Oliva
Oliva
A suppressed Cistercian abbey near Danzig in Pomerania, founded with the assistance of the dukes of Pomerania some time between 1170-78. After the extinction of the dukes of Pomerania in 1295, Oliva became part of Poland. From 1309-1466 it was under the sovereignty of the Teutonic Order; from 1466-1772 it again formed part of Poland; from 1772-1807 it belonged to Prussia; from 1807-14 to the free city Danzig. In 1831 it was suppressed; the abbey church, a three-naved brick structure in the Romanesque and Gothic style, became the Catholic parish church of the town of Oliva; and nearly all the other buildings were torn down.
In 1224 and in 1234 the abbey was burnt down and its monks killed by the heathen Prussians; in 1350 it was destroyed by fire; in 1433 it was pillaged and partly torn down by the Hussites; in 1577 it was pillaged and almost entirely destroyed by the Protestant soldiers of Danzig, in 1626 and in 1656 it was pillaged by the Swedes. The monks of Oliva have been powerful factors in the Christianization of north-eastern Germany. The dukes of Pomerania and the Teutonic Order liberally rewarded them with large tracts of land.
When Oliva came under the sovereignty of Poland in 1466, it refused to join the Polish province of Cistercians, because most of its monks were Germans. When about 1500 it asserted its exemptness from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Leslau, the Holy See decided in its favour. Its discipline suffered severely from 1538-1736, because by a degree of the Diet of Petricow only noblemen could be elected abbots, and especially because from 1557-1736 these abbots were appointed by the Polish kings. An impetus to reform was given by Abbot Edmund of Castiglione, who was sent as visitor. He joined Oliva to the Polish Province, and in 1580 drew up new statutes for the two provinces. But under the Prussian rule the king assumed the right of appointing the abbots and a new period of decline began which continued until the suppression.
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Fontes Olivenses, ed. Hirsch in Script. rerum Prussicarum, I (Leipzig, 1861) and V (1874), and by Ketrzynski in Mon. Pol. Hist., VI (Krakow, 1893); Hirsch, Das Kloster Oliva (Danzig, 1850); Kretschmer, Geschischte und Beschreibung der Klöster in Pomerellen: Part I: Die Cistercienser Abtei Oliva (Danzig, 1847); Kemper, Die Inschriften des Klosters Oliva (Neustadt in Westpreussen, 1893).
MICHAEL OTT Transcribed by William D. Neville
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Oliva
a noted Italian Jesuit, who rose to the first dignity in the brotherhood, was descended from a noble family of Genoa, where his grandfather and uncle had been respectively doge of the republic. He was born near the opening of the 17th century. After entering the Jesuitical order he taught for some time, and was so well appreciated that he was given the rectorate of a Jesuit college at Rome. He was an intimate friend of pope Alexander VII, and when general Nickel was deprived of his office, pope Innocent X, also his friend, pointed to Oliva as the proper person for Nickel’s place. The Jesuits made haste to secure Oliva, as they too believed him a chief according to their hearts. In 1664 he was finally elevated to the generalship of the order, and the immense political importance which the society acquired under his government proved that they had made a wise choice (see Nicolini, p. 322). Personally Oliva was not a favorite. He kept himself at a great distance from the inferior brethren of the order, and seldom condescended to give an audience. He spent a great part of his time in the delicious villa near Albano, where he occupied himself with the cultivation of the rarest exotics. When at Rome he retired to-the novitiate of St. Andrea. He never went out on foot. He lived in a most sumptuously and elegantly adorned apartment, enjoying the pleasures of a table furnished with the most select. delicacies. He was only studious of enjoying the position he held, and the power he had obtained. Reserving for his particular attention matters of political importance, he left the affairs of the society to the entire management of subordinate officials. But it must by no means be inferred that Oliva failed to attract notice or to strengthen his order. The political importance which the Jesuits acquired then was due almost wholly to Oliva’s personal efforts. He maintained a correspondence which extended to almost all the monarchs of Europe, in which indeed he showed himself a consummate politician, and deeply engaged in most serious and important affairs. Oliva died in 1681, and was succeeded by Noyelle (q.v.). See Nicolini, Hist. of the Jesuits, p. 320-325; Steinmetz, Hist. of the Jesuits, vol. ii; Ranke, Hist. of the Papacy, 2:247 sq. (J. H.W.)