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. Its capital was Speyer until the 14th century when the prince-bishop moved his residence to Uddenheim (Philippsburg) then Bruchsal.

Geography

The bishopric of Speyer belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle of the Holy Roman Empire and encompassed an area of 28 square miles (about 1540 km²) on both sides of the Rhine. It included the towns of Bruchsal (on the right bank) as well as Deidesheim, Herxheim bei Landau, and Lauterburg (on the left bank). Around 1800 the bishopric included about 55,000 people.

History

A Diocese of Speyer has possibly existed since the 3rd or 4th centuries. It was first mentioned in historical documents in 614. Until 748 it belonged to the Archbishopric of Trier. From then until the dissolution of the bishopric in 1803, Speyer belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz.

The history of the Bishopric of Speyer began latest in the late 7th century when the bishop of Speyer received royal domains in the neighboring Speyergau. In the 10th and 11th centuries, the diocese received additional lands, including gifts by emperor Otto I. In 1030 the building of the cathedral was begun. In 1061 the cathedral was consecrated. In 1086 emperor Henry IV granted the bishopric the remaining parts of the county of Speyergau.

From 1111 the citizens of the city of Speyer began to increasingly loosen their bonds to the rulership of the bishop. In 1230 a Bürgermeister was mentioned for the first time. 1294 Speyer became a Free Imperial City. The bishop moved his palace in 1371 to Udenheim. At the beginning of the 17th century bishop Philipp Christoph von Sötern expanded as the fortress of Philippsburg. The prince-bishops reigned from there from 1371 to 1723. Afterwards the prince-bishop moved his seat to Bruchsal.

From 1681 to 1697, at the end of the War of the Grand Alliance, part of the bishopric's left-bank territories went to France. In 1801/1802, the remaining left-bank territories were conquered by French troops as part of the French Revolution. The right-bank territories went to margraves of Baden.

This ended the worldy responsibilities of the bishop of Speyer. The bishopric was secularized and continued ecclesiastically as the Diocese of Speyer.

Prince-bishops of Speyer

The following were prince-bishops of Speyer, whom were worldly as well as ecclesiastical rulers.

See also

• Bishop of Speyer
• Speyer Cathedral

Footnotes

References

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.