The Bishop of Gurk is the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk, which was established by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg, in 1072, as the first suffragan bishop in the Duchy of Carinthia.[1]
Initially performing only the functions of an archiepiscopal vicar, or auxiliary bishop, the bishops of Gurk did not receive a small episcopal territory until 17 July 1131, when Archbishop Conrad of Salzburg defined the boundaries of the diocese.[2] The bishops of Gurk were elevated to the rank of prince-bishops by Emperor Frederick III on 15 December 1460,[3] however, this title remained honorific and did not involve any immediate statehood.[citation needed] In the course of the Josephinist reforms in 1783, the bishops' see was relocated to the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt and the diocese significantly enlarged.
- ^ Freed 2016, p. 454.
- ^ Jaksch I, pp. 97-103, no. 61.
- ^ Marian Fidler, Geschichte der ganzen österreichischen, weltlichen und klösterlichen Klerisey beyderley Geschlechts ... Aus den Sammlungen ... Josephs Wendt von Wendtenthal (etc.): Das Innerösterreich. (in German), Vol. 3, part 5 (Sonnleithner, 1783), pp. 503-507. Joseph Chmel, Regesta chronologico-diplomatica Friderici III, Romanorum imperatoris. (Regis IV), (in German), (Wien: C. Gerold's Sohn, 1859), p. 384.