Anselm of Meissen (german: Anselm von Meißen, died no later than 1278 in Elbing (Elbląg)) was a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

and the first actual Also online a
newadvent.org
/ref>

Bishop of Warmia This is a list of Bishops and Prince-Bishops of the Diocese of Warmia ( pl, link=no, Diecezja warmińska, la, link=no, Dioecesis Varmiensis, german: link=no, Bistum Ermland), which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Warmia in 1992. The Bisho ...

(Varmia, Ermland, or Ermeland). As his name suggests, Anselm originated from

Meißen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrech ...

. He became a priest in or before 1245. In Prussia, which was still mainly inhabited by heathen

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...

, the

Prince-Bishopric of Warmia The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia ( pl, Biskupie Księstwo Warmińskie; german: Fürstbistum Ermland) was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan area ...

had been created in 1243 by the papal legate

William of Modena William of Modena ( – 31 March 1251), also known as ''William of Sabina'', ''Guglielmo de Chartreaux'', ''Guglielmo de Savoy'', ''Guillelmus'', was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat.

, along with bishoprics of Culm,

Pomesania Pomesanians were a Prussian clan. They lived in Pomesania ( pl, Pomezania; lt, Pamedė; german: Pomesanien), a historical region in modern northern Poland, located between the Nogat and Vistula Rivers to the west and the Elbląg River to the e ...

, and Samland. These four dioceses came under the rule of the appointed Archbishop of Prussia. Several bishops at that time, including Anselm, were priests of the

which undertook the ongoing

Prussian Crusade The Prussian Crusade was a series of 13th-century campaigns of Roman Catholic crusaders, primarily led by the Teutonic Knights, to Christianize under duress the pagan Old Prussians. Invited after earlier unsuccessful expeditions against the Pr ...

in the East. Heinrich of Strateich, the first elected Bishop of Warmia, was unable to claim his office. On 28. August 1250 Allgemeine Deutsche Biographiebr>Anselm (Bischof von Ermland)
/ref> in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

(Flanders), Anselm of Meissen was consacred by Petrus de Collemed (Pietro of Albano), and at least since 27. April 1251, Anselm was present in Warmia. The bishop ruled one-third of his exempt bishopric also as a secular ruler for his support. His status as a prince of the Holy Roman Empire was confirmed in the Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV. The other part was governed by the Order, with the bishop having clerical jurisdiction there. The borders were drawn in 1254. This was confirmed by the

Golden Bull of 1356 The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...

. The chapter with 16 canons had the right to elect independently the bishop. It resided at Braunsberg (Braniewo), with the St. Andreas church having become the bishops cathedral in 1260. Following attacks by heathen

in 1262, the see was eventually moved to Frauenburg in 1280 by Anselm's successor, Heinrich Fleming. In 1261,

Pope Urban IV Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...

appointed Anselm as legate to Bohemia and Moravia, Riga, Gnesen and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. Anselm recruited Germans from lower Germany, Moravia and Silesia to settle in Prussia. During the Prussian uprising, he remained in Silesia, and also performed duties there, in Reichenbach, Breslau and in Olmütz (

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

). Anselm died in 1278 in Elbing, where he was buried in the St. Anna chapel in the castle of Elbing.

References

Literature

* *

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

(1913) article on ''Ermland'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Anselm of Meissen People from the State of the Teutonic Order 13th-century German Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Warmia Year of birth missing 13th-century births 1278 deaths

See also

References

Literature