DUNIN, MARTIN VON

DUNIN, MARTIN von. - Prelate, b. 11 Nov. at Wat near Rawa (Poland), d. 26 Dec. 1842 at Posnan. Ordained priest in 1797, he was elected administrator of the diocese of Posnan in 1829. Consecrated archbishop in 1831, he came into conflict with the Prussian authorities over the question of mixed marriages, in order to remain faithful to the brief of Pius VIII of 25 March 1830 regulating the matter. The authorities tried in vain to make him abandon his dutiful line of conduct and opened an inquiry against him. D. was sentenced in 1839 to six months’ detention in a fortress, which was commuted to compulsory residence in Berlin. Having nevertheless returned to Posnan for the governance of the diocese in Oct. of the same year, he was arrested and imprisoned in the fortress of Kolberg. Only in Aug. 1840, after the accession of Frederick William IV to the throne, did the archbishop resume the governance of his diocese.