Bishop of Turku

The Bishop of Turku (episcopus Aboensis) was the medieval Catholic religious leader of Finland.

Influenced by papal bulls Swedish magnates in the 12th century set up crusadeing expeditions to convert the heathens in the eastern Baltic. This resulted in the establishment of the Catholic Church, the Christian religion and the Swedish conquest of Finland. Turku, or Aboa, Åbo, became the principal city in Finland and residence of a bishopric.

As a result of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century the Catholic Church had to give way for the Lutheran state church which was established by King Gustav I of Sweden, whose principal reformer in Finland was Mikael Agricola and from 1554 also the bishop. See Lutheran Diocese of Turku.

With the creation of the Finnish state at the Diet of Porvoo in 1809, the Bishop of Turku was elevated to the position of the archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, as the Archbishop of Turku.

See also