Prince-Bishop
Encyclopedia
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
who is a territorial Prince of the Church
Prince of the Church
The term Prince of the Church is nowadays used nearly exclusively for Catholic Cardinals. However the term is historically more important as a generic term for clergymen whose offices hold the secular rank and privilege of a prince or are considered its equivalent...
on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office. Thus the principality ruled politically by a prince-bishop could wholly or largely overlap with his diocesan jurisdiction, but not necessarily; several lost their actual see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
(the city itself), which could obtain the status of free imperial city
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
. If the see is an archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
ric, the correct term is prince-archbishop; the equivalent in the regular (monastic) clergy is prince-abbot
Prince-abbot
A Prince-Abbot is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church , in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity, notably a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The secular territory ruled by the head of an abbey is known as Prince-Abbacy or Abbey-principality...
.
In the West, with the decline of imperial power
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
from the 4th century onwards in the face of the barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
invasions, sometimes Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
bishops of cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
took the place of the Roman commander, made secular decisions for the city and led their own troops when necessary. Later relations between a prince-bishop and the burghers
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
were not invariably cordial. As cities demanded charters from emperors, kings, or their prince-bishops and declared themselves independent of the secular territorial magnates, friction intensified between burghers and bishops.
In the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, the still autocratic Emperors passed general legal measures assigning all bishops certain rights and duties in the secular administration of their dioceses, but that was part of a caesaropapist
Caesaropapism
Caesaropapism is the idea of combining the power of secular government with, or making it superior to, the spiritual authority of the Church; especially concerning the connection of the Church with government. The term caesaropapism was coined by Max Weber, who defined it as follows: “a secular,...
development putting the Eastern Church
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
in the service of the Empire, with its Ecumenical Patriarch almost reduced to the Emperor's minister of religious affairs. The Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
went even further, abolishing its own patriarchy and placing the church under direct control of the secular government.
The German term Hochstift
Hochstift
In the Holy Roman Empire the German term Hochstift was often used to denote the form of secular authority held by bishops ruling a prince-bishopric....
was often used to denote the form of secular authority held by bishops ruling a prince-bishopric with Erzstift being used for prince-archbishoprics.
Holy Roman Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
frequently as the clerical member of a duo of envoys styled Missus dominicus
Missus dominicus
A missus dominicus , Latin for "envoy[s] of the lord [ruler]", also known in Dutch as Zendgraaf , meaning "sent Graf", was an official commissioned by the Frankish king or Holy Roman Emperor to supervise the administration, mainly of justice, in parts of his dominions too far for frequent personal...
, but that was an individual mandate, not attached to the see.
Prince-bishoprics were most common in the feudally fragmented Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, where many were formally awarded the rank of Reichsfürst ("Prince of the Empire"), granting them representation in the Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
(imperial Diet). The Germanic tribes inside the Empire had strong and powerful duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
s (originally, war-rulers), always more looking out for their duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
's "national interest
National interest
The national interest, often referred to by the French expression raison d'État , is a country's goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. The concept is an important one in international relations where pursuit of the national interest is the foundation of the realist...
" than for the Empire's. So King Henry the Fowler and more so his son, Emperor Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
, had the idea to weaken the power of the dukes. Dukes could not give their title to their sons nor could the tribes name the duke. Only the Emperor could name dukes. So the Emperor gave major duchies to the most important (arch)bishops, who were already inside a transnational institution, the Catholic Church. The duchy attached to the see then became a prince-diocese or bishopric ("Fürstbistum").
They were finally dissolved in most countries by Napoleon Bonaparte, with the downfall of the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
in 1806. However in some countries outside of French
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
control, such as Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
the institution continued, and in some cases was revived; a new, titular type arose.
No less than three of the (originally only seven) prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
s, the highest order of Reichsfürsten (comparable in rank with the French pairs
Pairie
The French word pairie is the equivalent of the English word peerage, in the sense of an individual title carrying the rank of Pair , which derives from the Latin par 'equal', and signifies the members of an exclusive body of noblemen and prelates, considered to be the highest social order -not...
), were prince-archbishops, each holding the title of Archchancellor
Archchancellor
An archchancellor or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the work of chancellors or notaries....
(the only archoffice amongst them) for a part of the Empire; given the higher importance of an electorate, their principalities were known as Kurfürstentum ('electoral principality') rather than prince-archbishoprics:
| Arms | Name | Rank | Local name(s) | Imperial Circle Imperial Circle An Imperial Circle comprised a regional grouping of territories of the Holy Roman Empire, primarily for the purpose of organizing a common defensive structure and of collecting the imperial taxes, but also as a means of organization within the Imperial Diet and the Imperial Chamber Court.Each... |
Modern nation |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cologne | Archbishopric Electorate | Electoral Rhenish Electoral Rhenish Circle The Electoral Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle derived its name from four of the seven prince-electors whose lands along the Middle Rhine comprised the vast majority of its territory.... |
Prince-elector Prince-elector The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an... and Arch-Chancellor of Italy Kingdom of Italy (medieval) The Kingdom of Italy was a political entity under control of Carolingian dynasty of Francia first, after the defeat of the Lombards in 774. It was finally incorporated as a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 962.... . |
|||
| Mainz Archbishopric of Mainz The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps... |
Archbishopric Electorate | Electoral Rhenish Electoral Rhenish Circle The Electoral Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle derived its name from four of the seven prince-electors whose lands along the Middle Rhine comprised the vast majority of its territory.... |
Prince-elector Prince-elector The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an... and Arch-Chancellor of Germany Kingdom of Germany The Kingdom of Germany developed out of the eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire.... . |
|||
| Trier Archbishopric of Trier The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th... |
Archbishopric Electorate | |
Electoral Rhenish Electoral Rhenish Circle The Electoral Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle derived its name from four of the seven prince-electors whose lands along the Middle Rhine comprised the vast majority of its territory.... |
Prince-elector Prince-elector The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an... and Arch-Chancellor of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very... . |
||
 |
Aquileia Patriarchate of Aquileia (State) The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an Imperial State in the Friulian region of Northeastern Italy under the control of the Patriarchs of Aquileia.- Foundation :... |
Patriarchate | |
None | Incorporated by Venice Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in... after the 1445 Council of Florence Council of Florence The Council of Florence was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It began in 1431 in Basel, Switzerland, and became known as the Council of Ferrara after its transfer to Ferrara was decreed by Pope Eugene IV, to convene in 1438... |
|
| Augsburg Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg The Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg was one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, which belonged to the Swabian Circle.-Early period:... |
Bishopric | Swabian Swabian Circle The Swabian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former German stem-duchy of Swabia. However, it did not include the Habsburg home territories of Swabian Austria, the member states of the Swiss Confederacy nor the lands of the Alsace... |
||||
| Bamberg Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg The Bishopric of Bamberg was established in 1007, to further expand the spread of Christianity in Germany. The ecclesiastical state was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from about 1245 until it was subsumed to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1802... |
Bishopric | Franconian Franconian Circle The Franconian Circle was an Imperial Circle established in 1500 in the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the eastern part of the former Franconian stem duchy — roughly corresponding with the present-day Bavarian Regierungsbezirke of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia — while western... |
||||
| Basel Bishopric of Basel The Diocese of Basel is a Roman Catholic diocese in Switzerland .Historically, the bishops of Basel were also secular rulers of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel .... |
Bishopric | |
Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
|
A tiny fraction of the bishopric is not now in Switzerland: Schliengen Schliengen Schliengen is a town in southwestern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the Kreis of Lörrach. Schliengen's claim to international fame is the Battle of Schliengen, fought between forces of the French Revolutionary army under Jean-Victor Moreau and the Austrian army under Karl von... and Istein are both now in Germany; a very small part of the Vogtei of St Ursanne Saint-Ursanne Saint Ursanne is a city and a former municipality of the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura, Switzerland which has preserved its medieval character. The city contains many historical curiosities, including collegiate churches, a cloister, ruins of a castle, and a hermitage... is now in France. |
|
 |
Besançon | Archbishopric | |
None | The archbishops had been rulers over Besançon Besançon Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008... , an Imperial city Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops... from 1307, which in 1512 joined the Burgundian Circle Burgundian Circle The Burgundian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1512 and significantly enlarged in 1548. In addition to the Free County of Burgundy , the circle roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e... . |
|
| Brandenburg | Bishopric | Upper Saxon Upper Saxon Circle The Upper Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg. It further comprised the Saxon Ernestine duchies and Pomerania... |
Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1520, securalized to the Margraviate of Brandenburg Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.... in 1571 |
|||
| Bremen | Archbishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1566 until 1645/1648. | |||
| |
Brescia Bishopric of Brescia The Diocese of Brescia is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy. The diocese is suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan, also in Lombardy... |
Bishopric | None | |||
| Breslau | Bishopric | Silesian German Silesian German Silesian German language , is a German dialect/language spoken in Silesia. Today, the area is mainly in southwestern Poland, but as well as in northeastern Czech Republic and in eastern Germany... : |
None | In 1344 Bishop Przecław of Breslau (present-day Wrocław) bought the town of Grottkau (Grodków Grodków Grodków is a town in Opole Voivodeship in Poland. It has 8,709 inhabitants and lies 20 km south of Brzeg.Grodków was granted city rights in 1268 by Duke Henryk IV Probus. The medieval city plan was characterized by a rectangular marketplace and four streets leading to the towers of the city... ) from the Silesian Duchy of Silesia The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Duchies of Silesia. In 1327 the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies... duke Bolesław III the Generous and added it to the episcopal Duchy of Neisse Duchy of Nysa The Duchy of Nysa , or Duchy of Neisse was one of the duchies of Silesia with its capital at Nysa in Lower Silesia. Alongside the Duchy of Siewierz, it was the only ecclesiastical duchy in the Silesian region, as it was ruled by a bishop of the Catholic Church... (Nysa Nysa, Poland Nysa is a town in southwestern Poland on the Nysa Kłodzka river with 47,545 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Nysa County. It comprises the urban portion of the surrounding Gmina Nysa, a mixed urban-rural commune with a total population of 60,123 inhabitants... ), becoming Prince of Neisse and Duke of Grottkau as a vassal to the Bohemian Crown Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown , also called the Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas or simply the Bohemian Crown or Czech Crown lands , refers to the area connected by feudal relations under the joint rule of the Bohemian kings... . |
||
| Brixen Bishopric of Brixen The Bishopric of Brixen is a former Roman Catholic diocese and also a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present province of South Tyrol. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers... |
Bishopric | Austrian Austrian Circle The Austrian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the four Imperial Circles created in 1512, 12 years after the original Reichsreform created six Circles.... |
Secularised German Mediatisation The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era.... to Tyrol County of Tyrol The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary... in 1803. |
|||
| Cambrai | Bishopric, then Archbishopric | |
Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | To France Early Modern France Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century... by 1678 Peace of Nijmegen Treaties of Nijmegen The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and December 1679... |
||
| Cammin | Bishopric | |
Upper Saxon Upper Saxon Circle The Upper Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg. It further comprised the Saxon Ernestine duchies and Pomerania... |
Lost Reichsfreiheit to Duchy of Pomerania Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania .... in 1544, securalized in 1650, to Brandenburg Province of Pomerania Province of Pomerania (1653–1815) The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province... |
||
| Chur | Bishopric | Austrian Austrian Circle The Austrian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the four Imperial Circles created in 1512, 12 years after the original Reichsreform created six Circles.... |
||||
| Constance Bishopric of Constance The Bishopric of Constance was a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from about 585 until 1821. Its seat was Konstanz at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany... |
Bishopric | Swabian Swabian Circle The Swabian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former German stem-duchy of Swabia. However, it did not include the Habsburg home territories of Swabian Austria, the member states of the Swiss Confederacy nor the lands of the Alsace... |
|
|||
| Eichstätt | Bishopric | Franconian Franconian Circle The Franconian Circle was an Imperial Circle established in 1500 in the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the eastern part of the former Franconian stem duchy — roughly corresponding with the present-day Bavarian Regierungsbezirke of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia — while western... |
||||
| Freising Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany. It is led by the prelature of the Archbishop of Munich, who administers the see from the mother church in Munich, the Frauenkirche, also known as Munich Cathedral... |
Bishopric | Bavarian Bavarian Circle The Bavarian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.The most significant state by far in the circle was the Duchy of Bavaria , with the states of the Upper Palatinate, the Archbishopric of Salzburg, and the imperial city of Regensburg having a secondary importance.- Composition... |
|
|||
| Fulda Fulda monastery The monastery of Fulda was a Benedictine abbey in Fulda, in the present-day German state of Hesse. It was founded in 12 March, 744 by Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface, and became an eminent center of learning with a renowned scriptorium, and the predecessor of the Fulda... |
Abbey, then Bishopric | Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
Imperial Abbey until 5 October 1752, when it was raised to a bishopric. Secularised in 1802 in the German Mediatisation German Mediatisation The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era.... |
|||
| Geneva | Bishopric | |
Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
|
||
| Gurk Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk is a diocese comprising the Austrian state of Carinthia and is part of the Ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. Due to the presence of Carinthian Slovenes the Slovenian language is, together with Latin and German, the language of the liturgy in the Southern parts... |
Bishopric | None | Part of Carinthia Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies.... , bishops claimed title, but never held any reichsfrei territory. |
|||
| Halberstadt Bishopric of Halberstadt The Bishopric of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese from 804 until 1648 and an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire from the late Middle Ages... |
Bishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
||||
| Havelberg Bishopric of Havelberg The Bishopric of Havelberg was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I, King of the Germans, in 946. The diocese was suffragan to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Its most famous bishop was Anselm of Havelberg. Its seat was in Havelberg in the Northern March and it roughly covered the... |
Bishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1548 until 1598 | |||
| Hildesheim Bishopric of Hildesheim The Diocese of Hildesheim is a diocese or ecclesiastical territory of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Germany. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheims, Ebbo, as bishop... |
Bishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
||||
| Lausanne Bishop of Lausanne The Bishop of Lausanne was a Prince-Bishop of the Holy Roman Empire and the Ordinary of the diocese of Lausanne, Switzerland .Bern secularized the bishopric in 1536.... |
Bishopric | |
None | Conquered by the Swiss Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland.... city canton of Bern in 1536. |
||
| Lavant Lavant Lavant was a prince-bishopric, suffragan of the Prince-archbishop of Salzburg, then in the southern part of imperial Austria's Styria. Later the area was re-assigned to presentday Slovenia. It became the Slovenian bishopric of Maribor, a suffragan of the Archbishop of Ljubljana, on 5 March 1962... |
Bishopric | |
None | |
Part of Carinthia and Styria Duchy of Styria The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present... , bishops since 1446 claimed title, but never held any reichsfrei territory. |
|
| Lebus Bishopric of Lebus The Bishopric of Lebus was a Roman Catholic diocese and later an ecclesiastical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed from 1125 until 1598... |
Bishopric | |
None | |
Seated in Fürstenwalde since 1385; Reichsfreiheit challenged by Brandenburg Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.... , continued by Hohenzollern House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near... Lutheran administrators after Protestant Reformation in 1555 until secularisation 1598. |
|
| Liège | Bishopric | |
Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | |
||
| Lübeck Bishopric of Lübeck The Bishopric of Lübeck was a Roman-Catholic and, later, Protestant diocese, as well as a state of the Holy Roman Empire.-History: The original diocese was founded about 970 by Emperor Otto I in the Billung March at Oldenburg in Holstein , the former capital of the pagan Wagri tribe... |
Bishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
Seated in Eutin Eutin Eutin is the district capital of Eastern Holstein located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2005, it had some 17,000 inhabitants.... since the 1270s; Reformation started in 1535, continued by Lutheran administrators since 1586 until secularisation in 1803. |
|||
| Magdeburg Archbishopric of Magdeburg The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese and Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River.... |
Archbishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
Continued by Lutheran administrators between 1566 and 1631, and again since 1638 until 1680. | |||
| Merseburg Bishopric of Merseburg The Bishopric of Merseburg was a episcopal see on the eastern border of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony with its centre in Merseburg, where Merseburg Cathedral was constructed... |
Bishopric | None | ||||
 |
Metz Bishopric of Metz The Bishopric of Metz was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the Three Bishoprics that were annexed by France in 1552.... |
Bishopric | |
Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
One of the Three Bishoprics Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-Revolutionary France consisting of the prince-bishoprics of Verdun, Metz, and Toul within the Lorraine region.... ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord Treaty of Chambord The Treaty of Chambord was an agreement signed on 15 January 1552 at the Château de Chambord between the Catholic King Henry II of France and three Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by Elector Maurice of Saxony. Based on the terms of the treaty, Maurice ceded the vicariate over the... . |
|
| Minden Bishopric of Minden The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:... |
Bishopric | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | ||||
| Münster | Bishopric | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | ||||
| Naumburg | Bishopric | Under guardianship of Meissen from 1259, administrated by Saxony Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356... from 1564. |
||||
| Olomouc Olomouc Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic... |
Bishopric | |
None | The Czech bishopric (later Metropolitan) of Olomouc Olomouc Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic... , as a vassal principality of the Bohemian crown Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown , also called the Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas or simply the Bohemian Crown or Czech Crown lands , refers to the area connected by feudal relations under the joint rule of the Bohemian kings... , was the peer of the margraviate of Moravia, and from 1365 its prince-bishop was 'Count of the Bohemian Chapel', i.e. first court chaplain, who was to accompany the monarch on his frequent travels. |
||
| Osnabrück Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück was a prince-bishopric centred on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück. The diocese was erected in 772 and is the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony.... |
Bishopric | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Alternated between Catholic and Protestant incumbents after the Thirty Years' War Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history.... , secularised in 1802/1803 |
|||
| Paderborn Prince Bishopric of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn, was a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1281 from the borders of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paderborn, and lasted until 1802 with the arrival of Napoleon, and the dissolution of the HRE.-History:In 1180 when the Duchy of Saxony... |
Bishopric | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | ||||
| Passau | Bishopric | Bavarian Bavarian Circle The Bavarian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.The most significant state by far in the circle was the Duchy of Bavaria , with the states of the Upper Palatinate, the Archbishopric of Salzburg, and the imperial city of Regensburg having a secondary importance.- Composition... |
|
|||
| Ratzeburg Bishopric of Ratzeburg The Bishopric of Ratzeburg , centered on Ratzeburg in Northern Germany, was originally a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Hamburg, which transformed into the Archdiocese of Bremen in 1072.- History :... |
Bishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
||||
| Regensburg Bishopric of Regensburg The Bishopric of Regensburg was a small prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, located in what is now southern Germany. It was elevated to the Archbishopric of Regensburg in 1803 after the dissolution of the Archbishopric of Mainz, but became a bishopric again in 1817.-History:The diocese... |
Bishopric | Bavarian Bavarian Circle The Bavarian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.The most significant state by far in the circle was the Duchy of Bavaria , with the states of the Upper Palatinate, the Archbishopric of Salzburg, and the imperial city of Regensburg having a secondary importance.- Composition... |
||||
| Salzburg Archbishopric of Salzburg The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire, its territory roughly congruent with the present-day Austrian state of Salzburg.... |
Archbishopric | Bavarian Bavarian Circle The Bavarian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.The most significant state by far in the circle was the Duchy of Bavaria , with the states of the Upper Palatinate, the Archbishopric of Salzburg, and the imperial city of Regensburg having a secondary importance.- Composition... |
Raised to an electorate in 1803, but simultaneously secularised; see Electorate of Salzburg Electorate of Salzburg The Electorate of Salzburg , occasionally known as the Grand Duchy of Salzburg, was an electoral principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803–05. Its capital was Salzburg.- History :... . Since 1648, the archbishop has also borne the title , First [Bishop] of Germania. The powers of this title – non-jurisdictional – are limited to being the Pope's first correspondent in the German-speaking world, but used to include the right to preside over the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire Princes of the Holy Roman Empire The term Prince of the Holy Roman Empire denoted a secular or ecclesiastical Imperial State, who ruled over an immediate fief directly assigned by the Holy Roman Emperor... . |
|||
| Schwerin | Bishopric | Lower Saxon Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An... |
||||
| Seckau | Bishopric | None | ? |
Whilst the bishop was known as , it is unclear whether the bishopric held any Reichsfrei territory. | ||
| Sion | Bishopric | |
None | A classic example of unified secular and diocesan authority | ||
| Speyer Bishopric of Speyer The Bishopric of Speyer was a state, ruled by Prince-Bishops, in what is today the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was secularized in 1803... |
Bishopric | Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
||||
| Strasbourg | Bishopric | |
Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
|
||
 |
Toul | Bishopric | |
Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
One of the Three Bishoprics Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-Revolutionary France consisting of the prince-bishoprics of Verdun, Metz, and Toul within the Lorraine region.... ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord Treaty of Chambord The Treaty of Chambord was an agreement signed on 15 January 1552 at the Château de Chambord between the Catholic King Henry II of France and three Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by Elector Maurice of Saxony. Based on the terms of the treaty, Maurice ceded the vicariate over the... . |
|
| Trent Bishopric of Trent The Bishopric of Trent is a former ecclesiastical territory roughly corresponding to the present-day Northern Italian autonomous province of Trentino. It was created in 1027 and existed until 1802, when it was secularised and absorbed into the County of Tyrol held by the House of Habsburg... |
Bishopric | Austrian Circle Austrian Circle The Austrian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the four Imperial Circles created in 1512, 12 years after the original Reichsreform created six Circles.... |
Secularised German Mediatisation The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era.... to Tyrol County of Tyrol The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary... in 1803. |
|||
| Utrecht | Bishopric | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Sold to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As... , after which it was moved to the Burgundian Circle Burgundian Circle The Burgundian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1512 and significantly enlarged in 1548. In addition to the Free County of Burgundy , the circle roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e... |
|||
| Verden | Bishopric | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation until 1645/1648 | |||
 |
Verdun Bishopric of Verdun The Bishopric of Verdun was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire; it was located at the western edge of the Empire and was bordered by France, the Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Duchy of Bar. It was annexed to France in 1552; this was recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Westphalia of... |
Bishopric | |
Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
One of the Three Bishoprics Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-Revolutionary France consisting of the prince-bishoprics of Verdun, Metz, and Toul within the Lorraine region.... ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord Treaty of Chambord The Treaty of Chambord was an agreement signed on 15 January 1552 at the Château de Chambord between the Catholic King Henry II of France and three Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by Elector Maurice of Saxony. Based on the terms of the treaty, Maurice ceded the vicariate over the... . |
|
| Worms Bishopric of Worms The Bishopric of Worms was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times... |
Bishopric | Upper Rhenish Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy.... |
||||
| Würzburg Bishopric of Würzburg The Bishopric of Würzburg was a prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, Germany. Würzburg was a diocese from 743. In the 18th century, its bishop was often also Bishop of Bamberg... |
Bishopric | Franconian Franconian Circle The Franconian Circle was an Imperial Circle established in 1500 in the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the eastern part of the former Franconian stem duchy — roughly corresponding with the present-day Bavarian Regierungsbezirke of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia — while western... |
Held the Franconia Franconia Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken... n ducal title awarded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term... |
State of the Teutonic Order
Upon the incorporation of the Livonian Brothers of the SwordLivonian Brothers of the Sword
The Livonian Brothers of the Sword were a military order founded by Bishop Albert of Riga in 1202. Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204. The membership of the order comprised German "warrior monks"...
in 1237, the territory of the Order's State largely corresponded with the Diocese of Riga. Bishop Albert of Riga in 1207 had received the lands of Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
as an Imperial fief from the hands of German king Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia was king of Germany and duke of Swabia, the rival of the emperor Otto IV.-Biography:Philip was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Frederick I and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, daughter of Renaud III, count of Burgundy, and brother of the emperor Henry VI...
, he however had to come to terms with the Brothers of the Sword. At the behest of Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
the Terra Mariana confederation was established, whereby Albert had to cede large parts of the episcopal territory to the Livonian Order
Livonian Order
The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...
. Albert proceeded tactically in the conflict between the Papacy and Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
: in 1225 he reached the acknowledgement of his status as a Prince-Bishop of the Empire, though the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
insisted on the fact, that the Christianized Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
territories were solely under the suzerainty of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. By the 1234 Bull of Rieti, Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
stated, that all lands acquired by the Teutonic Knights were no subject of any conveyancing
Conveyancing
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien....
by the Emperor.
Within this larger conflict, the continued dualism of the autonomous Riga Prince-Bishop and the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
led to a lengthy friction. About 1245 the Papal legate William of Modena
William of Modena
William of Modena , also known as William of Sabina, Guglielmo de Chartreaux, Guglielmo de Savoy, Guillelmus, was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat. He was frequently appointed a legate, or papal ambassador by the popes Honorius III and Gregory IX, especially in Livonia in the 1220s and in...
reached a compromise: Though incorporated into the Order's State, the archdiocese and its suffragan bishoprics were acknowledged with their autonomous ecclesiastical territories by the Teutonic Knights. The bishops pursued the conferment of the Princely title by the Holy Roman Emperor to stress their sovereignty. In the original Prussian
Prussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...
lands of the Teutonic Order, Willam of Modena established the suffragan bishoprics of Culm, Pomesania
Bishopric of Pomesania
The Bishopric of Pomesania was a diocese in the Prussian regions of Pomesania and Pogesania. It was founded as a Roman Catholic diocese in 1243 by the papal legate William of Modena. The bishops, whose seat was Riesenburg , possessed one-third of the bishopric's territory...
, Samland
Bishopric of Samland
The Bishopric of Samland was a bishopric in Samland in medieval Prussia. It was founded as a Roman Catholic diocese in 1243 by papal legate William of Modena. Its seat was Königsberg, until 1523 the episcopal residence was in Fischhausen. The bishopric became Lutheran in the 16th century during...
and Warmia. From the late 13th century onwards, the appointed Warmia bishops were no longer members of the Teutonic Knights, a special status confirmed by the bestowal of the Princely title by Emperor Charles IV
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
in 1356.
| Arms | Name | Rank | Local name(s) | Territory | Modern nation |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Courland Bishopric of Courland The Bishopric of Courland was the second smallest ecclesiastical state in the Livonian Confederation founded in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade... |
Bishopric | |
Terra Mariana | Established about 1234, the smallest of the Livonian dioceses. Secularised in 1559 and occupied by Prince Magnus of Denmark. From 1585 under the suzerainty of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, part of the Duchy of Livonia Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth — that existed from 1561 to 1621... . To Russia Russian Empire The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union... in the 1795 Third Partition of Poland Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland or Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1795 as the third and last of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Background:... . |
|
| Dorpat Bishopric of Dorpat The Bishopric of Dorpat was a medieval principality and a catholic diocese which existed from 1224 to 1558, generally encompassing what are now Tartu, Põlva, Võru and Jõgeva counties in Estonia. The Bishopric was part of Livonian Confederation... |
Bishopric | |
Terra Mariana | Bishop Hermann Hermann of Dorpat Hermann of Dorpat was the first Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Dorpat within the Livonian Confederation.... , appointed by his brother Bishop Albert of Riga, received the title of a Prince-bishop by King Henry VII of Germany Henry (VII) of Germany Henry was King of Sicily from 1212, Duke of Swabia from 1216, and King of Germany from 1220. He was the son and co-king of Emperor Frederick II and elder brother of Conrad IV of Germany... in 1225. Dorpat remained a suffragan diocese Suffragan Diocese A suffragan diocese is a diocese in the Catholic Church that is overseen not only by its own diocesan bishop but also by a metropolitan bishop. The metropolitan is always an archbishop who governs his own archdiocese... of Riga. Dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led... in 1558. |
||
| |
Ösel-Wiek Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek The Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek was a semi-independent Roman Catholic prince-bishopric in what is now Saare, Hiiu and Lääne counties of Estonia.The bishopric was created as a state of Holy Roman Empire on 1 October 1228, by Henry, King of the Romans... |
Bishopric | |
Terra Mariana | Established on Saaremaa Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2,673 km². The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago... island in 1228 under Bishop Gottfried, appointed by Bishop Albert of Riga, vested with the title of a Prince-bishop by King Henry VII of Germany Henry (VII) of Germany Henry was King of Sicily from 1212, Duke of Swabia from 1216, and King of Germany from 1220. He was the son and co-king of Emperor Frederick II and elder brother of Conrad IV of Germany... . It remained a suffragan diocese Suffragan Diocese A suffragan diocese is a diocese in the Catholic Church that is overseen not only by its own diocesan bishop but also by a metropolitan bishop. The metropolitan is always an archbishop who governs his own archdiocese... of Riga. Dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led... in 1559. |
|
| Riga | Archbishopric | |
Terra Mariana | Episcopal see at Üxküll Ikškile Ikšķile is a town in Latvia, the administrative centre of Ikšķile municipality. It was the first capital of the catholic bishopric of Livonia, known by the German name of Üxküll. Saint Meinhard, known from the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, was the first bishop of Üxküll. In 1197 Berthold of... 1186–1202. In 1225 Albert of Riga received the title of a Prince-bishop of Livonia Livonia Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida... by Emperor Frederick II Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous... . Last Archbishop William of Brandenburg William of Brandenburg Wilhelm von Brandenburg was the Archbishop of Riga from 1539 to 1561.A member of the House of Hohenzollern, Wilhelm was the son of Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the brother of Albert, Duke of Prussia, and the grandson of Albert III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg and Casimir IV... resigned in 1561 during the Livonian War Livonian War The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,... , territory fell to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, to Sweden Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"... in 1621. |
||
| Warmia | Bishopric | |
Prussia Prussia (region) Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania... |
Established by Papal legate William of Modena William of Modena William of Modena , also known as William of Sabina, Guglielmo de Chartreaux, Guglielmo de Savoy, Guillelmus, was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat. He was frequently appointed a legate, or papal ambassador by the popes Honorius III and Gregory IX, especially in Livonia in the 1220s and in... in 1243, Princely title documented in the Golden Bull of 1356 Golden Bull of 1356 The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Reichstag assembly in Nuremberg headed by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire... . Incorporated into the Jagiellon kingdom of Poland Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty is the period in the history of Poland that spans the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila , the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish–Lithuanian union... in 1466 and re-established as an autonomous Prince-bishopric under the Polish crown in 1479. Abolished in the course of the Prussian Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire... annexation in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland or First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the... . |
In Montenegro
The bishops of CetinjeEparchy of Cetinje
The Eparchy of Cetinje was an ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the western Montenegro and Stara Zeta. It is mostly situated between Bjelopavlići and Podgorica to the Bojana River while the eparchy also include a small part of Herzegovina The seat of the...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, who took the place of the earlier secular (Grand) Voivodes in 1516 had a unique position of Slavonic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
, Orthodox prince-bishops of Montenegro under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
suzerainty. They actually became the secularized, hereditary princes and ultimately Kings of Montenegro in 1852, as reflected in their styles:
- first Vladika i upravitelj Crne Gore i Brde ("Bishop and Ruler of Montenegro and the Highlands")
- from 13 March 1852 (New Style): Po Božjoj milosti knjaz i gospodar Crne Gore i Brde ("By the grace of GodBy the Grace of GodBy the Grace of God is an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch taken to be ruling by divine right, not a title in its own right....
Prince and Sovereign of Montenegro and the Highlands") - from 28 August 1910 (New Style): Po Božjoj milosti kralj i gospodar Crne Gore ("By the grace of God, King and Sovereign of Montenegro")
In England
The Bishops of Durham were also territorial Prince Bishops, with the extraordinary secular rank of Earl palatine, for it was their duty not only to be head of the large diocese, but also to help protect the Kingdom against the ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
threat from the north. The title survived the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
in 1707 until 1836.
In France
Apart from territories formerly within the Holy Roman Empire, no FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
diocese had a principality of political significance linked to its see.
However, a number of French Bishops did hold a noble title, with a tiny territory usually about their seat; it was often a prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
ly title, especially Count. Indeed, six of the original Pairie
Pairie
The French word pairie is the equivalent of the English word peerage, in the sense of an individual title carrying the rank of Pair , which derives from the Latin par 'equal', and signifies the members of an exclusive body of noblemen and prelates, considered to be the highest social order -not...
s (the royal vassals awarded with the highest precedence at Court) were episcopal: the Archbishop of Reims
Archbishop of Reims
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by St. Sixtus, the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese around 750...
and five other Bishops (suffragans to Reims, except the Bishop of Langres); the three highest ones held a ducal
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
title and the others a comital
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
title.
They were later joined by the Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
, with a ducal title, but with precedence over the others. See also Peerage of France
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
.
In Portugal
From 1472 to 1967, the bishop of CoimbraCoimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
held the comital
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
title of Count of Arganil, being thus called "bishop-count" (Bispo-Conde, in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
). The comital
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
title is still held de jure, but since Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
is a republic and nobility privileges are abolished, its use declined during the 20th century.
Beyond Catholic feudalism
While one might expect that the Protestant SchismProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
and more modern regimes than the traditional feudal principality would have eradicated the prince-bishopric, they didn't quite.
Even when the true prince-(arch)bishoprics disappeared from the map of Europe as it was redrawn by Napoleon I Bonaparte (who caused the end of the Holy Roman Empire) and the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
after his defeat, the title found a new, titular use.
In the Habsburg dynasty's "new" empire, the Danubian Double Monarchy Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, reduced to the parts south of Prussia's (German) sphere of dominance that would become the (largely Protestant) German Empire, actual territorial power was no longer held by the bishops, but the status of Fürst(erz)bischof was maintained, and could be given a similar political role in the more modern, almost standardized Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
n provincial level, the Kronland 'crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
', as ex officio members of its Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
, the representative and legislative assembly, often with Virilstimme, while other bishops could collectively be represented as a 'prelates bench' (an elected Kurie).
The Emperors of Austria now bestowed the title upon Bishops even without any feudal principality, but as a princely style and rank (as had been usual for centuries with secular noble titles of peerage ranks) awarded to episcopal sees, carrying the privilege of a seat in the estates, e.g. for the bishop of Laibach
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
(as a consolation prize for the see's loss of metropolitan rank to Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
) & for the archbishops of Esztergom.
Special cases
The ultimate Prince Bishop is the Bishop of RomeDiocese of Rome
The Diocese of Rome is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Rome, Italy. The bishop of Rome is the Pope, who is the Supreme Pontiff and leader of the Catholic Church...
, i.e. the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, universal head (Supreme Pontiff) of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. His claims to territorial power were bolstered by the fraudulent early-Medieval document Donation of Constantine
Donation of Constantine
The Donation of Constantine is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the emperor Constantine I supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the pope. During the Middle Ages, the document was often cited in support of the Roman Church's claims to...
, and the authentic Donation of Pepin
Donation of Pepin
The "Donation of Pepin", the first in 754, and second in 756, provided a legal basis for the formal organizing of the Papal States, which inaugurated papal temporal rule over civil authorities...
, establishing the Patrimonium Petri which was further extended as the powerful Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
was the last of the true, sovereign Prince-Bishops, divested of territorial powers when the Papacy was forced to surrender the rule of Rome in 1870 to the reunited kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, which was supported by liberal-nationalists. The Pope was however made Head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
again of the specially created Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
, a small enclave in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, by the (later favorably amended) Lateran Treaties
Lateran treaties
The Lateran Treaty is one of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 or Lateran Accords, three agreements made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See, ratified June 7, 1929, ending the "Roman Question"...
with Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Fascist Italy.
The Spanish Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
n Bishop of Urgell, who no longer has any secular rights in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, still is one of the two co-princes of Andorra
Co-Princes of Andorra
The Co-Princes of Andorra are the two rulers of the Principality of Andorra, a tiny landlocked nation lying in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. Founded in 1278 through a treaty between the Spanish Bishop of Urgell and the French Count of Foix, this unique monarchial arrangement has...
, along with the Head of State (presently President of the Republic
President of the French Republic
The President of the French Republic colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France's elected Head of State....
) of France.
Sources, references and external links
- Catholic Encyclopaedia passim
- The Prince-Bishop of Münster
- Albert of Buxhoeveden, Prince-Bishop of Livonia
- Heraldica.org - here French peerage
- Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)
- WorldStatesmen search under each present country