Chronology of Silesia
Fr STANISŁAW WRÓBLEWSKI
Ziębice
500 000–350 000 BC – area around Trzebnica inhabited by Man (homo erectus)
6th/7th century AD – Slavic peoples in Silesia
Mid 10th century AD – existence of a church, and then cathedral on Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław
988 – consecration of church in Wrocław castle
990 – Silesia was incorporated into the Polish state
1000 – establishment of the Bishopric of Wrocław under the Metropolitan of Gniezno; John is the first known bishop in Wrocław
1112 – dedication of the first parish church of St Wojciech in Wrocław, France
1155 – Pope Hadrian IV took the Diocese of Wrocław and Silesia under the care of the Holy See
1163 – Cistercian Order enters Silesia
1202 – creation of the first female monastery in Silesia founded in Trzebnica by St Jadwiga and her husband Duke Henry I the Bearded
1241 – Mongolian invasion of Silesia, martyrdom of Henry II, the son of St Jadwiga, in battle against the Tatars at the Battle of Liegnitz Field (near modern-day Legnica)
1248 – first divisions of Silesia into separate states
1257 – first known heretical movements in Silesia
1267 – canonisation of St Jadwiga by Pope Clement IV in Viterbo
1288 – foundation of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross on Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław
1392 – last independent Silesian principality incorporated into the Czech state
1st half of the 15th century – numerous Hussite raids in Silesia
1469 – Czech king Maciej Krowin participated in the pilgrimage from Wrocław to the tomb of St Jadwiga in Trzebnica
1523 – first Protestant service in Silesia; start of the Reformation on Silesian land and the Diocese of Wrocław
1565 – Bishop Kasper of Łagowa founds a seminary in Wrocław to prepare for the priesthood men from the lands stretching from Cieszyn Silesia to Brandenburg
1590/1591 – founding of Wrocław cathedral, silver altar by Bishop Andras Jerin. The altar was dismantled during World War II and restored to the cathedral in 2019
1609 – royal proclamation of Emperor Rudolf II in which he granted equality of Protestant and Catholic denominations in Silesia: the first example of religious tolerance
1618-1648 – tragedy of the Thirty Years’ War; granting the privilege of religious freedom to Silesian priests; permission to erect the so-called Churches of Peace
1650 – beginning of the Counter-Reformation in Silesia; seizure of existing Protestant churches and passing them on to Catholics
1702 – foundation of the Academy of Theology and Philosophy by the Austrian Emperor Leopold; running of the university was entrusted to the Jesuits
1741 – Silesia is incorporated into the Prussian State
1810 – secularisation (liquidation) of church monasteries and institutions in Silesia at the behest of Prussian king Frederick Wilhelm III
1811 – transformation of the Leopoldine Academy into the State Royal University of Wrocław
1821 – Pope Pius VII subordinated the Diocese of Wrocław directly to the Holy See
1895 – opening of a new main building for the seminary on Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław
1929 – elevation of the Bishopric of Wrocław to the dignity of an Archdiocese and the creation of a new metropolis with its seat in Wrocław
1942 – Edyta Stein, philosopher and nun from Wrocław (canonized in Rome in 1988), was murdered in the Nazi Concentration Camp in Auschwitz (now Oświęcim).
1945 – Silesia together with its capital Wrocław was incorporated into the Polish state after the end of World War II; death of the last German bishop of Wrocław, Cardinal Adolf Bertram; establishment of a new Polish ecclesiastical administration in western and northern lands, including in the area of the Archdiocese of Wrocław
1951 – Primate of Poland Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński dedicated Wrocław cathedral, rebuilt after the destruction of the war.
1956 – Bolesław Kominek assumed the management of the Diocese of Wrocław: the first post-war Polish bishop in Wrocław
1976 – ingress to the cathedral of the new diocesan bishop Henryk Gulbinowicz
1983 – first visit of Pope John Paul II to Wrocław; first issue of the Lower Silesian Catholic magazine „Nowe Życie”/”New Life” was published
1989/1990 – first European Youth Meeting in Wrocław organised by the Taizé community
1992 – Pope John Paul II divided the Diocese of Wrocław and formed the Diocese of Legnica
1993 – Year of Jadwiga in Silesia to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the death of St Jadwiga
1995/1996 – second European Youth Meeting in Wrocław organised by the Taizé community
1997 – 46th International Eucharistic Congress took place in Wrocław; second visit of John Paul II to Wrocław and the Pope’s stay in Legnica
2000 – millennium celebrations commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the existence of the Diocese of Wrocław. The most senior representatives of the Polish state with the president at the head and church leaders from across the whole country, headed by the Primate of Poland, Józef Glemp, and the Papal legate, Edmund Szoka
2004 – Pope John Paul II established the Diocese of Świdnica as a result of the second division of the Diocese of Wrocław.
2004 – Bishop Marian Gołębiewski appointed by Pope John Paul II as the new Archbishop of Wrocław
2013 – Pope Francis appoints Bishop Józef Kupny Archbishop of Wrocław
2016/2017 – Year of Jadwiga announced by Archbishop Józef Kupny, metropolitan of Wrocław to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the canonisation of St Jadwiga; numerous scientific, pastoral, cultural and social initiatives related to the continuance of the cult of the first saint of the Diocese of Wrocław
2019 – third European Youth Meeting in Wrocław organised by the Taizé community.
