Diocese of Leal or Bishopric of Estonia was the name of the main Latin diocese in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
during the early
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 ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
phase.
History
It was established in 1211, with episcopal see in
Leal (today Lihula). The two known bishops were
Fulco and
Theoderich.
It was suppressed in 1235, to establish on its territory the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Dorpat (
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
), which was itself suppressed in 1558, without succession.
Source
GigaCatholic
Medieval Estonia
Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Europe
Leal
History of Christianity in Estonia
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