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Revision as of 00:46, 16 August 2010 editPetri Krohn (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users37,094 edits Undid revision 379134280 by Yopie (talk) – per Misplaced Pages:PLACE and Talk:Gdansk/Vote← Previous edit Revision as of 00:56, 16 August 2010 edit undoVolunteer Marek (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers94,117 edits Yopie's right - this wasn't a German city and anyway, G/D vote does not extend to Czech placesNext edit →
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| {{POL}} | {{POL}}
| Breslau is now known as ]. The bishop bought the ] (now ]) from the ] and added it to the episcopal territory of Neisse (]), becoming Prince of Neisse and Duke of Grottkau as a vassal to the ]. | Breslau is now known as ]. The bishop bought the duchy of ] and added it to the episcopal ] as vassal of King of Bohemia.
|- |-
! ] ] ! ] ]
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|- |-
! ] ] ! ] ]
| Bishopric | Bishopric
| {{lang-cs|Biskupství olomoucké}}<br>{{lang-de|Bistum Olmütz}} | {{lang-cs|Biskupství olomoucké}}<br>{{lang-de|Bistum Olmütz}}
| None | None
| {{CZE}} | {{CZE}}
| The Czech bishopric (later Metropolitan) of Olmütz (now ]), as a ], was the peer of the ], and from 1365 its prince-bishop was 'Count of the Bohemian Chapel', i.e. first ], who was to accompany the monarch on his frequent travels. | The Czech bishopric (later Metropolitan) of ], as a ], was the peer of the ], and from 1365 its prince-bishop was 'Count of the Bohemian Chapel', i.e. first ], who was to accompany the monarch on his frequent travels.
|- |-
! ] ] ! ] ]
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Apart from territories formerly within the Holy Roman Empire, no ] diocese had a principality of political significance linked to its see. Apart from territories formerly within the Holy Roman Empire, no ] 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 ]ly title, especially Count. Indeed, six of the original ]s (the royal vassals awarded with the highest precedence at Court) were episcopal: the ] and five other Bishops (] to Reims, except the ]); the three highest ones held a ] title and the others a ] title. However, a number of French Bishops did hold a noble title, with a tiny territory usually about their seat; it was often a ]ly title, especially Count. Indeed, six of the original ]s (the royal vassals awarded with the highest precedence at Court) were episcopal: the ] and five other Bishops (] to Reims, except the ]); the three highest ones held a ] title and the others a ] title.


They were later joined by the ], with a ducal title, but with precedence over the others. See also ]. They were later joined by the ], with a ducal title, but with precedence over the others. See also ].
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While one might expect that the ], ] and more modern regimes than the traditional feudal principality would have eradicated the prince-bishopric, they didn't quite. While one might expect that the ], ] 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 ] (who caused the end of the Holy Roman Empire) and the ] after his defeat, the title found a new, ''titular'' use. Even when the true prince-(arch)bishoprics disappeared from the map of Europe as it was redrawn by ] (who caused the end of the Holy Roman Empire) and the ] after his defeat, the title found a new, ''titular'' use.
In the Habsburg dynasty's "new" empire, the Danubian Double Monarchy ], 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 ]n provincial level, the ''Kronland'' ']', as ] members of its ], the representative and legislative assembly, often with ''Virilstimme'', while other bishops could collectively be represented as a 'prelates bench' (an elected ''Kurie''). In the Habsburg dynasty's "new" empire, the Danubian Double Monarchy ], 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 ]n provincial level, the ''Kronland'' ']', as ] members of its ], the representative and legislative assembly, often with ''Virilstimme'', while other bishops could collectively be represented as a 'prelates bench' (an elected ''Kurie'').


Revision as of 00:56, 16 August 2010

Johann Otto von Gemmingen, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg, Bavaria.

A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church 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 be wholly or largely overlap with his diocesan jurisdiction, but not necessarily; several lost their actual see (the city itself), which could obatin the status of free imperial city. If the see is an archbishopric, the correct term is prince-archbishop; the equivalent in the regular (monastic) clergy is prince-abbot.

In the West, with the decline of imperial power from the 4th century onwards in the face of the barbarian invasions, sometimes Christian bishops of cities 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 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, 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 development putting the Eastern Church in the service of the Empire, with its Ecumenical Patriarch almost reduced to the Emperor's minister of religious affairs. The Russian Empire went even further, abolishing its own patriarchy and placing the church under direct control of the secular government.

The German term Hochstift 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

Ecclesiastical lands in the Holy Roman Empire, 1648

Bishops had been involved in the government of the Frankish realm and subsequent Carolingian Empire frequently as the clerical member of a duo of envoys styled Missus dominicus, but that was an individual mandate, not attached to the see.

Prince-bishoprics were most common in the feudally fragmented Holy Roman Empire, where many were formally awarded the rank of Reichsfürst ("Prince of the Empire"), granting them representation in the Reichstag (imperial Diet). The Germanic tribes inside the Empire had strong and powerful dukes (originally, war-rulers), always more looking out for their duchy's "national interest" then for the Empire's. So King Henry the Fowler and more so his son, Emperor Otto I, 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 an 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 in 1806. However in some countries outside of French control, such as Austria and Prussia the institution continued, and in some cases was revived; a new, titular type arose.

No less than three of the (originally only seven) prince-electors, the highest order of Reichsfürsten (comparable in rank with the French pairs), were prince-archbishops, each holding the title of Archchancellor (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:

Name Rank Local name(s) Imperial
Circle 		Modern
nation 		Notes
Cologne Archbishopric Electorate Template:Lang-de Electoral Rhenish  Germany Prince-elector and Arch-Chancellor of Italy.
Mainz Archbishopric Electorate Template:Lang-de Electoral Rhenish  Germany Prince-elector and Arch-Chancellor of Germany.
Trier Archbishopric Electorate Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-fr 		Electoral Rhenish  Germany Prince-elector and Arch-Chancellor of Burgundy.
Aquileia Patriarchate Template:Lang-la None  Italy
Augsburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Swabian  Germany
Bamberg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Franconian  Germany
Basel Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Upper Rhenish  France
 Germany
 Switzerland 		A tiny fraction of the bishopric is not now in Switzerland: Schliengen and Istein are both now in Germany; a very small part of the Vogtei of St Ursanne is now in France.
Besançon Archbishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		None  France Whilst the archbishopric wasn't in an Imperial Circle, the Free City of Besançon was a member of the Burgundian Circle.
Brandenburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Upper Saxon  Germany Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1520 until 1571
Bremen Archbishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1566 until 1645/1648.
Brescia Bishopric Template:Lang-it  Italy
Breslau Bishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-pl
Silesian German: Brassel 		 Poland Breslau is now known as Wrocław. The bishop bought the duchy of Grodków and added it to the episcopal Duchy of Nysa as vassal of King of Bohemia.
Brixen Bishopric Template:Lang-it Austrian  Italy
Cambrai Bishopric, then Archbishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  France
Cammin Bishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-pl 		Upper Saxon  Poland
Chur Bishopric Template:Lang-de Austrian  Switzerland
Constance Bishopric Template:Lang-de Swabian  Austria
 Germany
 Switzerland
File:Coat of arms of Pilten.png Courland Bishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-lv
Template:Lang-nds 		None  Latvia A bishopric of Terra Mariana (mediæval Livonia) created after Pope Innocent III proclaimed the eight-year-old principality a direct subject of the Holy See.
Dorpat Bishopric Template:Lang-et
Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-nds 		 Estonia Dorpat is now known as Tartu. A bishopric of Terra Mariana (mediæval Livonia) created after Pope Innocent III proclaimed the eight-year-old principality a direct subject of the Holy See.
Eichstätt Bishopric Template:Lang-de Franconian  Germany
Freising Bishopric Template:Lang-de Bavarian  Austria
 Germany
Fulda Abbey, then Bishopric Template:Lang-de Upper Rhenish  Germany Imperial Abbey until 5 October 1752, when it was raised to a bishopric. Secularised in 1802 in the German Mediatisation
Geneva Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Upper Rhenish  France
 Switzerland
Gurk Bishopric Template:Lang-de Austrian Circle  Austria Whilst the bishop was known as Fürstbischof, it is unclear whether the bishopric held any Reichsfrei territory.
Halberstadt Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany
Havelberg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1548 until 1598
Hildesheim Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany
Lausanne Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		 Switzerland
Lavant Bishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-sl 		Austrian Circle  Austria
 Slovenia 		Whilst the bishop was known as Fürstbischof, it is unclear whether the bishopric held any Reichsfrei territory.
Lebus Bishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-pl 		None  Germany Seated in Fürstenwalde; continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1550 until 1598.
Liège Bishopric Template:Lang-nl
Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-wa 		Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Belgium
 Netherlands
Lübeck Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany
Magdeburg Archbishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany Continued by Lutheran administrators between 1566 and 1631, and again since 1638 until 1680.
Merseburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de None  Germany
Metz Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Upper Rhenish  France One of the Three Bishoprics ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord.
Minden Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Germany
Münster Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Germany
Naumburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de  Germany
Olomouc Bishopric Template:Lang-cs
Template:Lang-de 		None  Czech Republic The Czech bishopric (later Metropolitan) of Olomouc, as a vassal prince of the Bohemian crown, 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.
Ösel-Wiek Bishopric Template:Lang-et
Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-nds 		None  Estonia A bishopric of Terra Mariana (mediæval Livonia) created after Pope Innocent III proclaimed the eight-year-old principality a direct subject of the Holy See.
Osnabrück Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Germany Alternated between Catholic and Protestant incumbents after the Thirty Years' War
Paderborn Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Germany
Passau Bishopric Template:Lang-de Bavarian  Austria
 Germany
Ratzeburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany
Regensburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Bavarian  Germany
Riga Archbishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-lv
Template:Lang-nds 		 Latvia Known as the Bishopric of Livonia 1186–1202. Prince-bishopric of Terra Mariana (mediæval Livonia), which ceased to be a part of the Empire in 1215 when Pope Innocent III proclaimed the eight-year-old principality a direct subject of the Holy See.
Salzburg Archbishopric Template:Lang-de Bavarian  Austria Raised to an electorate in 1803, but simultaneously secularised; see Electorate of Salzburg. Since 1648, the archbishop has also borne the title Primas Germaniae, First 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.
Schwerin Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Saxon  Germany
Seckau Bishopric Template:Lang-de Austrian Circle  Austria
 Slovenia? 		Whilst the bishop was known as Fürstbischof, it is unclear whether the bishopric held any Reichsfrei territory.
Sion Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		 Switzerland A classic example of unified secular and diocesan authority
Speyer Bishopric Template:Lang-de Upper Rhenish  Germany
Strasbourg Bishopric Template:Lang-gsw
Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Upper Rhenish  France
 Germany
Toul Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Upper Rhenish  France One of the Three Bishoprics ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord.
Trent Bishopric Template:Lang-it Austrian Circle  Italy
Utrecht Bishopric Template:Lang-nl Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Netherlands Sold to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, after which it was moved to the Burgundian Circle
Verden Bishopric Template:Lang-de Lower Rhenish / Westphalian  Germany Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation until 1645/1648
Verdun Bishopric Template:Lang-fr
Template:Lang-de 		Upper Rhenish  France One of the Three Bishoprics ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord.
Warmia Bishopric Template:Lang-de
Template:Lang-pl 		None  Poland Established as a Prussian bishopric in 1243, became a sovereign imperial estate in 1251 as a protectorate of the Teutonic Knights. Incorporated into the Jagiellon kingdom of Poland in 1466 and re-established as autonomous prince-bishopric under the Polish crown in 1479, it was abolished by Prussian annexation in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland.
Worms Bishopric Template:Lang-de Upper Rhenish  Germany
Würzburg Bishopric Template:Lang-de Franconian  Germany

Elsewhere

Former Ottoman territories

The vladikas of Cetinje, who took the place of the earlier secular (Grand) Voivodes in 1516 in the unique position of Slavonic, Orthodox prince-bishops under Ottoman (i.e. Islamic) suzerainty, 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 "Vladika and Ruler of Montenegro and Brda"; (b) from 13 March 1852 (New Style): Po Bozjoj milosti knjaz i gospodar Crne Gore i Brde "By the grace of God Prince and Sovereign of Montenegro and Brda"; (c) from 28 August 1910 (New Style): Po Bozjoj 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 Scottish threat from the north. The title survived the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 until 1836.

In France

Apart from territories formerly within the Holy Roman Empire, no French 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 princely title, especially Count. Indeed, six of the original Pairies (the royal vassals awarded with the highest precedence at Court) were episcopal: the Archbishop of Reims and five other Bishops (suffragans to Reims, except the Bishop of Langres); the three highest ones held a ducal title and the others a comital title.

They were later joined by the Archbishop of Paris, with a ducal title, but with precedence over the others. See also Peerage of France.

In Portugal

From 1472 to 1967, the bishop of Coimbra held the comital title of Count of Arganil, being thus called "bishop-count" (Bispo-Conde, in Portuguese). The comital title is still held de jure, but since Portugal 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 Schism, Counter-Reformation 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 after his defeat, the title found a new, titular use. In the Habsburg dynasty's "new" empire, the Danubian Double Monarchy Austria-Hungary, 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 Cisleithanian provincial level, the Kronland 'crown land', as ex officio members of its Landtag, 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 (as a consolation prize for the see's loss of metropolitan rank to Graz).

Special cases

The ultimate Prince Bishop is the Bishop of Rome, i.e. the Pope, universal head (Supreme Pontiff) of the Roman Catholic Church. His claims to territorial power were bolstered by the fraudulent early-Medieval document Donation of Constantine, and the authentic Donation of Pepin, establishing the Patrimonium Petri which was further extended as the powerful Papal States. Pope Pius IX 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, which was supported by liberal-nationalists. The Pope was however made Head of state again of the specially created Vatican City, a small enclave in Rome, by the (later favorably amended) Lateran Treaties with Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy.

The Spanish Catalonian Bishop of Urgell, who no longer has any secular rights in Spain, still is one of the two co-princes of Andorra, along with the Head of State (presently President of the Republic) of France.

See also

Sources, references and external links

  1. Joachim Fernau: Deutschland, Deutschland über alles — Geschichte der Deutschen
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