Wiching

Nitra, Cathedral

Wiching or Viching^[1] was the first bishop of Nitra, in present-day Slovakia, between 880 and 891 AD.^[2] Wiching was originally a Benedictine monk from Swabia. After 874, he served Svatopluk I. From 874 to 879 he worked with John of Venice. At the end of 879 he was appointed first bishop of Great Moravia and in 880 visited the Pope in Rome, who made him Bishop of Nitra. He was known for accusing the Saints Cyril and Methodius of heresy for holding Divine Liturgy in Old Church Slavonic instead of the standard Latin of the Roman Church.^[3] Wiching is to some extent responsible for Czech being in the Roman sphere of Christianity.

Wiching was a counselor for Svätopluk I.^[4] and the only known suffragan of Archbishop Methodius.^[5][6] Wiching was notorious for his disputes with St Methodius. He remained in Rome and wrote to king Svätopluk an allegedly forged letter from the pope, which caused Svätopluk to unseat Methodius. In 881, Methodius learned from the Pope about the letter that he never wrote and made an appeal to the Pope, resulting in Wiching being deposed.^[7]

He died between 900 and 912, likely on September 12. In 885, shortly before the death of Methodius, Wiching left Poland and with the consent of Svatopluk went to Rome, where he falsely accused Methodius to the new Pope, Stephen V who issued papal bull Quia te cabbage fidei forbidding the Slavonic liturgy. During the summer of 885, when the Pope learned of the death of Methodius, he named Wiching once again as bishop of Nitra and, in addition, gave him the title of Ecclesiastical Administrator. Wiching used this position to expel the students of Methodius.^[8] In 891/892, he left Svatopluk to serve Arnulf of Carinthia with whom Svatopluk was having a conflict. Wiching was part of the delegation sent to Svatopluk to negotiate peace. After Arnulf of Carinthia died, and with the fall of Great Moravia, Wiching withdrew from public life.

References

1. "Wiching", Encyklopédia Slovenska
2. Bartl et al. Segeš, pp. 21-22.
3. Melito, C. "The Lives of Ss. Cyril and Methodius". Roman Catholic Church of Ss. Cyril and Methodius. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
4. Wiching. In: Encyklopédia Slovenska
5. WICHING. In: LUTOVSKÝ, Michal. Encyklopedie slovanské archeologie v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku. 1. vyd. (Praha : Libri, 2001.) p365.
6. Wicking.
7. MĚŘÍNSKÝ, Zdeněk. České země od příchodu Slovanů po Velkou Moravu II. 1. vyd. (Praha : Libri, 2006). p550, 711-714.
8. KOVÁČ, Dušan, et al. Kronika Slovenska : od najstarších čias do konca 19. storočia. (Bratislava : Fortuna Print, 1998). p101

Further Reading

• Bartl, Július; Čičaj, Viliam; Kohútova, Mária; Letz, Róbert; Segeš, Vladimír; Škvarna, Dušan (2002). Slovak History: Chronology & Lexicon. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Slovenské Pedegogické Nakladatel'stvo. ISBN 0-86516-444-4.
• Bowlus, Charles R. (1994). Franks, Moravians and Magyars: The Struggle for the Middle Danube, 788–907. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-3276-3.