Bishopric of Lübeck

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The Bishopric of Lübeck was a Roman-Catholic and, later, Protestant diocese, as well as a state of the Holy Roman Empire.

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[edit] History

The diocese was founded by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, in Oldenburg, the capital of the pagan Wagri, in the 10th century. It was subordinate to the archbishop of Bremen. In 1038, the bishops were barred from entering their diocese after a revolt of the Wagri, and no bishop was appointed after 1066. In 1052, the dioceses of Ratzeburg and Schwerin were split off from Oldenburg.

In 1149, the Wagri were again under control of the Empire, and a new bishop was appointed. In 1160, Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, moved the seat of the diocese from Oldenburg to Lübeck. When the Duchy of Saxony was dissolved in 1180, the Bishopric became a state of the Empire (reichsunmittelbar); the territory of the state was centered around Eutin, which also became the seat of the bishops. The Bishopric did not attempt to fight the Protestant Reformation, and in 1535, the state became Protestant. The bishop was elected by the cathedral chapter; since 1586, all bishops were members of the Holstein-Gottorp line of the House of Oldenburg. After the Peace of Westphalia, Lübeck was one of only two Protestant prince-bishoprics in the Empire (together with the Bishopric of Osnabrück).

With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the Bishopric was secularized. It became the Principality of Lübeck and was given to the Duchy of Oldenburg, since the bishop at the time was also prince regent of Oldenburg. The area remained an exclave of Oldenburg until 1937, when it was given to Prussia (Province of Schleswig-Holstein). Note that the Duchy of Oldenburg shares its name with the city of Oldenburg, the original seat of the Bishopric, only by coincidence.

[edit] Geography

The state had an area of 541 km², its only city was its capital, Eutin.

[edit] Famous bishops of Oldenburg and Lübeck

[edit] References