Prince Electors of Mainz
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[edit] The Prince Electors of Mentz or Mainz
These Holy Roman Princes or Electors ruled over the ancient Holy Roman City of Mentz and surrounding lands of what is now Rhineland Palatinate for almost 1500 years. They were also Royal Bishops. The Prince Electors or Archbishops of Mentz traditionally were primas germaniae, the substitutes of the Pope north of the Alps. In 2001 the current Bishop of Mentz or Mainz (in German) Karl Lehmann was appointed a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II. The first verifiable Bishop of Mentz was Mar(t)inus in 343. Aside from Rome, the See of Mentz is the only other see referred to as a "Holy See", although this usage became rather less common.
The princeelectors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst (listen singular), Kurfürsten (plural) — were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors. During and after the 15th century they often merely formalised the elective monarchy into what was in fact a dynastic succession. Formally, they elected a King of the Romans, who became Holy Roman Emperor only when crowned by the pope. Charles V was the last to be actually crowned; all of his successors were merely "EmperorsElect". Electors were among the princes of the Empire, but they had several privileges (in addition to electoral ones) which were disallowed to their nonelectoral brethren.
