Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lauenburg.
The Electorate of Mainz, previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz was also the Primate of Germany, a purely honorary dignity that was unsuccessfully claimed from time to time by other archbishops. There were only two other ecclesiastical Prince-electors in the Empire: the Electorate of Cologne and the Electorate of Trier.
The Electorate of Cologne, sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift — the temporal possessions — of the Archbishop of Cologne, and was ruled by him in his capacity as prince-elector. There were only two other ecclesiastical prince-electors in the Empire: the Electorate of Mainz and the Electorate of Trier. The Archbishop-Elector of Cologne was also Arch-chancellor of Italy and, as such, ranked second among all ecclesiastical and secular princes of the Empire, after the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, and before that of Trier.
The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Duchy of Bremen. The prince-archbishopric, which was under the secular rule of the archbishop, consisted of about a third of the diocesan territory. The city of Bremen was de facto and de jure not part of the prince-archbishopric. Most of the prince-archbishopric lay rather in the area to the north of the city of Bremen, between the Weser and Elbe rivers. Even more confusingly, parts of the prince-archbishopric belonged in religious respect to the neighbouring Diocese of Verden, making up 10% of its diocesan territory.
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Latin Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River.
The Archdiocese of Bamberg is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, one of 27 in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% of those reported that they attend Mass on Sunday; a relatively high number in Germany. The archdiocese comprises the majority of the administrative regions of Upper Franconia and Middle Franconia, as well as a small part of Lower Franconia and the Upper Palatinate. Its seat is Bamberg. The dioceses of Speyer, Eichstätt, and Würzburg are subordinate to it. The diocese was founded in 1007 out of parts of the dioceses of Eichstätt and Würzburg. In 1817, the diocese was raised to an archdiocese.
The Diocese of Hildesheim is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheims, Ebbo, as bishop.
The Diocese of Osnabrück is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. The diocese was originally founded circa 800. It should not be confused with the smaller Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück–an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803–over which the bishop, as prince-bishop, exercised both temporal and spiritual authority.
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 Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany, known for most of its existence as the Vicariate Apostolic of the NorthernMissions, was a Catholic missionary jurisdiction established on 28 April 1667. It belonged to a vicar apostolic in predominantly Protestant Northern Europe.
The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802.
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.
John Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp was the Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck and the Prince-Bishopric of Verden.
In the Holy Roman Empire, the German term Hochstift referred to the territory ruled by a bishop as a prince, as opposed to his diocese, generally much larger and over which he exercised only spiritual authority. The terms prince-bishopric and ecclesiastical principality are synonymous with Hochstift. Erzstift and Kurerzstift referred respectively to the territory (prince-archbishopric) ruled by a prince-archbishop and an elector-archbishop while Stift referred to the territory ruled by an imperial abbot or abbess, or a princely abbot or abbess. Stift was also often used to refer to any type of ecclesiastical principality.
Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, then Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, then Prince-Bishop of Paderborn.
Saint Mary's Cathedral in Hamburg was the cathedral of the ancient Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg, which was merged in personal union with the Diocese of Bremen in 847, and later in real union to form the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen, as of 1027.
The Diocese and Prince-bishopric of Schwerin was a Catholic diocese in Schwerin, Mecklenburg, in Germany. The first registered bishop was ordained in the diocese in 1053, and the diocese ceased to exist in 1994.
The diocese of Eupen-Malmedy is a former Belgian Latin Roman Catholic diocese, which existed between 1919 and 1925, and included the East Cantons.
