Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/271

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POMERANIA
225
POMERANIA

Clement XIV, to prevent a schism, yielded to the pressure brought to bear on him and suppressed the Society. As soon as he was sure of success, Pombal made peace with Rome and in June, 1770, admitted a nuncio, but the ecclesiastical system of Portugal remained henceforth a sort of disguised Anglicanism, and many of the evils from which the Church now suffers are a legacy from him.

In the political sphere Pombal's administration was marked by boldness of conception and tenacity of purpose. It differed from the preceding in these particulars: (1) he levelled all classes before the royal authority; (2) he imposed absolute obedience to the law, which was largely decided by himself, because the Cortes had long ceased to meet; (3) he transformed the Inquisition into a mere department of the State. In the economic sphere, impressed by British commercial supremacy, he sought and with success to improve the material condition of Portugal. Nearly all the privileged companies and monopolies he founded ended in financial failure and helped the few rather than the many, yet when the populace of Oporto rose in protest against the Alto Douro Wine Company, they were punished with ruthless severity, as was the fishing village of Trafaria, which was burnt by the minister's orders when it sheltered some unwilling recruits. His methods were the same with all classes. Justice went by the board in face of the reason of state; nevertheless he corrected many abuses in the administration. His activity penetrated every department. His most notable legislative work included the abolition of Indian slavery and of the odious distinction between old and new Christians, a radical reorganization of the finances, the reform of the University of Coimbra, the army and navy, and the foundation of the College of Nobles, the School of Commerce, and the Royal Press. He started various manufactures to render Portugal less dependent on Great Britain and his Chartered Companies had the same object, but he maintained the old political alliance between the two nations, though he took a bolder attitude than previous ministers had dared to do, both as regards England and other countries, and left a full treasury when the death of King Joseph, on 24 Feb., 1777, caused his downfall. He died in retirement, having for years suffered from leprosy and the fear of the punishment he had meted out to others. The Bishop of Coimbra presided at his funeral, while a well-known Benedictine delivered the panegyric. Even to the end Pombal had many admirers among the clergy, and he is regarded by the Portuguese as one of their greatest statesmen and called the great Marquis.

{{fine|Carnota, Marquis de Pombal (London, 1871); da Luz Sovlano, Historia do reinado de el rei D. José (Lisbon, 1867); Gomeb, Le Marquis de Pombal (Lisbon, 1869) : d'Azevedo, Marquez de Pombal e a sua epoca (Lisbon, 1909); Duhr. Pombal, Sein Cha- rakteru. seine Politik (Freiburg, 1891); Colleccdo dos Negocios de Roma no reinado de el Hey Dom Jose I. 3 pts. and supplement (Lisbon, 1874-75) ; The Bismarck of the Eighteenth Century in A m. Cath. Quart. Rev.. II (Philadelphia, 1877), 51; Pombal in Catholic World, XXX (New York), 312; Pombal and the Society of Jesus (London, Sept., 1877), 86.

Edgar Prestage.

Fomerania, a Prussian province on the Baltic Sea situated on both banks of the River Oder, divided into Hither Pomerania (Vorpommern), the western part of the province, and Farther Pomerania (Hinter- pummern), the eastern part. Its area is 11,628 square miles, and it contains 1,684,1345 inhabitants. In the south-east Pomerania is traversed by a range of low hills (highest point fourteen miles), otherwise it is a low plain. Farming and market-gardening take 55-2 per cent of the soil, grass-land 10-2 per cent, pasturage 6-5 per cent, and woodland 20-2 per cent. The chief occupations are farming, cattle-raising, the shipping trade, and fishing. There is no manufacturing of any importance except in and near Stettin. The earliest XII.— 15.


inhabitants were German tribes, among them Gotha, Scirri, Rugians, Lemovier, Burgundians, Semnonians (Tacitus, "Germania"). About the middle of the second century these tribes began to migrate towards the south-east; they were replaced by others who also soon left, and Slavs (Wends), entering from the east, gradually gained possession of the province. Conse- quently the name Pommem is Slavonic, Po more, Po moran signifying "along the sea". Charlemagne compelled the acknowledgment of his suzerainty as far as the Oder, but his successors limited themselves to the defensive. In the reigns of Henry I and Otto the Great, the Wends were again obliged to pay tribute. However, German supremacy remained uncertain and the Danish influence was greater, until the Poles con- quered Pomerania about 995. As suffragan of their new Archdiocese of Gnesen, established in 1000, the Poles founded the Diocese of Kolberg, which, how- ever, existed apparently only in the parchment deed. It is doubtful whether the bishop Reinbern ever stayed at Kolberg; he died about 1015 while on an embassy to Kiev.

In the following era there were wars with varying results between the Poles, Danes, and Germans for the possession of Pomerania. Finally after a long and bloody struggle the Poles were victorious (1122), and Duke Boleslaw earnestly endeavoured to convert the inhabitants to Christianity. The task was given to Bishop Otto of Bamberg who accomplished it during two missionary journeys. At this period appears the name of the first well known Duke of Pomerania, Wratislaw. Otto had the supervision of the Pome- ranian Church until his death, but could not found a diocese to which to appoint the chaplain Adalbert. After Otto's death. Innocent II by a Bull of 14 Oct., 1140, made the church of St. Adalbert at Julin on the Island of WoUin the see of the diocese, and Adalbert was consecrated bishop at Rome. The difficulty as to which archdiocese was to be the metropolitan of the new bishopric was evaded by placing it directly under the papal see. Duke Ratibor of Pomerania founded the first monasteries: in 1153 a Benedictine abbey at Stolp, and later a Premonstratensian abbey at Grobe on the island of Usedom. Before 1176 the see was transferred to Kammin, where a cathedral chapter was founded for the Cathedral of St. John. The western part of the country belonged to the Diocese of Schwerin. The founding of the Cistercian monasteries at Dargun (1172) and at Kolbatz east of the Oder (1173) were events of much importance. The Cister- cians greatly promoted the development of religion and civilization by engaging in agricultural under- takings of all kinds. About 1179 the Premonstra- tensians obtained a new monastery at Gramzow near Prenzlau, and in 1180 at Belbuk in Farther Pome- rania. In 1181 Duke Bogislaw received his lands in fief from Emperor Frederick I, and thus became a prince of the German Empire. This was followed by a large immigration of Germans.

The ecclesiastical organization also progressed. Cis- tercian monasteries were established at: Eldena (c. 1207); Neuenkamp (c. 1231); of the latter a branch on the Island of Hiddensee (1296); Bukow (c. 1253); Bergen on the island of Rugen (1193); near Stettin (1243); at Marienfliess (1248); near Kolberg (1277); near Koslin (1277); at Wollin (1288). A Premon- stratensian convent was founded near Treptow on the Rega (1224). The Augustinians had monasteries at: Uckermtinde (1260), later transferred to Jasenitz; Pyritz (c. 1255); Anklam (1304); Stargard (1306); Gartz (1308). The Franciscans had foundations at: Stettin (1240); Greifswald (1242); Prenzlau (before 1253); Stralsund (1254); Pyritz (before 1286); Greifenberg (before 1290); Dramburg (after 1350); the Dominicans at: Kammin (about 1228); Stral- sund (1251); Greifswald (1254); Stolp (1278); Paso- walk (1272); Prenzlau (1275); Soldin (about 1289);