Kwidzyn Castle

History

Banderia Prutenorum The first manifestation of the Christianization activity in Prussia was the unsuccessful mission of Saint. Wojciech in 997, ended with his martyr's death. In the twelfth century attempts at missionary activity were undertaken by Bolesław Krzywousty and his sons, but they did not bring satisfactory results. It was only in the thirteenth century that the organized activity of the Cistercian abbot Gotfryd from Łękno, with the support of Pope Innocent III, began to bring visible effects. He played a large role in the Prussian mission - a continuator of Gotfryd's activity - the Cistercian Christian, who from 1213 independently managed the conversion of the Prussians. Bull of Pope Innocent III, exchanging Christianity achievements, entrusted Prussia to the Archbishop of Gniezno, Henryk Kietlicz, until the appointment of a separate bishop there. Soon, by the decision of the Pope, the Christian was appointed the first missionary bishop in Prussia, and his seat was most likely Zantyr. The Christian, having obtained numerous rights from Pope Honorius III, became the undisputed ruler of Prussia, and in 1218, by virtue of the papal bull, he obtained the right to divide Prussia into dioceses and ordination of bishops, but this did not happen. Another unsuccessful attempt to appoint is connected with the activity of the papal legate Wilhelm of Modena in the mid-twentieth century.

The situation changed after the Order of the Teutonic Knights was brought in, taking advantage of the fact that the Christian Bishop, operating in Sambia, was imprisoned by the Gentiles, obtained from Prussia IX the conferment of Prussia, provided that the episcopates erected there were awarded. The aforementioned Wilhelm of Modena, by virtue of a document issued by the Pope with the Order of the Teutonic Order, was obliged to divide Prussia into dioceses, which this time did not come to fruition. The final division of lands controlled by the Teutonic Knights into four dioceses (Chełmno, Pomezanian, Sambian and Warmian) was made in 1243, in the Italian town of Anagni, on the order of Pope Innocent IV.

The first Pomeranian bishop was the Dominican Ernest, who, as a result of an agreement with the national master Ludwik von Queden, received 1/3 of the diocese as an emolument, and he chose Kwidzyn as the capital of the bishopric. In 1284 and 1285 the Pomezanian chapter was founded, incorporated into the Teutonic Order, then it was probably decided to raise the existing parish church to the rank of the cathedral and build the castle of the Pomezanian chapter.