The former Diocese of Odense ( da, Odense Stift) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

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 associ ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

which included the islands of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

Tåsinge Tåsinge () is a Danish island immediately south of Funen, opposite and facing Svendborg, divided from Funen by Svendborgsund.See detailed Denmark roadmap in References section. The island covers an area of circa . It is part of the South Funen A ...

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitan ...

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

Als Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

, and Ærø. Its

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

was located in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

St. Canute's Cathedral St. Canute's Cathedral ( da, Odense Domkirke or Sankt Knuds Kirke), also known as Odense Cathedral, is named after the Danish king Canute the Saint ( da, Knud den Hellige), otherwise Canute IV. It is a fine example of Brick Gothic architecture. Th ...

. The diocese was founded before 988. At the time, it was disputed as

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 jurisdiction ...

between the archdioceses of Hamburg-Bremen and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

. In 1104, it became suffragan of the Metropolitan

Archbishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a great Latin (arch)bishopric, Lund has been in Sweden since the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The Diocese of Lund is now one of thirteen in the Church of Sweden. Catho ...

, along with the other dioceses in Denmark. The diocese dissolved during 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 i ...

in 1536. Its region was eventually absorbed by the

Diocese of Funen The Diocese of Funen (Danish: ''Fyens Stift'') is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. St. Canute's Cathedral in Odense serves as the seat of its bishop. Tine Lindhardt has been the bishop of the diocese since 2012. Hist ...

within the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

Diocesan history

The diocese was founded sometime between 965 and 988. Over the course of its history there were at least 29 successive Bishops of Odense. It is possible there were more, as few records exist prior to the 12th century and there were multiple instances where the position was vacant. Even for those whose names are known, the exact dates of their accession and resignation are uncertain. The missionary Odinkar Hvide is said to have preached on Funen at the time the diocese was established, though there is little record to confirm that he was officially the diocese's bishop. The first recorded Bishop of Odense, Reginbert, was an Englishman consecrated by

Archbishop Alnoth of Canterbury In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

ca. 1020. He was succeeded by Gilbert, a clerk of

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

. After Gilbert's death in 1072, the diocese was vacant and subject to the

Bishop of Roskilde The former Diocese of Roskilde () was a diocese within the Roman-Catholic Church which was established in Denmark some time before 1022. The diocese was dissolved with the Reformation of Denmark and replaced by the Protestant Diocese of Zealand ...

until the appointment of an English Benedictine monk named Hubald ca. 1082. The diocese's first church was erected in Odense and dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. Around 1075, King

Canute IV Canute IV ( – 10 July 1086), later known as Canute the Holy ( da, Knud IV den Hellige) or Saint Canute (''Sankt Knud''), was King of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. Canute was an ambitious king who sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy ...

presented the diocese's cathedral, which was then under construction, with the relics of

Saint Alban Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs rec ...

and Saint Oswald. On 10 July 1086, Canute was killed during an insurrection in Odense. He was soon venerated as a saint within the diocese and his remains were exhumed in April 1095 as

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s. He was officially

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

by Pope Paschal II ca. 1100. On 19 April 1101, his remains were

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

by Bishop Hubald to the diocese's cathedral. Bishop Hubald died ca. 1139, and was briefly succeeded by Bishop Herman, who died shortly thereafter. Rikulf (or ''Ricolf'') was then appointed as Bishop. Rikulf had been a respected nobleman before pursuing an ecclesiastical career, having supported King Eric III in a war of succession. During his time as bishop, the diocese was ravaged by the Danish Civil Wars. Rikulf is stated to have died in 1162 or 1163, and was succeeded around the same time by the provost at St. Alban's Church, Live."Rikulf"
''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon''. Vol. VIV: Resen–Saxtrup, pp. 110–111. Bishop Live either died or was removed from power due to reformatory disputes some time before 1170.
''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon''. Vol. X: Laala–Løvenørn, p. 346. Odense was once one of the wealthiest dioceses in Denmark and had strong ties to the aristocracy. During his time as bishop, Jens Andersen Beldenak came into conflict with the aristocracy, perhaps because he was the only bishop in Denmark at the time who had not been born into the nobility. As a result of these conflicts with the ruling class, he was temporarily imprisoned and eventually forced to resign in 1529. His successor, Knud Henrikssen Gyldenstjerne, was formerly the Dean of Viborg. Gyldenstjerne's election as bishop was controversially never confirmed by the pope. Prior to the Reformation, the diocese oversaw a number of

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

s, and

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The c ...

s within its domain, including Holme Abbey. These establishments followed a variety of monastic traditions. Their orders included:

Augustinian Canons Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, Dominicans,

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount C ...

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

, and

Bridgettines The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urba ...

. The diocese also oversaw hospitals in Odense, Assens,

Faaborg Faaborg or Fåborg () is an old port town located on Faaborg Fjord in Faaborg-Midtfyn municipality on the island of Funen in Denmark. By road, Faaborg is located southwest of Odense, west-northwest of Svendborg, and roughly southeast of Midd ...

and

Nakskov Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the La ...

, and a

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and ...

of the

Knights of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

in Odense. DanskeStifterMiddelalderen

Protestant reformation

In 1532, the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

reformer

Jørgen Sadolin Jørgen Jensen Sadolin (c. 1490 – 29 December 1559 in Odense) was a Danish reformer, the son of Jens Christensen, a curate and subsequently a canon of Viborg Cathedral, and consequently, in all probability, born out of wedlock, as his Catholic op ...

was permitted to preach his agenda in Odense. Sadolin served as an assistant to the then Catholic Bishop of Odense, Knud Henrikssen Gyldenstjerne, which suggests that he was sympathetic or complicit to the reformers. A later document from King

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

which denounced the Catholic Bishops deposed during the

Reformation in Denmark 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 in ...

was notably lenient towards Gyldenstjerne, saying that he was neither "significantly evangelical or papist, nor ecclesiastical or secular." Despite this, Bishop Gyldenstjerne was briefly imprisoned when the catholic diocese was dissolved in 1536. He was released in 1537 on the condition that he conform to the newly established lutheran church. With the establishment of the Protestant Church of Denmark, the diocese was replaced by the Diocese of Funen and Jørgen Sadolin was designated as the new Protestant Bishop. The former Catholic dioceses in Denmark, including the bishopric of Odense, were never reestablished. Instead, the new Catholic missionary clergy in Denmark were made part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Missions, which was established on 7 July 1868. In 1869, this vicariate was demoted as

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Denmark. On 15 March 1892 it was promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Denmark. Finally on April 29, 1953 it was promoted as exempt

Diocese of Copenhagen The Diocese of Copenhagen (Danish: ''Københavns Stift'') is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. The Bishop of Copenhagen is currently Peter Skov-Jakobsen, who replaced Erik Normann Svendsen in 2009. The main cathedral of ...

, which includes the Danish territories of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

List of bishops

*''Odinkar Hvide, 988–10??'' *Reginbert, ca. 1020–10?? *Gilbert, 1048–1072 **''Vacant'', 1072–1082 *Hubald (''Humbald''), 1082–c. 1139 *Hermann, c. 1139 *Ricolf (''Rikulf''), c. 1140–1162 *Live, 1162–c. 1170 *Simon, 1170–1186 *John I, 1186–1213 *Lojus, 1213–c. 1239 *Iver, 1239–1245 *Niels, 1245–1247 *Jacob, 1247–1252 *Regner, 1252–1266 *Peder, 1267–c. 1280 *Johannes, 1282–1286 *Gisico, 1286–c. 1304 *Peder Pagh, 1304–1339 *Niels Jonsen, 1340–1362 *Erik Johansen Krabbe, 1362–1376 *Valdemar Podubesk, 1376–1392"Podebusk, Henning"
''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon''. Vol. XIII:Pelli–Reravius, p. 191. *Theus (''Tetz'') Podubesk, 1392–1400 *Jens Ovesen, 1400–1420 *Navne Jensen Gyrsting, 1421–1440 *Henneke Ulfeldt, 1440–1459 *Mogens Krafse, 1460–1474 *Karl Rønnow, 1475–1501 * Jens Andersen Beldenak, 1501–1517 **''Vacant'', 1517–1523 * Jens Andersen Beldenak, 1523–1529 (Restored) *Knud Henrikssen Gyldenstjerne, 1529–1534 *

Gustav Trolle Gustav Eriksson Trolle (September 1488 – 1535) was Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, in two sessions, during the turbulent Reformation events. He was the son of Eric Arvidsson Trolle, a former regent of Sweden during the era of the Kalmar Union. ...

, 1534–1535 *Knud Henrikssen Gyldenstjerne, 1535–1536 (Restored)

References

Bibliography

* Bang, Vilhelm (1908).
Fyens Stifts Biskopper efter Reformationen
' (in Danish). Odense: Fyens Stiftstidende – via Slægtsforskernes Bibliotek. * Brika, Carl Frederik, ed. (1887–1905).
Dansk Biografisk Lexikon: tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537–1814
' (in Danish). 9 Vols. Copenhagen: Gyldendal – via

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

. * Jexlev, Thelma (1977).
Lokalarkiver til 1559. Gejstlige Arkiver II: Odense stift, jyske stifter og Slesvig stift
' (in Danish). Copenhagen: Danish National Archives – via

Danish National Archives , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = , logo_width = 300px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = File:Rigsarkivet.jpg , picture_width = , picture_cap ...

. .

Citations

{{coord missing, Denmark

Odense