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Prince-Bishopric of Trent | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1027–1803 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag from 1801 to 1802[1]  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Bishopric of Trent within the Holy Roman Empire in 1648;Ecclesiastical lands shaded in pale blue | |||||||||
| Status | Prince-Bishopric | ||||||||
| Capital | Trent | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Prince-bishop | |||||||||
• 1027–1055 | Udalrico II [it] | ||||||||
• 1800–1803 | Emanuele Maria Thun [it] | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages Early modern period | ||||||||
| 1027 | |||||||||
• Bishops deposed byFrederick II | 1236 | ||||||||
• Declared acommune | 1425 | ||||||||
| 1545–1563 | |||||||||
• Napoleonic invasion | 1796 | ||||||||
• Secularised toTyrol | 1803 | ||||||||
• Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire | 6 August 1806 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
ThePrince-Bishopric of Trent (Latin:Episcopatus ac Principatus Tridentinus;German:Hochstift Trient, Fürstbistum Trient, Bistum Trient) was an ecclesiasticalprincipality roughly corresponding to the present-dayNorthern Italian autonomous province ofTrentino. It was created in 1027 and existed until 1803, when it wassecularised and absorbed into theCounty of Tyrol held by theHouse of Habsburg. Trent was aHochstift, anImperial State under the authority of aprince-bishop atTrento.
A first Bishop of Trent is recorded as a participant of thesynod at Aquileia in 381. The area was part of theLombard Kingdom and theKingdom of Italy, until the 951 campaign ofGerman kingOtto I against KingBerengar II of Italy. In 952 Berengar had to cede theMarch of Verona to Otto, who enfeoffed his younger brother DukeHenry I of Bavaria.
From 1004 EmperorHenry II the Saint and his successorConrad II separated several smaller territories in the northeast of the Veronese march and granted them to the Trient diocese. Originally aBavarian fief, by 1027 the prince-bishopric was established by Conrad II, together with the similarPrince-Bishopric of Brixen. The states were created to favor passage to Imperial armies across theAlps towards Italy along the two ancient roads, theVia Claudia-Augusta and theVia Altinate, entrusting the area to two bishops instead of often rebellious lay princes.
The prince-bishops were trueHoly Roman Empire princes, and enjoyed the right to take part toImperial diets. The princes of Trento maintained a strong allegiance to the Emperor, even when the latter was excommunicated: this because they need his protection against the growing power of subjects like the counts of Tyrol, who controlled the area aroundBozen, those ofEppan, and others. In one of the attempts to reassure his temporal authority over these lesser but fierce nobles, the bishop Adelpreto was slaughtered atArco, on 20 September 1172, by the lords ofCastelbarco. The supremacy of the prince-bishops of Trento and Brixen were however re-established by EmperorFrederick Barbarossa in 1179 and again by his sonHenry VI of Hohenstaufen. The bishop earned the right to have a coin of his own and to impose tolls.
The principate was reorganized and reformed by bishopFederico Wanga (1207–18), a relative of EmperorOtto IV. Allied with the Bishop of Brixen and allowing wide estates to theTeutonic Knights he managed to thwart at all the nobles' strength, and recovered much of the territories lost in the past years. In order to state in a definitive way his authority he also collected all the official documents certificating the bishop's authority in the so-calledBook of St Vigilius (Codex Wangianus),Vigilius being the patron saint of Trento. Moreover, Federico supported trading over the Adige way across the Alps, and made concessions to themiddle class. The drying of the valley allowed the area to become one of the most renowned of Italy for the production ofwine. The statute issued by Federico on 19 June 1208 is considered the most ancient official document concerning theAlpsmining industry. The city was encircled with a new line of walls and towers, and the building of the Cathedral was commenced.
The death of Wanga in theHoly Land, during aCrusade, stopped his reforms. In 1236 EmperorFrederick II of Hohenstaufen deposed the bishops and ensured to himself the authority over the important military area of Trento, annexing it to the Mark ofTreviso — the administration was entrusted to his faithful friend,Ezzelino III da Romano atVerona.
In the 13th century the Counts of Tyrol took advantage of the confused situation to carve out a conspicuous power as aVogt for himself, much at the loss of the Bishops ofChur, Brixen, theArchbishopric of Salzburg and Trento itself. CountMeinhard II of Tyrol (1258–1295), alsoDuke of Carinthia from 1286, totally subjected the bishops of Trento and Brixen under his power, and reorganized his new state along the more modern lines inspired to those of other Italian principalities. In the 14th century, during the disputes between the rival emperorsCharles IV of Luxembourg andLouis IV of Wittelsbach, the principality suffered several destructions and was temporarily again annexed to the latter's Bavarian territories. The threat by Tyrol increased, when in 1363 CountessMargaret Maultasch ceded her lands toRudolf IV of Austria from the mightyHouse of Habsburg.
In 1419 the bishopGeorge I of Liechtenstein (1390–1419) escaped the subjugation to Tyrol submitting directly to the emperor, but this did not prevent the bishops to lose further authority over the city and the countryside in the course of the 15th century, even though an attempt by the citizens to create arepublic in 1407 was bloodily suppressed. In 1425 Trento was declared acommune. Another revolt broke out ten years later, and Austro-Tyrolese troops invaded the territory of the principality. In the following year, the bishops struggled in order to thwart the growing power of the Habsburgs, and in the end the principality reduced to an effective subjugation to Austrian authority.
In June 1511 the two principalities of Trento and Brixen received the status of "perpetual confederate" states among Austrian possessions. The peace of 1516 with theRepublic of Venice, however, reduced the principality to a discontinuousenclave between large Habsburg possessions. During the war against Venice, in 1509, the territory had been ravaged byLandsknechts returning from a failed expedition againstVicenza. This was followed bypestilences in 1510 and 1512, famines in 1512, 1519 and 1520, and anearthquake in 1521: these grievous happenings spurred the beginning of forms of resistance against Habsburg rule. A true rebellion broke out in 1525, calledBauernkrieg or "contadine revolt". The rebellers were led byMichael Gaismayr, who had devised a complex plan of liberation of all the territories of Brixen and Trento and program of social freedom based on egalitarian principles (Landesordnung).
The rebels, however, lacked organisation and were easily suppressed in 1526 by Austrianmercenaries and by the bishopBernardo Clesio, who ferociously exterminated them in the battles of theEisack valley andSterzing. The rebellion leaders were beheaded, hanged or mutilated, while the simple followers were released but with a "mark of infamy" impressed on their brow. Any dream of further revolt ended when Gasmayr was murdered by the archduke's killer inPadua in 1532. Some thousand of Tyrolese and Trentine rebels took shelter inMoravia, nearAuspitz, where they established "fraternal farms" (Bruderhöfe).
Bishop CardinalBernardo Clesio is considered the true refounder (Neubegründer) of the authority of the princes of Trento. An adviser of emperorMaximilian I of Habsburg and a friend ofErasmus of Rotterdam, he played an important role in the election of EmperorCharles V of Habsburg atFrankfurt in 1519, and in that of his brotherFerdinand I asKing of Bohemia in 1526. His personal charisma reverted the subalterne status of the Trento state between the Habsburg territories, gaining the seignory of Castelbarco andRovereto. His statute of the city, issued in 1528, remained in use until 1807. Under Clesio's rule Trento was renovated with a new urbanistic asset, and a new great church, S. Maria Maggiore: these were needed in order to host the important and influentialCouncil of Trent (1545–63), and, after the sudden death of Clesio in 1539, were completed by his successor, cardinalCristoforo Madruzzo. Also the economy and services were greatly improved. The presence of famous intellectual and scholars during the Council, spurred the diffusion ofRenaissance in the principality. The introduction of theCounter-Reformation in the principality brought also a general recover of theItalian language over theGerman one, as theProtestant ideas had found more followers in the German-speaking population.
This "Golden Age", however, was ended by Emperor Ferdinand I, who invaded the Trentine territories, occupying Rovereto and, in 1567, declaring the Confederation Treaty over. The dispute was settled only in 1578, when the Imperial Diet reinstated the prince-bishops' suzerainty.
In the 17th century the principality suffered the economic consequences of theThirty Years' War and the decline of Venetian trade. The principality was held by the Madruzzo family (who also indirectly controlled Brixen) until 1658, with the death ofCarlo Emanuele. EmperorLeopold I of Habsburg assigned therefore the principality to his cousin ArchdukeSigismund Francis, regent of Tyrol andFurther Austria. Relationships with the Austrian Empire were again settled in 1662. Three years later, however, Sigismund Francis died and the principality was included in the Habsburg emperors' direct dominions. This however did not mean the loss of his semi-independent status, and several outstanding results were obtained anyway — the balance active of 1683, the completion of the Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, and the drying of themarshes in theAdige valley.Rice cultivation was introduced in the lands obtained.
The situation worsened at the beginning of the 18th century, when the Trentino and the Tyrol were invaded byFrench andBavarian armies, and Trento itself was bombed for six days in September 1703. But the most dangerous menace to the principality status were the claims of emperorCharles VI of Habsburg to reunite under the Habsburg crown all the hereditary territories of his house. The bishops continued their struggle for independence against the growing Austrian prominence, untilNapoleon's invasion of 1796.
Following the 1801Treaty of Lunéville, the prince-bishopric in 1803 wassecularized as the Principality of Trent, later part of theCounty of Tyrol, an Alpine crown land of theAustrian Empire from 1804. With Tyrol it was annexed by theKingdom of Bavaria according to the 1805Peace of Pressburg, passed to the NapoleonicKingdom of Italy in 1810 and in 1814 was again incorporated into the Austrian crown land of Tyrol.
Due to its predominantly Italian speaking population, the Trentino (Venezia Tridentina) was claimed by theItalian irredentism movement. It however remained a part of the Tyrolean crown land (Welschtirol), even after Austria had to cede the adjacentVeneto region after theThird Italian War of Independence in 1866. According to the 1919Treaty of Saint-Germain the territory of the former Trent bishopric together with the southern part of the original County of Tyrol fell to theKingdom of Italy.
| Name | Period |
|---|---|
| Ulrich II | 1027–1055 (bishop from 1022) |
| Azzo | 1055–1065 |
| vacant | |
| Henry I | 1068–1082 |
| Bernard II | 1082–1084 |
| Adalbero | 1084–1106 |
| Gebhard | 1106–1120 |
| Albert I | 1120–1124 |
| Altmann | 1124–1149 |
| Arnold II | 1149–1154 |
| Eberhard | 1154–1156 |
| St. Albert II | 1156–1177 |
| Salomon | 1177–1183 |
| Albert III di Madruzzo | 1184–1188 |
| Conrad II di Beseno | 1188–1205 |
| vacant | |
| Federico Wanga | 1207–1218 |
| Albert IV von Ravenstein | 1219–1223 |
| Gerard I Oscasali | 1223–1232 |
| Aldrighetto di Castelcampo | 1232–1247 |
| Egno von Eppan | 1250–1273 |
| Henry II | 1273–1289 |
| Philipp Buonacolsi | 1289–1303 |
| Bartholomew Querini | 1303–1307 |
| Henry III von Metz | 1310–1336 |
| Nikolaus Abrein | 1338–1347 |
| Gerard II of Magnoco | 1347–1348 |
| John III of Pistoia | 1348–1349 |
| Meinhard von Neuhaus | 1349–1362 |
| Albert V von Ortenburg | 1363–1390 |
| George I von Liechtenstein | 1390–1419 |
| Armand de Cilli | 1421 |
| Ernst Auer | 1422 |
| Henry IV Flechtel | 1422–1423 |
| Alexander of Masovia | 1424–1444 |
| Benedikt | 1444–1446 |
| Theobald von Wolkenstein | 1444–1446 (Anti-Bishop) |
| George II Haak von Themeswald | 1446–1465 |
| Johannes Hinderbach | 1465–1486 |
| Ulrich III von Frundsberg | 1486–1493 |
| Ulrich IV von Liechtenstein | 1493–1505 |
| George II von Neideck | 1505–1514 |
| Bernardo III Clesio | 1514–1539 |
| Cristoforo Madruzzo | 1539–1567 |
| Ludovico Madruzzo | 1567–1600 |
| Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo | 1600–1629 |
| Carlo Emanuele Madruzzo | 1629–1658 |
| Sigismund Francis of Austria | 1659–1665 |
| Ernst Adalbert von Harrach | 1665–1667 |
| Sigismund Alfons von Thun | 1668–1677 |
| Francesco Alberti di Pola | 1677–1689 |
| Giuseppe Vittorio Alberti di Enno | 1689–1695 |
| Johann Michael Graf von Spaur | 7 March 1696 - 22 April 1725 |
| Giovanni Benedetto Gentilotti | 9 September 1725 - 20 September 1725 |
| Anton Dominik Graf von Wolkenstein | 26 November 1725 - 5 April 1730 |
| Dominik Anton Graf von Thun | 19 June 1730 - 7 September 1758 |
| Leopold Ernest Graf von Firmian[3] | 1748 - 7 September (?) 1758 |
| Francesco Felice Alberti di Enno | 7 September (?) 1758 - 31 December 1762 |
| Cristoforo Francesco Sizzo de Norris | 2 July 1763 - 1776 |
| Peter Michael Vigil Graf von Thun und Hohenstein | 29 May 1776 - 17 January 1800 |
| Emmanuel Maria Graf von Thun und Hohenstein | 2 April 1800 - 6 November 1802 (continued as a secularized prince until February 1803) |
 Habsburg lands |  | |
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 Teutonic bailiwicks | ||
Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | ||
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46°04′03″N11°07′17″E / 46.0674°N 11.1214°E /46.0674; 11.1214
