Roman Catholic Diocese of Worms

Prince-Bishopric of Worms
Fürstbistum Worms
State of the Holy Roman Empire
861–1802
Coat of arms
The Prince-Bishopric of Worms circa 1700
Capital		Worms until 1400; thereafter Ladenburg
Languages		Ripuarian Franconian
Government		Elective principality
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Bishopric founded	614
•	Gained Reichsfreiheit	861
•	Occupied by France	1795
•	Secularised to     Hesse-Darmstadt	1802 1802
Preceded by Succeeded by County Palatine of Lotharingia Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt

The Bishopric of Worms, or Prince-Bishopric of Worms, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Electorate of the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times. From the High Middle Ages on, the prince-bishops secular jurisdiction no longer included the city of Worms, which was an Imperial Free City and which became officially Protestant during the Reformation. The prince-bishops however retained jurisdiction over the Cathedral of Worms inside the city.

In 1795 Worms itself, as well as the entire territory of the prince-bishopric on the left bank of the Rhine, was occupied and annexed by France. In the wake of the territorial reorganizations that came with the German mediatization of 1802-1803, the remaining territory of the bishopric, along with that of nearly all the other ecclesiastical principalities, was secularized. In this case, it was annexed by Hesse-Darmstadt.

Bishops of Worms, 770—1802

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bishopric of Worms.