(The Establishment of the Bishopric of Nitra in 880 and the Question of the Nitra Cathedral)

Abstract: In 880 Pope John VIII consecrated the Frankish Benedictine Wiching as a bishop of the “holy Church of Nitra” and placed him under the jurisdiction of St. Method, “the most dignified archbishop of the holy Moravian Church”. This step was a result of a long development in the ecclesiastical, jurisdictional and power spheres not only on the territory of Great Moravia, but especially in the Central European region where the East Frankish, Great Moravian and Pannonian regions intersected and in which, over the years, many contradictory trends appeared. This article deals with the formation of the Bishopric of Nitra in 880 against the background of the general Christianisation in the Great Moravian area. The formation of the Bishopric is generally regarded by scholars as the formal emergence of the Pannonian/Great Moravian archdiocese. The study also presents the history of the Bishopric of Nitra after the departure of Bishop Wiching (890/893), during the restoration of the Great Moravian archdiocese in 899 and during the decline of Great Moravia after 907. It also studies sacral architecture of Nitra in the 9th century, focusing on its sacral topography.

Authors: Botek, Andrej

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2021.14.1.3-22

Publication order reference: doc. Mgr. Ing. arch. Andrej Botek, PhD.; STU in Bratislava, Faculty of Architecture, Institute of History and Theory of Architecture and Monument Restoration, Námestie slobody 19, 812 45 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Comenius Univesity in Bratislava, Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology of Cyril and Methodius, Chair of Church History, Kapitulská 26, 814 58 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2021, vol.: 14, issue: 1, pages: 3-22 (PDF file)

Keywords: BISHOPRIC OF NITRA, GREAT MORAVIA, CHRISTIANISATION, SACRAL ARCHITECTURE

Language: SLOVAK