sten Sture the Elder Sten Sture the Elder ( sv, Sten Sture den äldre; 1440 – 14 December 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden from 1470–1497 and 1501–1503. As the leader of the victorious Swedish separatist forces against the royal unionist fo ...

, was executed for alleged treason in 1527. The last Catholic bishop, Petrus Magni (1524–1534), is supposed to have been consecrated 1 May 1524 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 1527 a Diet was held at Västerås which Protestantized the

and separated it from the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

in Rome. Petrus Magni consecrated various bishops in 1528 and 1531 under protest. Though subjected latterly to humiliating tutelage by King

Gustav I of Sweden Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

, he retained the see until his death. The Dalecarlians rose repeatedly in defence of their religion, but were overcome by the cunning and violence of Gustav I. The cathedral of Västerås and the parish church of Mora were the only important churches in the diocese. At Västerås there was a Dominican convent (founded 1234) and a Hospital of the Holy Spirit (founded 1345). was extinct before 1318. The

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

(Gudsberga kloster, Mons Domini) in Dalecarlia, founded in 1477, and colonized from

Alvastra Abbey Alvastra Abbey (''Alvastra klosterruin'') was a Cistercian monastery located at Alvastra in Östergötland, Sweden. History Alvastra monastery was founded in 1143 by French monks who belonged to the Cistercian Order. A number of monks and lay br ...

in 1486, lasted until 1544.

Gallery

Josephson - Gustaf Vasa.jpg, Gustaf Vasa accuses Peder Sunnanväder before the chapter in Västerås; Ernst Josephson Peder Sunnanväders och Mäster Knuts skymfliga intåg i Stockholm.jpg, Peder Sunnanväder's and Mäster Knut's Ignominious Entry into Stockholm 1526; Carl Gustaf Hellqvist

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Historiskt-geographiskt och statistiskt Lexikon ofver Sverige, VII (Stockholm, 1866), 316–18; **FANT, Scriptores rerum Svecicarum (Stockholm, 1818–1876); **LILJERGREN, Diplomatarium Svecanum, I-III and Indices I-II by KARLESON (Stockholm, 1829); **SILFVERSTOPLE, Svenskt Diplomatarium, 1401-1420 (Stockholm, 1875); **KRONINGSSVARD AND LIDEN, Diplomatarium Dalekarlicum (Stockholm, 1842); **Konung Gustaf den Forstes Registratur. ed. GRANLUND IV (Stockholm, 1868); **Breviarium Arosiense (Basle, 1853); **''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

'', IV (Paris, 1868); **JORGENSEN, Den nordiske Kirkes Grundloeggelse, II (Copenhagen, 1878), 856–857, suppl. 96, 97; **RENTERDAHL, Swenska kyrkaus historia (Lund, 1838); **Israel Erlandsson (Lund, 1850); **MARTIN, Gustave Vasa et la Reforme en Suede; **SOHLBERG, Domkyrkan i Westeraas (Westeraas, 1834); **HALL, Bidrag till; Kannedomen om Cistercienserorden i Sverige (Gefle, 1899).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diocese of Vasteras Vasteras Västerås Västmanland County Vasteras Vasteras Dioceses established in the 12th century

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links