
The Diocese of
Linköping ( sv, Linköpings stift) is a
diocese within the
Church of Sweden administering the
Östergötland County, the north eastern part of
Jönköping County
Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in Septe ...
and the northern part of
Kalmar County. It comprises nine
deaneries subdivided into 176
parishes with a total of 443,000 members. The dioecese's largest parish is
Motala. The Diocese of Linköping has a rank directly below the
Archdiocese of Uppsala of the Church of Sweden. The current bishop is Martin Modéus.
The diocesan territory comprises
Östergötland County and parts of
Jönköping and
Kalmar County. It has 212 parishes with a total of 443 000 members. As of 2006
Martin Modéus is
bishop.
History before the Reformation
The diocese originally included
Småland
Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden.
Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...
,
Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
, the Islands of
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
and
Öland. The district of
Värend in
Småland
Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden.
Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...
was taken from Linköping and formed into the
Diocese of Växjö about 1160. From 990 to 1100 the
Diocese of Skara embraced the whole country of the Goths (
Gauthiod); it was then divided between those of Skara and Linköping.
The diocese was 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
Archdiocese of Bremen, and became a suffragan of the
Diocese of Lund, when the latter was elevated to an
archdiocese
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 ...
in 1104.
The first three bishops of Linköping were Herbert, Richard and Gisle (c. 1138–48). Then came Stenar, who apparently resigned in 1160 and subsequently became Bishop of Vexiö. Notable bishops after him were Kol (c. 1160–96), who died on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem and Bengt Magnusson who was killed at the
Battle of Lihula in
Estonia on 8 August 1220, and Benedict (1220–37). The last Catholic bishop of Linköping was Hans Brask (born 1464; bishop, 1513–27; died 30 July 1539). He was compelled to leave his diocese in 1527 owing to the adoption of
Lutheranism in Sweden at the
Diet of Västerås.
Council of Skenninge
Of the numerous provincial and diocesan synods held in the Diocese of Linköping, the Council of Skenninge (1248) was the most important. The
papal legate
300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate.
A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...
,
Cardinal William of Sabina
William of Modena ( – 31 March 1251), also known as ''William of Sabina'', ''Guglielmo de Chartreaux'', ''Guglielmo de Savoy'', ''Guillelmus'', was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat. , presided and the
celibacy
Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the ...
of the clergy was strongly enforced. The following religious institutions were set up in the diocese between the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries: the
cathedral chapter
According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
, which consisted at the time of the Reformation of a dean, an
archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...
, a
subdean
{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019
A sub-dean is a person who acts as an assistant to a dean either in church circuit as a priest or minister or an academic institution. They are, however, not a vice-dean. A vice-dean is a person who can deputize a de ...
, nine canons and fifteen other prebendaries; the
Cistercians
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 ...
had three houses for men, the abbeys of
Alvastra, the mother-house of the Cistercian Order in Sweden, in
Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
and
Nydala in Småland, both founded in 1143, and Gutvalla (
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
) in
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
; also four nunneries,
Vreta Abbey (1160), Askaby, Byarum, dissolved about 1250 and the nuns transferred to Sko (in Upland) and
Solberga Abbey (Gotland); the
Brigittines, who had the great Abbey of Vadstena; the Dominicans, who possessed priories at Skenninge (1220?), Visby (1240) and Kalmar, as well as nunneries at Skenninge (1260) and Kalmar (1286). There were hospitals at Linköping, Visby (2), Söderköping (2) Skenninge (2), Kalmar (2), Norrabygd (Uknabäck) and on the Island of
Öland. Most of these institutions were suppressed at the
Reformation.
See also
*
List of bishops of Linköping
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diocese of Linkoping
Östergötland County
Linkoping
Jönköping County
Kalmar County
Former Catholic dioceses in Sweden
Dioceses established in the 12th century