The Archdiocese of Gniezno ( la, Archidioecesis Gnesnensis, pl, Archidiecezja Gnieźnieńska) is the oldest

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

archdiocese in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, located in the city of

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

."Archdiocese of Gniezno"
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 27, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Gniezno"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved March 27, 2016 The

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

comprises the suffragan dioceses of Bydgoszcz and Włocławek.

History

Catedral de Gniezno, Polonia, 2012-04-05, DD 32

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Gniezno was established in 1000 AD on the initiative of the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave. He had the relics of the missionary and martyr

Adalbert of Prague Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, ...

(''Wojciech'') transferred to

Gniezno Cathedral The Royal Gniezno Cathedral (The Primatial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Shrine of St. Adalbert, pl, Bazylika Archikatedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny i Sanktuarium św. Wojciecha) is a Bri ...

, which soon became a major pilgrimage site. Here Bolesław met with Emperor Otto III in the Congress of Gniezno, where the duke obtained

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian k ...

rights and created the Gniezno archbishopric, superseding the older Diocese of Poznań. Led by Adalbert's

half-brother A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separa ...

Radim Gaudentius Radim Gaudentius ( cs, Svatý Radim, pl, Radzim Gaudenty) (c. 970 – c. 1020) was Archbishop of Gniezno and the first Polish archbishop. Background Radim was an illegitimate son of White Croatian Prince Slavník, and thus the half-broth ...

, the ecclesiastical province then comprised the suffragan dioceses in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, and Kołobrzeg (extinct in 1015), and from about 1075 also Poznań. The position of the archbishops and their suffragans was confirmed in the 1136 Bull of Gniezno issued by Pope Innocent II. The Gniezno metropolitans held the right to

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

the

Kings of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...

and in 1412 obtained the status of a

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

of Poland. From 1572, they acted as ''

interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...

'' regents of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

. When on 16 July 1821 the Diocese of Wrocław was put under direct authority of 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 ...

by Pope Pius VII, Gniezno was affiliated in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

(''

aeque principaliter ''Aeque principaliter'' ("equally important") is a Latin term used by the Roman Catholic Church to indicate a merger of two or more dioceses in which – to avoid questions of predominance – the dioceses are all given equal importance. Such a ...

'') with the Archdiocese of Poznań. The union of Poznań and Gniezno was again dissolved with effect from 12 November 1948, when a personal union (''

in persona episcopi ''In persona episcopi'' ( en, In the person of the bishop) is a Latin language, Latin expression used by the Roman Catholic Church to indicate a union of two or more dioceses in which the dioceses are administered by a single bishop but undergo no ...

'') between the

Archdiocese of Warsaw The Archdiocese of Warsaw is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Poland encompassing the Polish capital. It was erected on October 16, 1798. It was elevated to an Archdiocese on June 30, 1813. A Metropolitan See, its suffragan di ...

and Gniezno was established. By Apostolic constitution of 25 March 1992,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

again divided the union between the archdioceses of Gniezno and Warsaw.

Special churches

*Minor Basilicas: ** Bazylika św. Apostołów Piotra i Pawła,

Kruszwica Kruszwica (german: Kruschwitz) is a town in central Poland and is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a population of 9,412 (2004). Initially founded in the 6th ...

** Bazylika Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny, Trzemeszno

Leadership

List of archbishops of Gniezno and primates of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Bydgoszcz, established in 2004 * Włocławek, established about 1015 (split off Kołobrzeg as Diocese of Kujawy–Pomorze), interrupted 1818–1925 (then suffragan of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

as Diocese of Kujawy–Kalisz)

Former suffragans

* Diocese of Krakow, 1000–1807, became suffragan of Lwów (Lviv), suffragan of Warsaw in 1818, raised to archbishopric in 1925 *

Diocese of Wrocław In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, 1000–1821 (exempt), raised to archbishopric in 1930 *

Diocese of Kołobrzeg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, 1000–1007 (Bishop

Reinbern Reinbern (-1013/15) was the only bishop of the short-lived Diocese of Kołobrzeg (1000-~1007). Reinbern was born in the Hassegau area of the medieval Duchy of Saxony.David Warner, ''Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg'', Manch ...

), re-established as suffragan diocese of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg in 1972, became suffragan of Szczecin-Kamień in 1992 * Diocese of Poznań, 1075–1821, raised to archbishopric, in personal union with Gniezno until 1946 * Diocese of Płock, 1075–1818, suffragan of Warsaw * Diocese of Lubusz (Lebus), established about 1125, suffragan of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

from 1424, secularised in 1598 *

Diocese of Vilnius The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius ( la, Archidioecesis Vilnensis; lt, Vilniaus arkivyskupija) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. Established as the Diocese of Vilnius in th ...

, 1388–1798, raised to archbishopric in 1926 * Diocese of Samogitia, established in 1427, dissolved in 1798, re-established in 1849, raised to archbishopric (Archdiocese of Kaunas) in 1926 * Diocese of Warsaw, 1798-1813, raised to archbishopric, in personal union with Gniezno 1946-1992 * Diocese of Chełmno, 1821–1992, de facto already joining Gniezno councils since 1566, replaced by the Diocese of Pelplin, suffragan of Gdańsk (see below) * Diocese of Łuck (Lutsk), 16th century, united with Diocese of Kyiv–Černihiv in 1798 *

Diocese of Inflanty The Diocese of Livonia, later Roman Catholic Diocese of Inflanty was a territorial division of the Roman Catholic Church established in 1186 as the Diocese of Üxküll and promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Riga in 1255. Re-established aft ...

(Wenden), 1621–1798 * Diocese of Smolensk, 1636–1783, merged into Archdiocese of Mohilev in 1818 * Diocese of Gdańsk, established in 1925 (exempt), suffragan of Gniezno from 1972, raised to archbishopric in 1992 * Diocese of Szczecin-Kamień, established in 1972, raised to archbishopric in 1992

References

Diocese website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gniezno 1000 establishments in Europe Roman Catholic dioceses in Poland Gniezno

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno The Archdiocese of Gniezno ( la, Archidioecesis Gnesnensis, pl, Archidiecezja Gnieźnieńska) is the oldest Latin Catholic archdiocese in Poland, located in the city of Gniezno.Dioceses established in the 10th century

History

Special churches

Leadership

Former suffragans

See also

References