Between 1235 and 1802, the bishop of Hildesheim was also Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. His Hochstift (feudal princely territory) was the Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim. In the 16th century, most of the diocese as well as most of the state of Hildesheim switched to Protestantism, but the bishopric managed to retain its independence from the surrounding Protestant states of Brunswick-Lüneburg, mostly because its bishops were members of the powerful House of Wittelsbach from 1573 until 1761.
Diocesan ambit
Until 1824 the diocesan ambit remained unchanged, despite various changes of the political borders in history up to this date. After the Napoleonic wars the newly established Kingdom of Hanover stipulated with the Holy See to extend the Hildesheim diocesan ambit to all of the then Hanoverian territory east of the Weser river.[1] The newly included areas were Lutheran with a little Catholic diaspora and had formed part of the defunct dioceses of Bremen, of Mainz and of Verden before the Reformation.
Hildesheim diocese: The ambit until 1824 (black rimmed), after extension of 1824 (in magenta), and after inclusion of Brunswick in 1834 (in red and magenta)
Hannover's cession of land for Bremerhaven in 1827 to the prevailingly Reformed Bremen State did not alter the diocesan ambit. In 1834 the prevailingly Lutheran Duchy of Brunswick left the Apostolic Vicariate of Anhalt and agreed to extend Hildesheim's ambit to the ducal territory.[2] Thus the diocese covered areas in three sovereign states, with all of which and thus all the diocesan area becoming part of united Germany in 1871.
The incorporation of Hanoverian suburbs into Bremen city (Bremen North borough) in 1939 did not alter the ambit. In 1965 Hildesheim ceded that part of the then Hoya County District east of the Weser to the diocese of Osnabrück, whereas Osnabrück in return ceded Cuxhaven, Neuwerk, Scharhörn, Schaumburg-Lippe, as well as parts of the districts of Verden, Holzminden, Hameln-Pyrmont located west of the Weser, and the quarters of Nienburg upon Weser west of the river to Hildesheim.[3] In 1995 Hildesheim ceded its Harburg deanery in Hamburg south of the Elbe to the Archdiocese of Hamburg following the erection of this new see.[4]
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.
Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden, were two territories and immediate fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained imperial immediacy in 1180. By their original constitution they were prince-bishoprics of the Archdiocese of Bremen and Bishopric of Verden.
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.
Jens Grand, the Firebug was a Danish archbishop of Lund (1289–1302), titular Archbishop of Riga and Terra Mariana (1304–1310), and Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, known as the central figure of the second ecclesiastical struggle in Denmark in the late 13th century. He was an outstanding jurist of canon law.
The Diocese of Regensburg is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church with its episcopal see based in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. As of 2014, the diocese had 1.20 million Catholics, constituting 70% of its total population. The current bishop is Rudolf Voderholzer. The main diocesan church is Saint Peter in Regensburg. The diocese is divided into eight regions and 33 deaneries with 769 parishes. It covers an area of 14,665 km2.
The Diocese of Münster is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Bishop Felix Genn is the current bishop of the Diocese of Münster. He was ordained to the priesthood on 11 July 1976 and was appointed to the See of Münster on 19 December 2008.
The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802.
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as Treves from French Trèves, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. When it was the archbishopric and Electorate of Trier, it was one of the most important states of the Holy Roman Empire, both as an ecclesiastical principality and as a diocese of the church. Unlike the other Rhenish dioceses—including Mainz and Cologne–Trier was the former Roman provincial capital of Augusta Treverorum. Given its status, Trier has continuously been an episcopal see since Roman times and is one of the oldest dioceses in all of Germany. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese in the time of Charlemagne and was the metropolitan for the dioceses of Metz, Toul, and Verdun. After the victory of Napoleon Bonaparte of France, the archdiocese was lowered to a diocese and is now a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Cologne. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint Peter. The Cathedral Chapter retains the right to elect the bishop, rather than selection by papal appointment.
The Diocese of Córdoba is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Córdoba in the ecclesiastical province of Sevilla in Spain. Bishop Demetrio Fernández González is the current bishop of Cordoba.
The Archdiocese of Vienna is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. It was erected as the Diocese of Vienna on 18 January 1469 out of the Diocese of Passau, and elevated to an archdiocese on 1 June 1722. The episcopal see is situated in the cathedral of S. Stephen in Vienna.
The region between the Elbe and Weser rivers forms the Elbe–Weser triangle, also rendered Elbe-Weser Triangle, in northern Germany. It is also colloquially referred to as the Nasses Dreieck or "wet triangle".
John V of Saxe-Lauenburg was the eldest son of Duke Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg and Adelheid of Pomerania-Stolp, daughter of Duke Bogislaus VIII of Pomerania-Stolp. He succeeded his father in 1463 as duke of Saxe-Lauenburg.
John IV of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim.
Johann Rode von Wale was a Catholic cleric, a Doctor of Canon and Civil Law, a chronicler, a long-serving government official (1468–1497) and as John III Prince-archbishop of Bremen between 1497 and 1511.
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.
Europäische Stammtafeln - German for European Family Trees - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for those researching medieval, imperial, royal and noble families of Europe.
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.
Himmelpforten Convent was founded as a monastery of nuns following the Cistercian Rule during the 13th century in Himmelpforten, in today's Lower Saxony, Germany. During the 16th century, it was converted into use as a Lutheran Damsels' Convent. The Himmelpforten Convent was founded before 1255 and finally dissolved in 1647. The convent complex was built between 1300 and 1330. After 1645 the buildings, including the abbey, increasingly decayed, until they were little by little demolished. The dilapidated abbey was demolished in 1737 and replaced by today's St. Mary's Church which partially covers the foundations of the former abbey.
The Holy Cross Church is the church of the Neuenwalde Convent. Convent and Holy Cross Church are owned by the Bremian Knighthood, based in Stade. However, church and parsonage, are used per usufruct by the Lutheran Neuenwalde Congregation in Neuenwalde, a locality of Geestland, Lower Saxony, Germany. Besides the Holy Cross Church, only used, the congregation uses and owns the chapel in Hymendorf.
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