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 wholly or largely overlap with his diocesan jurisdiction, but not necessarily; several lost their actual see (the city itself), which could obtain 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.
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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" than 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 a transnational institution, the Catholic Church. The duchy attached to the see then became a prince-diocese or bishopric ("Fürstbistum").[1]
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:
| Arms | Name | Rank | Local name(s) | Imperial Circle |
Modern nation |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cologne | Archbishopric Electorate | German: Erzstift Köln, Kurköln | Electoral Rhenish | Germany | Prince-elector and Arch-Chancellor of Italy. | |
| Mainz | Archbishopric Electorate | German: Erzbistum Mainz, Kurmainz | Electoral Rhenish | Germany | Prince-elector and Arch-Chancellor of Germany. | |
| Trier | Archbishopric Electorate | German: Erzbistum Trier, Kurtrier French: Archevêque Trèves |
Electoral Rhenish | Germany | Prince-elector and Arch-Chancellor of Burgundy. | |
| Aquileia | Patriarchate | Latin: Patriarchæ Aquileiensis Italian: Patria del Friuli |
None | Italy | Incorporated by Venice after the 1445 Council of Florence | |
| Augsburg | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Augsburg | Swabian | Germany | ||
| Bamberg | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Bamberg | Franconian | Germany | ||
| Basel | Bishopric | French: Principauté de Bâle German: Fürstbistum Basel |
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 | French: Archévêqué de Besançon German: Erzstift Besantz |
None | France | The archbishops had been rulers over Besançon, an Imperial city from 1307, which in 1512 joined the Burgundian Circle. | |
| Brandenburg | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Brandenburg | Upper Saxon | Germany | Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1520, securalized to the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1571 | |
| Bremen | Archbishopric | German: Erzstift Bremen | Lower Saxon | Germany | Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1566 until 1645/1648. | |
| Brescia | Bishopric | Italian: Principato vescovile di Brescia | None | Italy | ||
| Breslau | Bishopric | German: Fürstbistum Breslau Polish: Biskupie Księstwo Wrocławski Silesian German: Brassel |
None | Poland | In 1344 Bishop Przecław of Breslau (present-day Wrocław) bought the town of Grottkau (Grodków) from the Silesian duke Bolesław III the Generous and added it to the episcopal Duchy of Neisse (Nysa), becoming Prince of Neisse and Duke of Grottkau as a vassal to the Bohemian Crown. | |
| Brixen | Bishopric | Italian: Principato vescovile di Bressanone | Austrian | Italy | Secularised to Tyrol in 1803. | |
| Cambrai | Bishopric, then Archbishopric | French: Principauté de Cambrai German: Hochstift Kammerich |
Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | France | To France by 1678 Peace of Nijmegen | |
| Cammin | Bishopric | German: Bistum Kammin Polish: Biskupie Księstwo Kamieński |
Upper Saxon | Poland | Lost Reichsfreiheit to Duchy of Pomerania in 1544, securalized in 1650, to Brandenburg Province of Pomerania | |
| Chur | Bishopric | German: Bistum Chur | Austrian | Switzerland | ||
| Constance | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Konstanz | Swabian | Austria Germany Switzerland |
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| Eichstätt | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Eichstätt | Franconian | Germany | ||
| Freising | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Freising | Bavarian | Austria Germany |
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| Fulda | Abbey, then Bishopric | German: Reichskloster Fulda, Reichsbistum Fulda | 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 | French: Évêché de Genève German: Fürstbistum Genf |
Upper Rhenish | France Switzerland |
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| Gurk | Bishopric | German: Diözese Gurk | None | Austria | Part of Carinthia, bishops claimed Fürstbischof title, but never held any reichsfrei territory. | |
| Halberstadt | Bishopric | German: Bistum Halberstadt | Lower Saxon | Germany | ||
| Havelberg | Bishopric | German: Bistum Havelberg | Lower Saxon | Germany | Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation in 1548 until 1598 | |
| Hildesheim | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Hildesheim | Lower Saxon | Germany | ||
| Lausanne | Bishopric | French: Prince-Évêché de Lausanne German: Bistum Lausanne |
None | Switzerland | Conquered by the Swiss city canton of Bern in 1536. | |
| Lavant | Bishopric | German: Diözese Lavant Slovene: Škofija Lavant |
None | Austria Slovenia |
Part of Carinthia and Styria, bishops since 1446 claimed Fürstbischof title, but never held any reichsfrei territory. | |
| Lebus | Bishopric | German: Fürstbistum Lebus Polish: Diecezja lubuska |
None | Germany Poland |
Seated in Fürstenwalde since 1385; Reichsfreiheit challenged by Brandenburg, continued by Hohenzollern Lutheran administrators after Protestant Reformation in 1555 until secularisation 1598. | |
| Liège | Bishopric | Dutch: Prinsbisdom Luik French: Principauté de Liège German: Fürstbistum Lüttich Walloon: Principåté d' Lidje |
Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Belgium Netherlands |
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| Lübeck | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Lübeck | Lower Saxon | Germany | Seated in Eutin since the 1270s; Reformation started in 1535, continued by Lutheran administrators since 1586 until secularisation in 1803. | |
| Magdeburg | Archbishopric | German: Erzstift Magdeburg | Lower Saxon | Germany | Continued by Lutheran administrators between 1566 and 1631, and again since 1638 until 1680. | |
| Merseburg | Bishopric | German: Bistum Merseburg | None | Germany | ||
| Metz | Bishopric | French: Évêché de Metz German: Hochstift Metz |
Upper Rhenish | France | One of the Three Bishoprics ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord. | |
| Minden | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Minden | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Germany | ||
| Münster | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Münster | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Germany | ||
| Naumburg | Bishopric | German: Bistum Naumburg-Zeitz | Germany | Under guardianship of Meissen from 1259, administrated by Saxony from 1564. | ||
| Olomouc | Bishopric | Czech: Biskupství olomoucké German: Bistum Olmütz |
None | Czech Republic | The Czech bishopric (later Metropolitan) of Olomouc, as a vassal principality 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. | |
| Osnabrück | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Osnabrück | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Germany | Alternated between Catholic and Protestant incumbents after the Thirty Years' War, secularised in 1802/1803 | |
| Paderborn | Bishopric | German: Fürstbistum Paderborn | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Germany | ||
| Passau | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Passau | Bavarian | Austria Germany |
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| Ratzeburg | Bishopric | German: Bistum Ratzeburg | Lower Saxon | Germany | ||
| Regensburg | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Regensburg | Bavarian | Germany | ||
| Salzburg | Archbishopric | German: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg | 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 [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. | |
| Schwerin | Bishopric | German: Bistum Schwerin | Lower Saxon | Germany | ||
| Seckau | Bishopric | German: Diözese Seckau | None | Austria Slovenia? |
Whilst the bishop was known as Fürstbischof, it is unclear whether the bishopric held any Reichsfrei territory. | |
| Sion | Bishopric | French: Prince-Évêché de Sion German: Bistum Sitten |
None | Switzerland | A classic example of unified secular and diocesan authority | |
| Speyer | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Speyer | Upper Rhenish | Germany | ||
| Strasbourg | Bishopric | Alemannic German: Bistum Strossburi French: Évêché de Strasbourg German: Fürstbistum Straßburg |
Upper Rhenish | France Germany |
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| Toul | Bishopric | French: Principauté de Toul German: Bistum Toul |
Upper Rhenish | France | One of the Three Bishoprics ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord. | |
| Trent | Bishopric | Italian: Principato vescovile di Trento | Austrian Circle | Italy | Secularised to Tyrol in 1803. | |
| Utrecht | Bishopric | Dutch: Sticht Utrecht | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Netherlands | Sold to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, after which it was moved to the Burgundian Circle | |
| Verden | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Verden | Lower Rhenish / Westphalian | Germany | Continued by Lutheran administrators after Reformation until 1645/1648 | |
| Verdun | Bishopric | French: Principauté de Verdun German: Bistum Verdun |
Upper Rhenish | France | One of the Three Bishoprics ceded to France by the 1552 Treaty of Chambord. | |
| Worms | Bishopric | German: Bistum Worms | Upper Rhenish | Germany | ||
| Würzburg | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Würzburg | Franconian | Germany | Held the Franconian ducal title awarded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa |
Upon the incorporation of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword 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 as an Imperial fief from the hands of German king Philip of Swabia, he however had to come to terms with the Brothers of the Sword. At the behest of Pope Innocent III the Terra Mariana confederation was established, whereby Albert had to cede large parts of the episcopal territory to the Livonian Order. Albert proceeded tactically in the conflict between the Papacy and Emperor Frederick II: in 1225 he reached the acknowledgement of his status as a Prince-Bishop of the Empire, though the Roman Curia insisted on the fact, that the Christianized Baltic territories were solely under the suzerainty of the Holy See. By the 1234 Bull of Rieti, Pope Gregory IX stated, that all lands acquired by the Teutonic Knights were no subject of any conveyancing by the Emperor.
Within this larger conflict, the continued dualism of the autonomous Riga Prince-Bishop and the Teutonic Knights led to a lengthy friction. About 1245 the Papal legate William of Modena 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 lands of the Teutonic Order, Willam of Modena established the suffragan bishoprics of Culm, Pomesania, Samland 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 in 1356.
| Arms | Name | Rank | Local name(s) | Territory | Modern nation |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courland | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Kurland Latvian: Kurzemes bīskapija Low German: Bisdom Curland |
Terra Mariana | Latvia | 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. To Russia in the 1795 Third Partition of Poland. | |
| Dorpat | Bishopric | Estonian: Tartu piiskopkond German: Hochstift Dorpat Low German: Bisdom Dorpat |
Terra Mariana | Estonia | Bishop Hermann, appointed by his brother Bishop Albert of Riga, received the title of a Prince-bishop by King Henry VII of Germany in 1225. Dorpat (Estonian: Tartu) remained a suffragan diocese of Riga. Dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation in 1558. | |
| Ösel-Wiek | Bishopric | Estonian: Saare-Lääne piiskopkond German: Bistum Ösel-Wiek Low German: Bisdom Ösel-Wiek |
Terra Mariana | Estonia | Established on Saaremaa 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. It remained a suffragan diocese of Riga. Dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation in 1559. | |
| Riga | Archbishopric | German: Erzbistum Riga Latvian: Rīgas arhibīskapija Low German: Erzbisdom Riga |
Terra Mariana | Latvia | Episcopal see at Üxküll 1186–1202. In 1225 Albert of Riga received the title of a Prince-bishop of Livonia by Emperor Frederick II. Last Archbishop William of Brandenburg resigned in 1561 during the Livonian War, territory fell to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, to Sweden in 1621. | |
| Warmia | Bishopric | German: Hochstift Ermland Polish: Biskupie Księstwo Warmińskie |
Prussia | Poland | Established by Papal legate William of Modena in 1243, Princely title documented in the Golden Bull of 1356. Incorporated into the Jagiellon kingdom of Poland in 1466 and re-established as an autonomous Prince-bishopric under the Polish crown in 1479. Abolished in the course of the Prussian annexation in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland. |
The bishops of Cetinje, Montenegro, who took the place of the earlier secular (Grand) Voivodes in 1516 had a unique position of Slavonic, Orthodox prince-bishops of Montenegro under Ottoman suzerainty.[2] They actually became the secularized, hereditary princes and ultimately Kings of Montenegro in 1852, as reflected in their styles:
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.
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.
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.
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) & for the archbishops of Esztergom.
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.