Westphalia is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 20,210 square kilometres (7,800 sq mi) and 7.9 million inhabitants.
Minden is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (Kreis) of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. The town extends along both sides of the River Weser, and is crossed by the Mittelland Canal, which is led over the river on the Minden Aqueduct.
Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the Principality of Halych, the historic province of Galicia (Halychyna), and the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local rulers moved to Lviv.
Fritzlar is a small town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, 160 km (99 mi) north of Frankfurt, with a storied history.
Xanten is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel.
The Catholic Cathedral Church of St. John (Sint-Janskathedraal) of 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, is the height of Gothic architecture in the Netherlands. It has an extensive and richly decorated interior, and serves as the cathedral for the bishopric of 's-Hertogenbosch.
A Diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic particular church.
Gorgonius or Gorgon was a Christian who was martyred in AD 304 alongside Peter Cubicularius and a certain Dorotheus at Nicomedia during the Diocletianic Persecution.
Rees is a town in the district of Kleve in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approximately 20 km east of Kleve. The population in 2005 was 22,559. Founded in 1228, Rees is the oldest town in the lower Rhine area.
Lübbecke is a town in northeast North Rhine-Westphalia in north Germany. This former county town lies on the northern slopes of the Wiehen Hills (Wiehengebirge) and has around 26,000 inhabitants. The town is part of district of Minden-Lübbecke within the Regierungsbezirk of Detmold in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. Lübbecke was first mentioned in the records in 775 as hlidbeki and was given town rights in 1279.
The Prince-Bishopric of Münster was a large ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today's North Rhine-Westphalia and western Lower Saxony. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, it was often held in personal union with one or more of the nearby ecclesiastical principalities of Cologne, Paderborn, Osnabrück, Hildesheim, and Liège.
The Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 to 1933, and of Nazi Germany from 1933 until 1945.
The Diocese of Ratzeburg is a former diocese of the Catholic Church. It was erected from the Diocese of Oldenburg c. 1050 and was suppressed in 1554. The diocese was originally a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Hamburg; in 1072 it became a suffragan of the merged entity — the "Archdiocese of Hamburg and the Diocese of Bremen". The territory of the diocese was located in what is today the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. The cathedral church of the diocese — dedicated to Ss. Mary and John — is still extant in the city of Ratzeburg. Following its suppression as part of the Protestant Reformation, the remaining Catholic adherents were only represented by the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Germany. The whole territory of the diocese is today included in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg.
The Prince-Bishopric of Minden was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It was progressively secularized following the Protestant Reformation when it came under the rule of Protestant rulers, and by the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 given to Brandenburg as the Principality of Minden. It must not be confused with the Roman Catholic diocese of Minden, which was larger, and over which the prince-bishop exercised spiritual authority.
The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1225 until 1803. It should not be confused with the Diocese of Osnabrück, which was larger and over which the prince-bishop exercised only the spiritual authority of an ordinary bishop. It was named after its capital, Osnabrück.
The Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was located in what is today the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It was established in 1236 and disestablished following the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The state capital was the city of Ratzeburg. The Diocese of Ratzeburg had originally been established as a diocese of the Catholic Church in the 11th century but had fallen into abeyance; as a result of the Wendish Crusade, the diocese was re-created in the middle of the 12th century. The territory of the prince-bishopric was managed by secular lords on behalf of the Bishop of Ratzeburg. As a Prince-Bishopric of the Empire, the territory of the state was not identical with that of the bishopric, but was located within its boundaries and made up about a quarter of the diocesan area. When the Prince-Bishopric was disestablished, a new entity was established — the Principality of Ratzeburg. The principality became an exclave of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803. Originally ruled by Roman-Catholic bishops, after 1586 it was ruled by lay administrators and bishops who were members of the Protestant Holstein-Gottorp line of the House of Oldenburg. The prince-bishops had seat and vote on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet.
The Cathedral of Holy Wisdom was a cathedral in Polotsk that was built by Prince Vseslav Briacheslavich (1044–1101) between 1044 and 1066. It stands at the confluence of the Polota River and the Western Dvina River on the eastern side of the city and is probably the oldest church in Belarus.
The Diocese of Verden was a diocese of the Catholic Church. It was founded around AD 768 as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mainz. It was suppressed in 1648 as part of the Peace of Westphalia. The diocese was centered on the city of Verden an der Aller in what is today the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. The cathedral church of the diocese was dedicated to Ss Mary and Cecilia in 1028 but the building was only completed in 1490. The Bishop of Verden was also, ex officio, the ruler of a principality of the Holy Roman Empire — the Prince-Bishopric of Verden. The territory of the diocese was not identical with that of the prince-bishopric; while the state was located within the boundaries of the diocese, it amounted to less than a quarter of the diocesan territory. Its last bishop was Franz Wilhelm, Count von Wartenberg. Following the Thirty Years' War, Verden, along with the neighbouring sees of Minden and Bremen, fell into the hands of Protestants. Wartenberg was only able to retain the See of Osnabrück.
Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Philip Freiherr von Vincke was a liberal Prussian statesman. Born as member of an old Westphalian noble family and educated at three universities in a broad variety of subjects, he entered the Prussian service as head of local and regional authorities. Influenced by ideas of British liberalism, he joined the Prussian Reform Movement during the times of Napoleonic Wars, and was an important member as co-worker of the Barons vom Stein and vom Stein zum Altenstein.
