Roman Catholic Diocese of Cammin Dioecesis Caminensis Bistum Cammin(in German) | |
|---|---|
 Former Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, now Co-Cathedral in Kamień Pomorski | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Territory | most ofducal Pomerania, Stift territory, parts of easternMecklenburg, of theNew March, and of theUckermark |
| Ecclesiastical province | exempt |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 14 October 1140 de facto defunct since 1544 1688 former diocese subject toNordic Missions Vicariate |
| Cathedral | Cammin in Pomerania: Cathedral of St. John the Baptist |
| Patron saint | Sabinus of Spoleto Faustinus of Brescia |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | last Catholic:Erasmus von Manteuffel |
Prince-Bishopric of Cammin Hochstift Cammina | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1248–1650 | |||||||||
Coat of arms | |||||||||
.jpg) Territory (violet) about 1250 | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal of Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Wolin, see till ~1150 Usedom Abbey, see till 1175 thenCammin, see & chapter Kolberg, bishop's residence as of 1276 Köslin, Stift government | ||||||||
| Common languages | Official:German Unofficial:Pomeranian,Kashubian | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholic till 1544, thenLutheran | ||||||||
| Government | Elective monarchy, ruled by the prince-bishop or administrator holding thesee, elected by thechapter or, exceptionally, appointed by the Pope | ||||||||
| Prince-bishop, administrator, or chapter (invacancy) | |||||||||
• 1394–1398 | Prince-BishopJohn III | ||||||||
• 1479 | Prince-BishopNicolaus | ||||||||
• 1574–1602 | AdministratorCasimir | ||||||||
• 1637–1650 | Admin.Ernest Bogislaw | ||||||||
| Legislature | bishop, chapter and Stift estates | ||||||||
| Historical era | High Middle Ages toEarly modern period | ||||||||
• Cammin Diocese est. | 1140 | ||||||||
• Bishop gained rule intemporalities near Kolberg | 1248 | ||||||||
• acquiredimperial immediacy | 1345, 1417 (conf.) | ||||||||
• joinedUpper Saxon Circle | 1512 | ||||||||
• immediacy confirmed | 1521, and 1542 | ||||||||
• autonomy waived, Pomeranian fief | 1544 | ||||||||
• seized byBrandenburg | 1650 | ||||||||
• merged inPomerania Province | 1653 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||
TheBishopric of Cammin (also Kammin, Kamień Pomorski) was both a former Roman Catholicdiocese in theDuchy of Pomerania from 1140 to 1544,[2] and a secular territory of theHoly Roman Empire (Prince-Bishopric) in theKołobrzeg area from 1248 to 1650.
The diocese comprised the areas controlled by theHouse of Pomerania in the 12th century, thus differing from the later territory of theDuchy of Pomerania by the exclusion of thePrincipality of Rügen and inclusion ofCircipania,Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the northernUckermark andNew March. The diocese was rooted in theConversion of Pomerania byOtto of Bamberg in 1124 and 1128 at the behest of Polish rulerBolesław III Wrymouth,[3] and was dissolved during theProtestant Reformation, when the Pomeranian nobility adoptedLutheranism in 1534 and the last pre-reformatory bishop died in 1544. The Catholic diocese was succeeded by thePomeranian Evangelical Church and suppressed until 1945, when its new incarnation, theApostolic Administration of Kamień, Lubusz and the Prelature of Piła was re-established, succeeded by theDiocese of Szczecin-Kamień in 1972, elevated toArchdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień in 1992.
From west to east, the diocese bordered the dioceses ofSchwerin,Havelberg,Brandenburg,Lubusz,Poznań,Gniezno andWłocławek.
The cathedral complex in Kamień Pomorski is listed as aHistoric Monument of Poland.[4]
In 1000, theDiocese of Kołobrzeg was founded by Polish monarchBolesław I the Brave, covering ecclesiastical authority over the region ofPomerania. Later on, it was suppressed, and the ecclesiastical authority was held by theArchdiocese of Gniezno.[5]
After DukeBolesław III Wrymouth ofPoland hadconquered Pomerania until 1121/22, SaintOtto of Bamberg between 1124 and 1128Christianised the area.[6] Otto's first mission in 1124 followed a failed mission by eremite Bernard in 1122, and was initiated by Bolesław with the approval of bothLothair III, Holy Roman Emperor, andPope Callixtus II.[7] Otto's second mission in 1128 was initiated by Lothair after a pagan reaction.[8]Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania supported and aided both missions.[9] Between the missions, he hadexpanded his duchy westward, up toGüstrow.[10] These formerLutician areas were not subject to Polish overlordship, but claimed by theHoly Roman Empire.[11][12] Otto during his lifetime did not succeed in founding a diocese, caused by a conflict of the archbishops ofMagdeburg andGniezno about ecclesiastical hegemony in the area.[13][14][15][16] Otto died in 1139.[14]
Pope Innocent II founded the diocese by apapal bull of 14 October 1140, and made the church of St. Adalbert atWolin onWolin island the see of the diocese.[14][17][18][19] In the bull, the new diocese was placed "under the protection of the see of the Holy Peter", thwarting ambitions of the archbishops ofMagdeburg andGniezno, who both wanted to incorporate the new diocese assuffragan into their archdioceses.[14][18]Adalbert, a former chaplain of Saint Otto who had participated in Otto's mission as an interpreter and assistant, was consecrated bishop at Rome.[18][20] Adalbert andRatibor I foundedStolpe Abbey at the side of Wartislaw I's assassination by a pagan in 1153, the first monastery in Pomerania.
The bishops held the title ofPomeranorum orPomeranorum et Leuticorum episcopus, referring to the tribal territories of thePomeranians andLuticians merged in theDuchy of Pomerania.[21]
In the late 12th century the territory of theGriffin dukes was raided several times bySaxon troops ofHenry the Lion andDanish forces under KingValdemar I. The initial see of inWolin was moved toGrobe Abbey on the island ofUsedom after 1150.[22][23] At the same time Wolin economically decayed and was devastated by Danish expeditions, which contributed to the move to Grobe.[23] The see was again moved to Cammin, now Kamień Pomorski, in 1175,[22][23][24] where achapter was founded for the Cathedral ofSt. John the Baptist.[23][25] All this time, the question of subordinance of the Pomeranian diocese as suffragan to an archdiocese remained unsolved.[26] Since 1188, when the pope accepted the move of the see, the bishopric was referred to as "Roman Catholic Diocese of Cammin", while before it was addressed asPomeranensis ecclesia,[21] Pomeranian diocese.[27] The pope furthermore placed the bishopric as anexempt diocese directly under theHoly See.[28][29][30] Since 1208, the bishops held the titleCaminensis episcopus.[31]
The area of the diocese resembled the area controlled by Wartislaw I and his brother and successor,Ratibor I.[24] The northern border was defined by the coastline and the border with thePrincipality of Rügen (Ryck river).[32] In the West, the diocese includedCircipania up toGüstrow.[32] In the Southwest, the border of the diocese ran south to a line Güstrow-Ivenack-Altentreptow in a near straight west–east orientation, then took a sharp southward turn west ofUeckermünde to includePrenzlau.[32] The border then turned east to meet theOder river south ofGartz and followed the Oder to theWarta confluence to includeCedynia.[32] In the South, the diocese border ran immediately north of the Warthe to includeGorzów andMyślibórz.[32] The southeastern border left the Warthe area with a sharp turn running straight north toDrawsko Pomorskie, then turned eastwards south of the town to includeCzaplinek.[32] Then, after a southeast turn, it turned northeast towardsBytów.[32] The eastern border ran east of Bytów and west ofLębork to meet the seacoast east ofRowokół [pl].[32]
When EmperorFrederick I Barbarossa deposed Henry the Lion in 1180 he granted Pomerania underBogislaw I the status of anImperial duchy, but from 1185 it was a Danish fief until the 1227Battle of Bornhöved. In 1248, the Cammin bishops and thePomeranian dukes had interchanged theterraeStargard and Kolberg, leaving the bishops in charge of the latter.[1] In the following, the bishops extended their secular reign which soon comprised theKolberg (now Kołobrzeg),Köslin (also Cöslin, now Koszalin) andBublitz (now Bobolice) areas.[33] When in 1276 they became the sovereign of the town of Kolberg also, they moved their residence there.[1] Bishop Hermann von Gleichen granted town rights toKöslin (Koszalin) in 1266 andMassow (Maszewo) in 1278. The administration of the episcopal secular state was done from Köslin.[1]
In the early 13th century, theSłupsk andSławno lands passed to the Archdiocese of Gniezno, only to return to the Diocese of Kamień in 1317.[34]
The bishops at multiple occasions tried to exclude their secular reign from ducal overlordship by applying forImperial immediacy.[33] ThePomeranian dukes successfully forestalled these ambitions,[33] and immediacy was granted only temporarily in 1345.[1] The addition of secular territory would be the basis for later turning the status of the diocese into aprince-bishopric. The episcopal territory of secular reign remained a subfief of ducal Pomerania, and did not become an immediately imperial fief.
TheProtestant Reformation reachedPomerania in the early 16th century, mostly starting from the cities, andLutheranism was made theDuchy of Pomerania's religion in 1534 by the diet ofTreptow upo Rega (Trzebiatów). The Pomeranian reformatorJohannes Bugenhagen, appointed bishop of Cammin by 1544, did not assume the office, the cathedral chapter elected insteadBartholomaeus Swawe, the former chancellor of Duke Barnim XI ofPomerania-Stettin, who promptly renounced Cammin'simperial immediacy. From 1556 on the Griffin dukes held also the office of a titular bishop ruling in Cammin's secular territory. In 1650 the last bishopErnst Bogislaw von Croÿ resigned and the diocese was secularised. WithFarther Pomerania it fell toBrandenburg-Prussia forming itsProvince of Pomerania.
The secular territory of the former diocese continued to exist as aprince-bishopric andprincipality within theDuchy of Pomerania, and was dissolved in 1650 when it fell toBrandenburg-Prussia, becoming part ofBrandenburgian Pomerania.[35] The area of the former principality was administered asFürstenthumcounty within the PrussianProvince of Pomerania until its division in 1872.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Löffler, Klemens (1911). "Pomerania". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Kammin".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 646. Upper Saxon Circle (1512–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire | ||
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Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories See also:Ernestine duchies | ||
