Pursuits of the Diocese of Wrocław for Exemption – from the Beginning of the 14th Century to 1821
Pursuits of the Diocese of Wrocław for Exemption – from the Beginning of the 14th Century to 1821

Summary/Abstract: The diocese of Wrocław, existing since the year 1000 in the metropolitan union with Gniezno, by virtue of the bull of Pope Pius VII De salute animarum of July 16, 1821, had become an exempted diocese, i.e. a diocese directly subordinate to the Holy See. The passing 200th anniversary of this event is a good opportunity to trace how the pursuits to break off the Church’s dependence on the metropolitan affiliation with Gniezno resulted to some extent from the political history of the district of Silesia. The article presents the efforts of the diocese of Wrocław to obtain exemption, the origins of which date back to the period of Czech domination in Silesia in the first half of the 14th century, and which were concluded with legal entries in the bull of 1821. In this regard, the author uses scientific publications of well-known Polish and German Church historians, in which we can observe different argumentation involving the causes of the exemption, and also different approaches: the causes are highlighted either as a factual state (at least from the mid-17th century) or as a legal state. It turned out that the search for objective answers can be facilitated by archival sources published in recent decades, especially the documentation of former diocesan heads with the Holy See.

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