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 after the Livonian War as the Diocese of Wenden by king Stephen Báthory in 1582. After 1621 the diocesan see was relocated to Dünaburg (

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

) in Inflanty Voivodeship (contemporary Latgalia) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was formed after Vidzeme and present-day Estonia (the western portion of the predecessor Diocese of Wenden) were conquered by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

king Gustav II Adolf. The diocese was suppressed in 1798 after the

third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Po ...

History

The Diocese of Ikšķile was established in 1186 and designated a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen by the Roman Pope Clement III on 1 October 1188. Renamed as Diocese of Riga in 1202 and promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Riga on 20 January 1255 The Diocese of Wenden (Cēsis) was established within the territory of the Duchy of Livonia in 1582 by Polish king Stephen Báthory when this region came under the jurisdiction of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Jesuits accompanied the Polish troops to promote the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. Báthory's action of creating a new diocese was formally recognized by

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

on 1 May 1585. In 1621 it was designated a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Gniezno. The diocesan see was relocated from Wenden in Vidzeme to Dünaburg after the Swedish conquest of Vidzeme. On 19 September 1684 the name of the diocese was formally changed from Wenden to Inflanty by

Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Poli ...

. From 1685 Catholic parishes in Semigallia ( Zemgale) and the Diocese of

Pilten Piltene (; pl, Piltyń, german: Pilten) is a town in northwestern Latvia. The population in 2020 was 909. The ruins of Piltene Castle are located in Piltene. Population Population (Year): 40,000 (1795) History *1220: King Valdemar II of Denm ...

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

were administered by the bishop of Inflanty (Polish Livonia). The see was again moved to Pilten after the first partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. At this time Latgalia became part of the newly created Diocese of Mohilev in Russia. Courland and Semigallia were joined to the Diocese of Vilnius in 1798 when

Jan Nepomucen Kossakowski Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article N ...

, the last bishop of Inflanty, became bishop of Vilnius.Broks, p. 146

References

External links

GCatholic.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inflanty Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Ex-Soviet Europe Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 17th century Catholicism in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

History

See also

References

External links