The Principality of Bishoprics of Münster ( German: Hochstift Münster ) is a sovereign principality-bishopric with its capital in Munster , which was part of the Holy Roman Empire . The prince-bishop headed this state formation. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century it was united with one or more neighboring spiritual principalities: Cologne, Paderborn, Osnabruck, Hildesheim, and the Liege bishopric .
| state within the Holy Roman Empire | |||||
| Principality of Muenster-Bishopric | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| him. Hochstift münster | |||||
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←   → → → →1180 - 1802 | |||||
| Capital | Munster | ||||
| Languages) | Lower Saxon, Frisian , German, | ||||
| Religion | Catholicism Anabaptism | ||||
| Form of government | The Principality | ||||
| Story | |||||
| • 1180 | Created from the Saxon Duchy | ||||
| • 1802 | Secularized by Prussia | ||||
In the west, the principality bordered on the Netherlands, in the south with the county of Mark and the duchy of Cleve , in the east with the princedoms-bishoprics of Paderborn and Osnabruck , and in the north with East Frisia and the principality of Oldenburg .
History
The Muenster diocese was established by Charles the Great in 791 at the end of the Saxon Wars as a suffragan of the Cologne archbishopric .
The first bishop was Ludger , who began work in 787. He was a fanatical missionary preaching in 5 Frisian "hundreds" or counties. The territory of the Münster diocese bordered the possessions of the Cologne and Utrecht dioceses, and from the east and northeast - the lands of the bishopric of Osnabruck . The diocese also included areas isolated from a large part of its territory, namely, five Frisian hundreds on lower Ems (Hugmerki, Hunusgau, Fivelgau, Federitgau and Emsgau).
Of the bishops of Münster, who received the rights of the imperial principality under Otton IV , Franz Waldecki ( 1532 - 1553 ) stands out, who successfully fought with the Anabaptists and Protestants .
In 1803, during the conduct of German mediatization, the Principality of Münster, in which 310,000 people lived, was secularized . Most of its eastern lands went to Prussia . Other units were handed out in compensation to the former rulers of the principalities of the West Rhine: Aremberg, Bocholt and Croix . From 1807 to 1813, the former principality of Munster was part of the Kingdom of Westphalia .
In 1815, the southern part (Oberstift) was granted to Prussia, and the Kingdom of Hanover, together with Oldenburg, became the owner of the northern part (Niederstift).
Bibliography
- Die Münsterschen Chroniken des Mittelalters, ed. Ficker (Munster, 1851 ).
Links
Münster, bishopric // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.