Christian of Oliva

Christian of Oliva (Polish: Christian z Oliwy), also Christian of Prussia (German: Christian von Preußen) (died 4 December(?) 1245) was the first missionary bishop of Prussia.

Christian was born about 1180 in the Duchy of Pomerania, possibly in the area of Chociwel (according to Johannes Voigt). Probably as a juvenile he joined the Cistercian Order at newly established Kołbacz (Kolbatz) Abbey and in 1209 entered Oliwa Abbey near Gdańsk, founded in 1178 by the Samboride dukes of Pomerelia. At this time the Piast duke Konrad I of Masovia with the consent of Pope Innocent III had started the first of several unsuccessful Prussian Crusades into the adjacent Chełmno Land and Christian acted as a missionary among the Prussians east of the Vistula River. In 1215 he is recorded as abbot of Łekno Abbey near Gniezno in Greater Poland, most but not all authors identify him with Godfrey of Łękno.

In 1209, Christian was commissioned by the Pope to be responsible for the Prussian missions between the Vistula and Neman Rivers and in 1212 he was appointed bishop. In 1215 he went to Rome in order to report to the Curia on the condition and prospects of his mission, and was consecrated first "Bishop of Prussia" at the Fourth Council of the Lateran. His seat as a bishop remained at Oliwa Abbey on the western side of the Vistula, whereas the pagan Prussian (later East Prussian) territory was on the eastern side of it.

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