Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/279

 OLMUTZ

247

OLMUTZ

fessor Delbos of the University of Paris published in 1907 the course which 0116-Laprune had given on rea- son and rationaUsm (La raison et le rationalisme). Some months after his death Mr. William P. Coyne called him with justice "the greatest Catholic layman who has appeared in France since Ozanam" ("New Ireland Review", June, 1899, p. 195).

Bazaillas, La crise de la croyance (Parig, 1901) ; Blondel, Leon Olle-Laprune (Paris, 1900); GoYAn, Preface to La VitalitS ckritienne; Delbos, Preface to La raison et le rationalisme; RouBB in Etudes religieuses (20 October, 1898) ; Boutroux, Notice sur M, OlU-Laprune, read before the Acad^mie des Sciences morales (Paris, 1900).

Georges Goyau.

Olmiitz, Archdiocese of (Olomdcensis), in Mo- ravia. It is probable that Christianity penetrated into Moravia as early as the fourth century, but the invasions of the Huns and Avars destroyed these be- ginnings. Towards the end of the eighth century the Northern Slavs immigrated into this region. Their leader, Rastislav, asked for Christian missionaries, not from the Franks, but from the Greek emperor, Michael III, who sent the brothers Cyril and Methodius, born in Thessalonica but speaking the Slavic tongue and educated in Constantinople. Cyril, known as "the Philosopher", had been a missionary among the Cha- zars, and had discovered near the Inkermann the body of Clement I, whose transfer to Rome through Bul- garia and Pannonia is marked to this day by three Moravian and eighteen Bohemian churches dedicated to St. Clement. The preaching of the missionary brothers was successful. Cyril invented the Glago- litic alphabet and translated the Bible into Slavic. What is to-day called "Cyrillic" (Glagohtic) script owes its origin to his pupil Clement, Bishop of Wehea. German ecclesiastics became jealous of the success of the two Slavic apostles and accused them at Rome, but Adrian II gave them permission to use the Slavic language for religious services. Cyril died in a Ro- man monastery, while Methodius became Archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. Despite his high ecclesia.s- tical dignity he was insulted at a Synod of Salzburg and kept a prisoner for two and a half years. He la- boured faithfully and successfully in Moravia under the reign of Swatopluk, justified himself repeatedly when accused before John VIII, and died 6 April, 885, at Velehrad on the March.

The Moravian kingdom soon (906) fell before the on- slaught of the Hungarians, and the name Moravia for a long lime ili.sappears from history. In the report sent by Pilgrim of Passau to Benedict VIII, it is men- tioned as jiart of the Diocese of Passau. When in 973 the See of Prague was established, it included Mora- via, Silesia (with Cracow), and the Lausitz. In 1048 Duke Bretislav Achilles founded the first Moravian monastery, Raigern. The medieval concept of a kingdom called for several episcopal sees under a metropolitan. Therefore, when BretLslav's suc- cessor, Vratislav II, coveted the royal crown, he cre- ated the nece.ssary conditions, and in 1063 Olmiitz became a bishopric. The emperor gained a new vassal, and the Archbishop of Mainz another suf- fragan. The Bishop of Prague, as an indemnity for the loss of tithes in Moravia, received twelve fiefs in Bohemia, and annually the sum of one hun- dred marks silver from the ducal treasury. The first Moravian bishop was John I (1063-85), a monk of Brevnow. At the same time the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul received a chapter with a dean at its head. John had to suffer a great deal from Bishop Jaromir (Gebhard) of Prague, the unpriestly brother of Duke Vratislav. Jaromir personally attacked and maltreated Bishop John in the latter's episcopal pal- ace. Alexander II thereupon sent a legate Rudol- phus, who convoked a synod at Prague which Jaromir ignored. For this insubordination he was depo.sed. Gregory VII summoned both bishops to Rome. At the Easter Synod of 1074 Jaromir expressed his regret

for maltreating John, but declined to give up the fief of Bodovin, whereupon the pope asked Vratislav to expel Jaromir, by force if necessary.

Among the bishops of Olmiitz, during the later Mid- dle Ages the following are prominent: Heinrich (called Zdik after his birthplace) transferred his see to the church of St. Wenceslaus, which had been twenty- four years in construction, and at Easter, 1138, took the Premonstratensian habit in the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Bishop Kaiim, in 1 193, while ordaining priests and deacons at Prague, forgot the imposition of hands. His successor, Engelbert, corrected this omission two years later; but the Cardi- nal-Deacon Petrus declared the ordination null and void, and caused it to be repeated in its entirety in

1197. When the legate attempted to enforce a strict observance of the laws relating to celibacy, he was ex- pelled from the country; the laws of the Church, how- ever, were henceforth more strictly observed. Dur- ing the time that Moravia was joined to Bohemia, the Duke of Bohemia appointed the Bishop of Olmiitz. In 1 182 Moravia became independent, and thereafter the margraves of Moravia exercised the right of appoint- ment. Premysl Ottokar I, in 1207, granted to the Church of Olmiitz freedom from taxes and to the chap- ter the right of electing the bishop. Innocent III con- firmed this grant. After the death of Ottokar II, Rudolph of Hapsburg appointed Bishop Bruno regent in Moravia. Charles IV, in 1.343, made Prague the metropolitan see for Leitomischl and Olmiitz. The bishopric, as a vassal principality of the Bohemian crown, was the peer of the margravate of Moravia, and from 1365 its prince-bishop was Count of the Bo- hemian Chapel, i. e. first court chaplain who was to ac- company the monarch on his frequent travels. In 1380 the cathedral and the residence of the prince- bishop were both destroyed by fire. During this pe- riod the following orders were established : the Premon-