Chronology of Catholic Dioceses:Notes - The Diocese of Uppsala

In the late 11th century, the Diocese of Lund grew to be one of the wealthiest of the dioceses in Sweden and Denmark. As the church grew stronger, King Canute of Denmark, who was canonized soon after his death, grew more wary of influence from the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen in Germany, and sought to establish an Archdiocese in Lund, with the Swedish and Danish dioceses as its suffragans. Archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen opposed this, unless his own See was promoted to a patriarchate over the whole of Scandinavia. Canute's brother and successor, Erik Ejegod, continued to work for the erection of an Archdiocese, and managed to secure Pope Paschal II's support. Around the time of Erik's death, in 1103, a papal legate was sent and chose the Diocese of Lund.

The Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen did not take this well, and a struggle for power followed. While working on this list, we came across a problem caused by this struggle: The erection of the Diocese of Uppsala. In 1123, the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen consecrated the first Bishop of Uppsala. Lund objected strongly to the intrusion, and was supported by the King of Denmark. In 1130, the Bishop of Uppsala was forced into exile, and a successor was consecrated, this time by teh Archbishop of Lund. By the Danes and Swedes, this was seen as the year of the erection of the Diocese of Uppsala. We have, however, chosen to include the period 1123-1130 in the list, and thus view the event of 1130 as a re-erection of the diocese.

- CNy