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Archbishopric of Magdeburg | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1180–1680 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Prince-Bishoprics of Hildesheim, Halberstadt and Magdeburg (violet), about 1250 | |||||||||
| Status | Prince-Archbishopric | ||||||||
| Capital | |||||||||
| Common languages | Eastphalian | ||||||||
| Government | Hochstift | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
| 968 | |||||||||
• ConqueredJüterbog | 1157 1180 | ||||||||
| 1180 | |||||||||
• SubduedHalle | 1478 | ||||||||
| 1500 | |||||||||
| 1513 | |||||||||
| 1680 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
TheArchbishopric of Magdeburg was aLatin Catholicarchdiocese (969–1552) andPrince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of theHoly Roman Empire centered on the city ofMagdeburg on theElbe River.
Planned since 955 and established in 967, the archdiocese had de facto turned void since 1557, when the last papally confirmed prince-archbishop, the LutheranSigismund of Brandenburg came of age and ascended to the see. All his successors were onlyadministrators of the prince-archbishopric and Lutheran too, except the Catholic clericLeopold William of Austria (1631–1635). In ecclesiastical respect the remaining Catholics and their parishes and abbeys in the former archdiocese were put under supervision of theArchdiocese of Cologne in 1648 and under the jurisdiction of theApostolic Vicariate of the Northern Missions in 1670.
In political respect theErzstift, the archiepiscopal and capitulartemporalities, had gainedimperial immediacy as a prince-archbishopric in 1180. Its territory comprised only some parts of the archdiocesan area, such as the city of Magdeburg, the bulk of theMagdeburg Börde, and theJerichow Land as an integral whole andexclaves in parts of theSaalkreis includingHalle upon Saale,Oebisfelde and environs as well asJüterbog and environs. The prince-archbishopric maintained its statehood as anelective monarchy until 1680. Then theBrandenburg-Prussia the prince-archbishopric of Magdeburg. After beingsecularised, the state was transformed into theDuchy of Magdeburg, ahereditary monarchy inpersonal union with Brandenburg.
The 1994-founded modernDiocese of Magdeburg is a diocese of theLatin Church of theCatholic Church located in theGerman states ofSaxony-Anhalt (bulk),Brandenburg andSaxony (smaller fringes each).
The town was one of the oldest emporia of the German trade for theWends who dwelt on the right bank of the Elbe. In 805 it is first mentioned in history. In 806 Charlemagne built a fortress on the eastern bank of the river opposite Magdeburg. The oldest church is also credited to this time.[1]
Magdeburg first played an important part in the history of Germany during the reign ofOtto the Great (936-73). In 929 King Otto I granted the city to his English-born wifeEdith as dower. She had a particular love for the town and often lived there. The emperor also continually returned to it. In September 937, Otto and his wife founded a Benedictine monastery at Magdeburg, which was dedicated to Sts. Peter, Maurice, and the Holy Innocents. The first abbots and monks came fromSt. Maximin's Abbey, Trier.[1]
After the wars of the years 940 and 954, thePolabian Slavs as far as theOder, had been brought into subjection to German rule. However, theMagyars had advanced so far into Germany, thatAugsburg was threatened. At theBattle of Lechfeld in 955 they were defeated and repelled.[2] Otto immediately set to work to establish an archbishopric in Magdeburg, for the stabilisation throughChristianisation of the eastern territories. He wished to transfer the capital of the diocese fromHalberstadt to Magdeburg, and make it an archdiocese. But this was strenuously opposed by theArchbishop of Mainz, who was the metropolitan of Halberstadt.[1]
When, in 962,Pope John XII sanctioned the establishment of an archbishopric, Otto seemed to have abandoned his plan of a transfer. The estates belonging to the convent founded in 937 were converted into amense for the new archbishopric, and the monks transferred to the Berge Convent. The abbey church became theCathedral of St. Maurice.
Itsecclesiastical province included the existing dioceses ofBrandenburg andHavelberg and the newly founded dioceses ofMerseburg,Zeitz, andMeißen. (Lebus was added in 1424.) The new archdiocese was close to the unsecured border regions of theHoly Roman Empire andSlavic tribes, and was meant to promote Christianity among the many Slavs and others. On 20 April 967, the archbishopric was solemnly established at the Synod of Ravenna in the presence of the pope and the emperor. The first archbishop was Adelbert, a former monk of St. Maximin's at Trier,[3] afterwards a missionary bishop to theRuthenians (Ruthenia), and Abbot ofWeissenburg inAlsace. He was elected in the autumn of 968, received the pallium at Rome, and at the end of the year was solemnly enthroned in Magdeburg.
The archdiocesan area of Magdeburg was rather small; it comprised the Slavonic districts of Serimunt,Nudizi,Neletici,Nizizi, and half of northernThuringia, which Halberstadt resigned. The cathedral school especially gained in importance under Adalbert's efficient administration. The scholastic Othrich was considered the most learned man of his times. Many eminent men were educated at Magdeburg.
Othrich was chosen archbishop after Adalbert's death (981).Gisiler of Merseburg obtained possession of theSee of Magdeburg by bribery and fraud. Upon his death in 1004, there followed a brief conflict betweenKing Henry II and the cathedral canons beforeTagino was installed as archbishop.[4] Tagino and his suffragans were relied upon heavily for military service in theeastern marches.[5]
Among successors worthy of mention are the zealous Gero (1012–23) andSt. Norbert, prominent in the 12th century (1126–34), the founder of thePremonstratensian order.[6]
ArchbishopWichmann (1152–92) was more important as a sovereign and prince of theHoly Roman Empire than as a bishop. Wichmann sided with the emperor in the Great Saxon Revolt and was rewarded by recognising the archepiscopal and the cathedral capitulartemporalities as a state of imperial immediacy within the Holy Roman Empire, thus Wichmann was the first to add the title secular prince to his ecclesiastical archbishop. Albrecht II (1205–32) quarrelled withOtto II, Margrave of Brandenburg (1198–1215), because he had pronounced the pope's ban against the latter and this war greatly damaged the archbishopric. In 1208 he began to build the presentCathedral of Magdeburg, which was only consecrated in 1263, and never entirely finished;Günther I (1277–79) hardly escaped a serious war with the MargraveOtto IV, who was incensed because his brotherEric of Brandenburg had not been elected archbishop. The Brandenburgers succeeded in forcing Günther I andBernard III (1279–1281) to resign and in making Eric archbishop (1283–1295).
CardinalAlbert of Brandenburg (1513–45), on account of his insecure position, as well as being crippled by a perpetual lack of funds, gave some occasion for the spread ofLutheranism in his diocese, although himself opposing theReformation. It is not true that he became a Lutheran and wished to retain his see as a secular principality, and just as untrue that in the Kalbe Parliament in 1541 he consented to the introduction of the Reformation in order to have his debts paid. His successors were the zealous CatholicsJohn Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1545–1550), who however could accomplish very little, andFrederick IV of Brandenburg, who died in 1552.
Administrators who were secular princes now took the place of the archbishop, and they, as well as the majority of the cathedral chapter and the inhabitants of the archdiocese, were usually Protestant. They belonged to the HohenzollernHouse of Brandenburg, which had adopted Calvinism in 1613.Christian William was taken prisoner in 1631 after thesack of Magdeburg, and went over to the Catholic Church inVienna. At the time of thePeace of Prague (1635), the Archbishopric of Magdeburg fell toAugust, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. In theTreaty of Westphalia (1648), the expectancy to the archbishopric was promised toBrandenburg-Prussia upon the death of August. When the Saxon prince died in 1680, the archbishopric was secularised by Brandenburg and transformed into theDuchy of Magdeburg.
The remaining Catholics in the area were under the jurisdiction of theApostolic Vicariate of the Northern Missions between 1670 and 1709, and againfrom 1780 to 1821. Between 1709 and 1780 theApostolic Vicariate of Upper and Lower Saxony was the competent Catholic jurisdiction. In 1821, the area was transferred in Catholic respect to theDiocese of Paderborn. In 1994, theDiocese of Magdeburg was founded in the area.
1180: GainedImperial immediacy on breakup ofduchy of Saxony
1480:Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt administered by archbishops of Magdeburg
1566: Archdiocese ruled by Lutheran administrators
1680: Prince-Archbishopric secularised to duchy
The archbishop of Magdeburg was themetropolitan of theEcclesiastical Province of Magdeburg (de facto dissolved in 1648), with the archbishops also holding – besides thearchbishop-elector of Mainz – the honorary titlePrimas Germaniae. Thesuffragans of Magdeburg were:
Residences of the Archbishops of Magdeburg were:
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Magdeburg".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
| Ecclesiastical |  | |
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1 until 1648. 2 until 1701. 3 from 1648. 4 until 1731. 5 until 1705. 6 until 1596. 7 from 1708. 8 until 1773. 9 until 1640. 10 until 1695. 11 from 1701. 12 until 1734. Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | ||
