Ermland

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Ermland, or Ermeland (Varmiensis, Warmia), a district of East Prussia and an exemptbishopric.St. Adalbert of Prague (d. 997) andSt. Bruno of Querfurt (d. 1009) converted the early inhabitants of this region, theheathenPrussians, toChristianity and two centuries laterTeutonic Knights and members of theCistercian Order introduced civilization also into the land. Among these later was the saintlyBishop Christian of Oliva (d. 1245). In 1243 the territorial possessions of theTeutonic Knights were divided into the Dioceses ofCulm, Pomesanien, Ermland, and Samland. Albert of Suerbeer, who came from Cologne, and who had beenArchbishop ofArmagh,Ireland, was appointedArchbishop ofPrussia. In 1251 he took Riga for hissee, a choice which was confirmed byAlexander IV, who in 1255 made Riga themetropolitan of the fourdioceses just mentioned. Apriest of the Order ofTeutonic Knights, Heinrich of Strateich, was selected as the firstBishop of Ermland, but he was not able to enter upon his office. It was not until August 28, 1251, that the first actualBishop of Ermland, Anselm ofMeissen, who was also apriest belonging to the Order ofTeutonic Knights, wasconsecrated at Valenciennes by thepapal legate Pietro ofAlbano. The diocese included the whole of oldPrussian districts of Warmien, Natangen, Barten, and Galindien, the northern half of Pomesanien and the southern halves of Nadrauen and Sudauen. Thebishop was given one-third of this territory as personalproperty for his support, and in this district he was the secular ruler and a prince of the Holy Roman Empire; theserights of thebishop were confirmed in the GoldenBull of the Emperor Charles IV. In 1260 Bishop Anselm founded a chapter of sixteen canons attached to thecathedral of St. Andreas at Braunsberg and transferred to the chapter the right of electing thebishop. But Braunsberg was ravaged by theheathenPrussians in 1262, and the secondbishop, Heinrich I (1278-1300), wasobliged in 1280 to transfer the chapter to Frauenburg. where it has remained ever since.

From the thirteenth century to the fifteenth the history of Ermland was one of constantwars. Repeated rebellions of the nativePrussians, incursions of the Lithuanians, and frequentwars withPoland, in which thebishop was always the faithful ally of theTeutonic Order, checked the development ofChristianity and the cultivation of the soil. To these disorders were added the constant encroachment andviolence of theTeutonic Knights who sought to bring Ermland, like otherPrussiandioceses, under the dominion of the order. Ermland, however, defended itsrights with great determination with such efforts, and would not allow the order to influence in any way the election of thebishops and the chapter. Yet in everything else thebishops held faithfully to the order, even when its star began to decline, and the whole territory ruled by theknights revolted in the so-called War of the Cities (1454-66). It was in this period that the celebrated Cardinal Enea Silvio de'Piccolomini (Æneas Silvius) was elected (1457)Bishop of Ermland; in the following year, however, he ascended thepapal throne asPius II. The Peace of Thorn (1466) removed the diocese from the protectorate of theTeutonic Knights and placed it under the sovereignty of the King ofPoland. This transfer caused the discord to break out afresh, for the King ofPoland claimed for himself in Ermland the same right he exercised in the rest of his kingdom, that of naming thebishop. Bishop Nikolaus of Tüngen (1467-89) and especially the determined Lukas Watzelrode (1489-1512) energetically opposed theseunjust claims and guarded the right of a free election of thebishop. In 1512 the latterbishop obtained fromPope Julius II the release of hisdiocese from its suffragan connexion, always a loose one, with the metropolitan See of Riga. When this relationship was dissolved Ermland was declared an exemptbishopric and has remained such ever since. Bishop Watzelrode was equally successful in regulating the internal affairs of hisdiocese. On February 20, 1497, he held adiocesan synod at Heilsberg, where thebishops resided until 1800; in 1503 he made newlaws for his domain, reorganized thecathedralschool at Frauenburg, selecting it for excellent teachers, among whom was his celebrated nephewCopernicus, published theBreviary (Nuremberg, 1494) and theMissal (Strasburg, 1497), etc. His weak successor Fabian of Lozanien (1512-23), however, in the Treaty of Piotrkow (December 7, 1512), conceded to the King ofPoland a limited influence in the election ofbishops. Existing conditions were, however, entirely changed by the defection toProtestantism of Albrecht of Bradenburg, Grand Master of theTeutonic Knights, and the twobishops of the order who ruled Samland and Pomesanien, and the secularization of the dominion of the order by the Peace of Cracow (1525). Two-thirds of the former 220parishes of Ermland went to the twoapostatebishops. In these troubled times excellent episcopal rulers saved the diocese from complete defection; among thesebishops was the energetic Moriz Ferber (1523-37), who by the ordinances issued in 1526 restored order to this desolated territory; another suchbishop was Joannes Dantiscus (1527-48), a noted poet and diplomat, who conscientiously fulfilled hisduties asbishop and raised theintellectual life of hisclergy (concerning Dantiscus cf. Czaplicki, De vitâ et carminibus J. de Curiis Dantisci,Breslau, 1855; Geistliche Gedichte des Dantiscus übersetzt und herausgegeben von Franz Hipler, Münster, 1857).

But thebishops who deserve the greatest praise for holding the diocese to theCatholicFaith when threatened by the surroundingProtestantism wereStanislaus Hosius (1551-79), later acardinal, who was distinguished for learning and virtue, and Martin Kromer (1579-89), a noted historian. Among the means successfully used for the maintenance of the Faith were the assembling of variousdiocesansynods, of which the most important was the one held byHosius in 1565 for the purpose of carrying out the decisions of theCouncil of Trent; yearly visitations, and above all the founding of theJesuitCollege at Braunsberg in 1565 [cf. Duhr, Geschichte des Jesuiten in den Ländern deutscher Zunge (Freiburg im Br., 1907), I, 79 sqq., 307 sqq.] In addition to these the Congregation of St. Catherine (Katharinerinnen), founded at Braunsberg in 1571 by Regina Prothmann, did effective work in the instruction and training of girls; since the annulment of the right of teaching at the same time of theKulturkampf the congregation has devoted itself almost entirely to the nursing of the sick. In the seventeenth century (1626-30, 1655-56), and at the beginning of the eighteenth century (1703-09), thediocese was repeatedly ravaged by the Swedes, who forcibly supressed theCatholicChurch services and carried away its literary and artistic treasures. At the time of the first Partition ofPoland (1772) the whole of Ermland fell to the share of the kingdom ofPrussia. In the treaty ofWarsaw (September 18, 1773), King Fredrich II, it istrue, guaranteed thestatus quo and the free exercise of religion for theCatholics of the annexed provinces, nevertheless allschools and institutions foreducation and training under religious control were gradually supressed, and the landedproperty of the Church secularized.

TheBull "De salute animarum", of July 16, 1820, readjustedecclesiastical relations for Ermland as well as for the whole ofPrussia. The Diocese of Ermland now received not only the territory which had been forcibly taken from it at the time of theReformation, but there were incorporated in it as well the whole of the former Diocese of Samland, five deaneries of the former Diocese of Pomesanien, and, in 1854, the country surrounding Marienwerder. Among the more important Bishops of Ermland during the nineteenth century were: Philippus Krementz, (1867-85), latercardinal andArchbishop ofCologne, and the successor of Bishop Krementz, Andreas Thiel (1885-1908); after the death of the later (July 17, 1908), Professor August Bludau of Münster, a native of Ermland, was electedbishop of thediocese.

Statistics

The Diocese of Ermland includes the whole province of East Prussia, which is composed of the government districts of Allenstein, Königsberg, and Gumbinnen, but those parts are excepted of the circles (subdivisions of a district) of Neidenburg and Osterode that belong to theDiocese of Culm; in the province of WestPrussia Ermland includes the urban and rural circles of Elbing and the circle of Marienburg, all of which are in the government district of Danzig; also the whole circle of Stuhm and a part of the circle of Marienwerder in the government district of Marienwerder belong to the diocese. It is also divided into the following sixteen deaneries, each of which is under the direction of anarchpriest: Allenstein, Braunsberg, Elbing, Guttstadt, Heilsburg, Littauen, Marienburg, Masuren, Mehlsack, Neuteich, Rössel, Samland, Seeburg, Stuhm, Wartenburg, Wormditt. In 1908 there were 141parishes; 37 curacies and vicariates; 67 chaplaincies; 335diocesanpriests viz.: 171parishpriests andcurates, 98 assistants,chaplains, and holders ofbenefices, 66priests in other positions.Religious--Sisters of St. Catherine, 4 mother-houses (Braunsberg, Heilsberg, Rössel, Wormditt), 82 branch houses, and 364 religious; Grey Sisters (Sisters of St. Elizabeth), 4 houses and 69 religious; Sisters ofSt. Vincent de Paul, 2 houses, 17 religious. TheCatholic higherschools of learning are, the Royal Lyceum Hosianum withphilosophical andtheological faculties, opened in 1818; at the close of 1908 the lyceum had 9 regular professors, 1 adjunct professor, 1Privatdozent (instructor), 39 students; theseminary forpriests at Braunsberg, reorganized in 1832; the gymnasiium at Braunsberg, reopened in 1811, the progymnasium (studies not carried so far as in a gymnasium) at Rössel, founded in 1833, and the episcopalseminary for boys at Braunsberg and Rössel, which are carried on in conexion with the last two institutions. Thecathedral chapter is established at Frauenburg in the circle (subdistrict) of Braunsberg; since 1800 this city has also been thesee of thebishop. The chapter consists of 8 canons, including the two dignitaries, acathedralprovost and acathedral dean, 4 honorary canons, 5cathedral vicars.Pope Benedict XIV granted thepallium and thecrux gestatoria to thebishops. In 1901 Dr. Eduard Hermann, a canon of thecathedral, was appointedauxiliary bishop and titular of theSee of Cybistra. TheCatholics number 327,567 in total population of about 2,000,000. The most important building of thediocese is theCathedral of the Assumption at Frauenburg. It is a splendid gothic structure built of brick and begun by Bishop Heinrich II (1329-34); the choir wasconsecrated and thenave, commenced in 1355, was completed in 1388 when the finevestibule was finished. The best-known and most visited place ofpilgrimage in thediocese is Heiligelinde.

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