The Diocese of Lebus (; ; ) is a former

diocese 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 associa ...

of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

. It was erected in 1125 and suppressed in 1598. The

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Lebus was also, '' ex officio'', the ruler of a

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of econ ...

that was coextensive with the territory of the diocese. The geographic remit included areas that are today part of the

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the Province of Lubusz 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 ...

. It included areas on both sides of the Oder River around the town of Lebus ( pl, link=no, Lubusz). The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

was built on the castle hill in Lubusz and was dedicated to St

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, ...

. Later, the seat moved to Górzyca (german: link=no, Göritz), back to Lebus and finally to

Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: ''Pśibor pśi Sprjewje'') is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the ...

( pl, link=no, Przybór) on the

River Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

. It bordered the Diocese of Poznań to the east, the Diocese of Brandenburg to the west, the Diocese of Cammin (Kamień) to the north and the Diocese of Meissen to the south.

Establishment

The

Lubusz Land Lubusz Land ( pl, Ziemia lubuska; german: Land Lebus) is a historical region and cultural landscape in Poland and Germany on both sides of the Oder river. Originally the settlement area of the Lechites, the swampy area was located east of Branden ...

formed part of Poland since the reign of its first historic ruler Mieszko I in the 10th century. In 968, the Diocese of Poznań was founded as Poland's first Catholic diocese, covering the territory of Poland. In 1000, the

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.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 ...

rather than to a German archdiocese; this kept Poland independent from the Holy Roman Empire throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. The Diocese of Lubusz was established about 1125 at the behest of

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

, Polish monarch from the Piast dynasty. The diocese covered the Lubusz Land, located in the westernmost part of Poland. The diocese was established to counter attempts at eastward expansion of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

and by the Archbishop of Magdeburg. The Diocese of Lubusz was erected as a suffragan of the

Kingdom of Germany The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, especi ...

, described in 13th-century chronicles as "the key to the Kingdom of Poland". Duke Bolesław prompted the construction of the Cathedral of St. Adalbert on the castle hill in Lubusz. The cathedral was later destroyed.

List of Bishops

The diocese was headed by the Bishop of Lebus who was elected by the cathedral chapter. This is a list of the ordinaries of the diocese: * Bernhard I (1133 Appointed – 1147 Died) * Stefan I (1149 Appointed – 1156 Died) * Bernhard II (1156 Appointed – 1180 Died) * Gaudenty (1180 Appointed – ) * Arnold (1191 Appointed – ) * Cyprian, '' Ordo Praemonstratensis'' (1198 Appointed – 1 Mar 1201 Appointed, Bishop of Wrocław) * Wawrzyniec (1209 Appointed – 9 Mar 1233 Died) * Henry I (1233 Appointed – 1244 Died) * Nanker (15 Oct 1248 Appointed – 1250 Died) * Wilhelm I of Nysa (7 Mar 1252 Appointed – 1273 Died) * Wilhelm II (1274 Appointed – 1282 Died) * Wolmir (1282 Appointed – 6 Jan 1284 Died) * Konrad (12 Nov 1284 Appointed – 22 Jul 1299 Died) * Jan (1300 Appointed – 1302 Died) * Fryderyk I (10 Jan 1305 Appointed – 1313 Died) * Stefan II (17 Oct 1326 Confirmed – 24 Feb 1345 Died) * Apeczko of Ząbkowice (19 Oct 1345 Appointed – 13 Apr 1352 Died) * Henry of Bancz (Bantsch) (7 Jan 1353 Appointed – 30 Aug 1365 Died) * Peter of Opole (8 Jun 1366 Appointed – 26 Mar 1375 Died) * Wenceslaus II of Legnica (3 Dec 1375 Appointed – 28 Jul 1382 Confirmed, Bishop of Wrocław) * Jan Kietlicz (3 Dec 1382 Confirmed – 2 Sep 1392 Appointed,

Bishop of Meissen The Bishop of Dresden-Meissen is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in the Archdiocese of Berlin. The diocese covers an area of and was erected as the Diocese of Meissen on 24 June 1921. The name was changed to Dre ...

) * Jan Mráz (15 Nov 1392 Appointed – 20 Jul 1397 Appointed,

Bishop of Olomouc The following is a list of diocesan bishops and archbishops of Olomouc. Not much is known about the beginnings of the Diocese of Olomouc. It was reestablished in 1063 and in 1777 it was elevated to an archdiocese. Bishops of Olomouc *''898 ...

) * Jan z Borsznic (24 Sep 1397 Appointed – 27 Mar 1420 Appointed, Archbishop of Esztergom) * Jan z Wałdowa (29 Mar 1420 Appointed – 1423 Died) * Jan z Wałdowa (11 Sep 1423 Appointed – 5 Mar 1424 Died) * Krzysztof von Rotenhan (11 Oct 1424 Appointed – 22 Sep 1436 Died) * Piotr von Burgsdorff (9 Jan 1437 Appointed – 29 Jun 1439 Died) * Konrad Kron (1440 Appointed – 2 Jan 1443 Died) * Jan von Deher (16 Oct 1443 Appointed – 28 Jul 1455 Died) * Friedrich Sesselmann (1 Dec 1455 Confirmed – 21 Sep 1483 Died) * Liborius von Schlieben (26 Jan 1484 Appointed – 27 Apr 1486 Died) * Ludwig Burgsdorf (3 Aug 1487 Appointed – Jun 1490 Died) * Dietrich von Bülow (5 Nov 1490 Confirmed - 1 Oct 1523 Died) *

Georg von Blumenthal Georg von Blumenthal (1490 – 25 September 1550) was a German Prince-Bishop of Ratzeburg and Bishop of Lebus. He also served as a Privy Councillor of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Chancellor of the University of Frankfurt (Oder), common ...

(6 Apr 1524 Confirmed - 25 Oct 1550 Died). He was the last Catholic bishop in north Germany. * Johann Horneburg (5 Oct 1551 Appointed - 16 Jun 1555 Died). He converted to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Governance

The '' cathedra'' of the see was moved three times. * Göritz/Górzyca (1276–1325); * Lebus/Lubusz (1354–1373/85); * Fürstenwalde/Przybór (1385–1558). With the fragmentation of Poland among the sons of Boleslaus, the Lubusz Land at various times belonged to the provincial duchies of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

Głogów Głogów (; german: Glogau, links=no, rarely , cs, Hlohov, szl, Głogōw) is a city in western Poland. It is the county seat of Głogów County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), and was previously in Legnica Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

, Greater Poland and Legnica. The area became a destination for the Germans '' Ostsiedlung''. Polish monarch

Henry II the Pious Henry II the Pious ( pl, Henryk II Pobożny; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and ...

died in 1241 at the Battle of Legnica fighting the Mongol invasion of Poland. Seven years later in 1248, his son

Bolesław II the Horned Bolesław II the Horned ( pl, Bolesław II Rogatka), known also as Bolesław II the Bald ( pl, Bolesław II Łysy) (c. 1220/5 – 26/31 December 1278), a member of the Silesian Piasts, was High Duke of Poland briefly in 1241 and Duke of Silesia at ...

permanently lost the Lubusz Land to the archbishopric of Magdeburg and the Ascanian margraviate of Brandenburg. Bolesław sold half of the land to Archbishopic of Magdeburg; the other half was captured by Ascanian nobles.

Lordship of Lebus

Piotr bp lubuski uzupelnia ugode zawarta z Kazimierzem krolem polskim w Kaliszu z 1368

When Bolesław III Wrymouth erected the diocese, at the same time he created a

that was co-extensive with the territory of the diocese. This lordship or

bishopric 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 ...

was not a prince-bishopric or state of the Holy Roman Empire since it was in the Polish realm at the time of its creation. While the Ascani and the Wettin archbishops competed for influence, the diocese itself remained subordinate to Gniezno. In 1245, the brothers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

— joint Margraves of Brandenburg — annexed lands in the region of

Teltow Teltow [] is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is . The Teltow Canal links the ...

Barnim Barnim () is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark. History The name "Barnim" emer ...

, the

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geography The region is nam ...

, and the Lordship of Stargard to Brandenburg. In the same year, the brothers captured the castle of

Köpenick Köpenick () is a historic town and locality (''Ortsteil'') in Berlin, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopt ...

and a fortress at Mittenwalde. From these bases, they expanded further to the east. By 1249, they had acquired the

and reached the river Oder. In this way the lordship became part of a state that was itself a state of the Empire; it was a condominium of

and

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 ...

. After this, tensions arose between the claims of Polish and Magdeburg representatives for influence in the diocese. Since the bishops of Lebus generally supported Polish interests, some time after 1276 they moved the seat of the see east of the Oder to Göritz ( Górzyca) due to the pressure exerted by Brandenburg. The margraves of Brandenburg began to annex further Polish territories to the east of the Oder to their newly formed region of

Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...

("New March"). Despite the Polish loss of the region, the Diocese remained a suffragan of the Polish Archdiocese of Gniezno, and several Polish bishops were still appointed, and under Bohemian (Czech) rule (1373–1415) also several

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

served as Bishops. With the extinction of the Brandenburg branch of the

House of Ascania The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlo ...

in 1320, disputes arose in the March. Bishop Stephan II openly supported King Władysław the Elbow-high, who went to the

region with Polish and Lithuanian troops. In 1325, in retaliation, Margrave Louis the Brandenburger ordered the governor of the Prince-bishopric — Erich von Wulkow — to capture the episcopal possessions and to destroy the cathedral in Göritz. Bishop Stephen fled to Poland. In 1354, Louis's successor in Brandenburg — Louis II — was reconciled with Bishop Henry Bentsch: the episcopal possessions were returned and the seat also returned to Lebus, where a new cathedral was built. The castle and lordship of Lebus were also left to the bishop. By the terms of the Treaty of Fürstenwalde, Emperor Charles IV purchased the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the childless Margrave Otto VII of Brandenburg. In 1373 the lordship was attacked by the emperor's troops. Charles incorporated the lands into the

lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of ...

thereby ending the connection of the House of Wittelsbach to the Brandenburg margraviate. The episcopal seat moved, for the final time, to

. Since the collegiate church in Lebus had been destroyed, Bishop Wenceslaus II of Legnica from the Piast dynasty raised St. Mary's Church to the status of a

. Polish monarchs still made peaceful attempts to regain the region but in 1424, the diocese became subordinate to the Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Beeskow Burg

The status of the bishop during this period is summarised by Albrecht III Achilles, the

Elector of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...

since 1471, who remarked, "What does it matter to us that there is a Bishop of Lebus or who he is, so long as he is a good honest man who is useful to the lordship and its territories? For in any case, whether he likes it or not, he must do whatever a Margrave of Brandenburg pleases in reasonable concerns affecting the Margrave and his territory."Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490-1700", Diarmaid MacCulloch, 2 Sep 2004 This meant that the incumbent's loyalties to the Margravate must precede loyalty to the Emperor. In 1518, Ulrich of Bieberstein enfeoffed Storkow Castle to Bishop Dietrich von Bülow. The castle was then expanded into an episcopal ''

residenz Residenz () is a German word for "place of living", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, Residenzstadt, denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, therefore carrying a similar meaning as the modern ...

''. In 1518, the lordship also acquired the town of

Beeskow Beeskow ( dsb, Bezkow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, and capital of the Oder-Spree district. It is situated on the river Spree, 30 km southwest of Frankfurt an der Oder. Demography File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Beeskow.pdf, Developm ...

. Upon the death of the last bishop in 1555, it was presented as a gift to the Hohenzollern margrave John of Brandenburg-Küstrin by King Ferdinand I of Bohemia. Together with neighbouring Beeskow, they merged into the Brandenburg electorate upon John's death in 1571.

Disestablishment

The

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

, with the support of the Electors of Brandenburg, resulted in most of northern Germany being lost to 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 ...

. When Bishop

died, he was the last Catholic bishop in northern Germany. When the Lutheran administrator Johann Horneburg died, the lordship was formally incorporated into Brandenburg. In 1598, the Church formally suppressed the diocese.

Legacy

The name of the historical bishopric was invoked again in 1945 when the newly acquired Polish

Recovered Territories The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...

were put under the Apostolic Administration of Kamień, Lubusz and the Prelature of Piła whose name openly implied that it was the successor of the Diocese of Lebus, a claim later upheld by the succeeding Diocese of Gorzów later renamed Diocese of Zielona Góra-Gorzów, though less outright.

Sources

* ''From Lebus to Fürstenwalde. Brief History of the Medieval Diocese of Lebus (1124 - 1555/98)''. Heinz Teichmann, Leipzig 1991, * Heinrich Grimm:
Bülow, Dietrich von.
' In: '' New German Biography'' (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, , p. 733
digitized
. * Theodor Hirsch:
Bülow, Dietrich von.
' In: '' General German Biography'' (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 182 f. * Hartmut Krohm, Alexander Bindr: ''The Sacrament House in St. Mary's Cathedral in Fürstenwalde''. Findling, Neuenhagen 2003.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diocese Of Lebus Lebus Lubusz Lebus Lebus Lebus Lebus 12th-century establishments in Poland Lebus Lebus Christianity in Brandenburg