lAVAHT
49
ULVJJIT
TMchereau, Mgr M. E. M^thot, Mgr T. E. Hame!,
Mgr J. C. K. Laflamme, Mgr O. E. Mathieu, and Abb6
A. Gosselin. Di^ring 190^-09 four hundred and
twenty-one students attended the various faculties,
while the number who followed the courses at Mon-
treal was much larger.
O. E. Mathieu.
Lavant (Lavantina), an Austrian bishopric in the southern part of Stjrriai suffragan of Salzburg. The orig^inal seat of the bishopric lay in the eastern part of Carinthia in the valley of the Lavant. It was here that Ebeihard 11, Archbishop of Salzbiu^, estab- lished, 20 Aug., 1212, at St. Anar&, with the consent of Pope Innocent III and Emperor Frederick II, a col- Iwate chapter, the canons of which followed the Rule oTSt. Augustine; its members were chosen from the cathedral chapter of Salzburg. On account of the great remoteness and the difficulty of travelling, the archbishop, about the year 1223. asked Pope Hon- orius III to allow Jbim to found a oishopric at St. An- di&. After the pope had had the archbishop's re- quest examined bv commissioners, and had given his consent, Eberhard drew up the deed of foundation, 10 May, 1228, wherein he secured the possession of the episcopal chair for himself and his successors in per- petuity. He named as first bishop his court chaplain ulrich, who had formerly been priest of Haus, in Styria (d. 1257).
In the deed of foundation of the new bishopric, no boundaries were defined. In a deed of Arcnbishop Frederick II of Salzburg of 1280, seventeen parishes, situated partlv in Carinuiia and partly in Styria, were describea as oelonging to Lavant; the extent ef the diocese was rather smiul, but the bishops also attended to the office of vicar-general of the Archbishops of Salzburg for some scattered districts; they also fre- quently attended to the office of Vicedom (bishop's aeputy in secular affairs) at Friesach. The tenth biuiop. Dietrich Wolfhauer (1318-32), is mentioned in deeos as Uie first prince-bishop; he was also secre- tary of Frederick III the Handsome, of Austria, and was present at the battle of MOhldorf in 1322. Since the twenty-second bishop, Theobald Schweinbeck (1446-63), the bishops have borne without intermis- sion the title of prmce. The following prominent bishops deserve special mention: the humanist Johann I von Rott (1468-82), died as Prince-Bishop of Bres- lau; Geoig II Agrikola (1570-84), who after 1572 was also at the same time Bishop of Seckau; Georg III Stob&us von Palmbuig (1584-1618), a worthy pro- motor of the Counter-Reformation; Maximilian (Ran- dolph Freiherr von Kienbuig (1654-65), did much to- wards increasing the financi^ resources of the diocese.
By the new regulations under Emperor Joseph II, several bishoprics were added to the Diocese of La- vant. Prince-Archbishop Michael Brigido of Laibach in 1788 ceded a number of parishes in the southern part of what is now the Diocese of Lavant; and the district of Volkermarkt, which was afterwards a^ain detached, was added to the bishopric at that time. The present extent of the diocese was brought about by the circumscription of 1 June, 1859. The valley of the Lavant and the district of Volkermarkt in Carin- thia fell to Gurk; in consequence of which the Dis- trict of Marburg was traxisferred from Seckau to Lavant; since then the diocese comprises the whole of aou^em Styria. By the decree of the Congregation of the Consistory of 20 May, 1857, the see of the bishop was removed from St. Andrft to Marburg; the parish church of St. John the Baptist in that place being erected into a cathedral, and the title "of Lavant bdn|( preserved. On 4 Sept., 1859, Bishop Anton Martm. Slomschek (1846-62) made his solemn entry into Marburg. His suocessors, Jakob Maximilian Stepischnegg (1862-89), and Michael Napotmk (since 1889) have shown great zeal for the promotion of the
spiritual life by introducing reli^ous orders and found-
ing educational and chariUible institutions and clubs.
But the most beneficial work done for the religious life
of the diocese was that of the diocesan synods, hejd by
Stepischnegg (1883), and by Napotnik, who followed
his example (1896, 1900, 1903, and 1906).
The bishopric is divided into 24 deaneries, and numbered (1909) 223 parishes, 200 chaplaincies (48 unoccupied), 7 unoccupied offices and benefices, 375 priests engaged in the cure of souls, 39 secular priests and 53 r^udar cleigy in other positions, 37 clergy without office, 675 churches and chapels, and 521,896 souls. The cathedral chapter, which is four-fifths Slovene and one-fifth German, consists of one mitred cathedral provost, one mitred cathedral dean, and five canons. The old cathedral chapter, which was composed of the canons of the Augustinian order, was dissolved in 1808, and its property was assigned to the
- ' Religionsfond founded by Joseph II; in 1825 a new
catliedral chapter was provisionally erected, and defin- itively so in 1847. Besides the actual canons, there are six stiedls for honorary canons (four temporarily va- cant). The council is composed of six advisors; the Srince-bishop is the presiaent. In the theological iocesan college there are eleven lecturers; the epis- copal priests' seminarv numbers (1909) 4 classes, with 42 students; the *'Maximilianum-Viktorinum, an episcopal seminary for boys, 8 classes, with 80 students. Eight clerical teachers taught in 7 state schools.
In the diocese there arc the following establish- ments of religious orders: 1 monastery of Minorites of Sts. Peter and Paul, at Pettau (founded 1 239) , with nine fathers; 4 Franciscan monasteries, with 31 fathers, 23 lay brothers, and 5 clerical novices; 1 Capuchin mon- astery at Cilli (foimded 1611), with 6 fathers, and 4 lay brothers: 2 mission houses of the Fathers of St. Vin- cent de JPaul, with 8 priests, and 10 lay brothers; 1 Trappist abbey, Maria Eriosung, at Heichenburg (founded 1881 by French Trappists), with 21 fathers, and 48 brothers. Orders of women : Sisters of CTiarity of St. Vincent de Paul, 82, in 6 establisliments, who are dedicated to the nursing of the sick; School Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi, 1 mother- house, 14 afl&liated houses, 190 sisters; School Sisters from the mother-house of Algersdorf, Graz, 9, with 1 institution; 1 magdalen asylum, with 17 canonesses, and 15 lay sisters: Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross, 3, with ohe establishment; Sisters of the Teutonic Order, 9, with one hospital; 1 Carmelite Convent of Perpetual Adoration (10 sisters). The School Sisters conduct a training school for female teachers, 1 ly- ceum, 11 girls' schools, 5 boarding-schools, 6 kinder- gartens, 2 orphan asylums, 2 schools of domestic economy, and one home for servant-girls. There are 36 Catholic clubs and confraternities in the diocese, besides 25 associations for the building and adorn- ment of churches.
The most prominent ecclesiastical buildings in the diocese are: the cathedral and parish churcli of St. John the Baptist, at Marburg, which was begun in the middle of the twelfth century as a Romanesque basilica, rebuilt after 1520 in the Gothic style, again restored after the fire in 1601, and once more in 1885; the provostship and parish church of St. Georg, at Pettau, erectea in the Gothic style about 1314; the abbey and parish church of St. Daniel, at Cilli, dates from the middle of the sixteenth century; and the shrine of St. Maria der Wiiste, in the neighbourhood of Marburg (built 1628), in the baroque style.
Tjlnol, Reihe der Biackofe von Lavant (IQacenfurt, 1841): Stepischneoo, Georg 111. Stohiiua von Palmburg, FUrstbuchof von Lavant in Archiv. fQr Kunde osterreichiacher Oeachichlaquel- Un (1856); QeOa et Statuta Synod. dueceMncB, 1896 (Marbuqi, 1807); Die Zweite Didceaansjfnode (Marburg. 1896); Ecclena Lavantinm Synodua diacesana 1905 (^larburs* 1^04); Synod^^* dioBoemna 1906 (Marbuxg. 1907); Ktrchlxchea Verordnungtblatl far die Lavanter Didcese; Permnialaland de» Bistuma Lavant in Steiermark Jur daa Jahr 1909 (Marbuif* 1909).
Joseph Lins.
