Ermland, Bishopric Of

ERFURT, BISHOPRIC OF: A Thuringian bishopric established by Boniface in the summer of 741 with its seat at Erfurt. Previous to the erection of this see, Thuringia alone of the German stocks had had no bishopric of its own, being under the jurisdiction of Mainz. The first bishop of Erfurt seems to have been Dadanus, who was one of those present at the Auatrasian Synod of 742, and he was appaaently succeeded by Bonifaae himself. Whether this took place before or after Boniface became archbishop of Mainz is uncertain, but at all events it explains the later association of Thuringia and Mainz.

(A. Hauck.)

From the time of Boniface till the fourteenth century, episcopal acts in the Erfurt district were performed either by the archbishops of Mainz or by visiting bishops delegated for the occasion; but from 1313 to 1807 there was a regular line of coadjutors to the archbishop with their seat at Erfurt. A papal bull of 1821 placed Erfurt under the see of Paderborn.

Bibliography: Rsttberg, RD, i. 351-352; Hauck, SD, i, 513-614; RL, iv. 77o-772.

ERMLAND, BISHOPRIC OF: A German bishop ric established in 1243 by the papal legate William of Modena, together with the sees of Culm, Pomesania, and Samland. The cathedral was founded at Braunsberg (30 m. s.w. of Königsberg) by Anselin, the first bishop, in June, 1260, but twenty years later was transferred to Frauenburg (41 m. s.w. of Königsberg) by Henry I. Among the famous bishops of this diocese was Eneas Silvius Piccolomini (1457-58), afterward Pope Pius II.

(A. Hauck.)

Until 1525 the diocese was under the political

jurisdiction of the Teutonic order. Toward the end of this period it increased in importance; the attempt of the Diet of Lublin (1506) to have it established as the metropolitan see of the Prussian dioceses failed indeed, but in 1512 Julius II. released it from its nominal subordination to the archbishopric of Riga and constituted it an "exempt" bishopric. From 1525 to 1772 it was under Polish jurisdiction, and the bishops were of that nationality beginning with the celebrated Stanislaua Hoaius (1551-79; see Hosius, Stanislaus), who was one of the presidents of the Council of Trent. After 1772 it was under Prussian rule. The bull De salute of 1821 united with it the diocese of Samland and five deaneries of Pomesania.

Bibliography: Monuments hist. Warmiensis, ed. C. P. Wölky and J. N, Saage, Mains. 1858 sqq.; Hauck, RD, iv. 653.