Prince-Bishopric of Verden Principality of Verden (Hoch)Stift Verden(1180–1648) | |||||||||
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| 1180–1648 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
 The territory of Verden (pink, below right) around 1655 | |||||||||
| Status | State of theHoly Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Verden (seat ofchapter), Rotenburg (residence of pr.-bishops since 1195)¹ | ||||||||
| Common languages | German,Low German | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholic Church till the 1550s, thenLutheranism | ||||||||
| Government | Ecclesiastical principality | ||||||||
| Ruler | |||||||||
• 1395–1398 | Prince-BishopDietrich | ||||||||
• 1398–1399 | Prince-BishopConrad II | ||||||||
• 1623–29, 1635–45 | AdministratorFrederick II | ||||||||
• 1630–1631 | Prince-BishopFrancis | ||||||||
• 1631–1634 | Admin.John Frederick | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Break-up ofSaxony | 1180 | ||||||||
| 15 May 1648 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1806[1] | 730 km2 (280 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1806[1] | 20,000 | ||||||||
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1: Rotenburg castle was built in 1195, this may have been when the diocese had effectively acquired territorial power as prince-bishopric. | |||||||||
ThePrince-Bishopric of Verden (German:Fürstbistum Verden,Hochstift Verden orStift Verden) was anecclesiastical principality of theHoly Roman Empire that was located in what is today thestate ofLower Saxony inGermany. Verden had been adiocese of theCatholic Church since the middle of the 8th century. The state was disestablished in 1648. The territory was managed by secular lords on behalf of the Bishop of Verden. As aPrince-Bishopric of the Empire, the territory of the state was not identical with that of the bishopric, but was located within its boundaries and made up about a quarter of the diocesan area. By the terms of thePeace of Westphalia, the Prince-Bishopric was disestablished and a new entity was established, theDuchies of Bremen and Verden.
The territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden covered the eastern part of the presentdistrict of Verden (its border ran betweenLangwedel andEtelsen), and the southern part of thedistrict of Rotenburg (Wümme) and parts of the districts ofHarburg and theHeath district (Heidekreis).
TheDiocese of Verden was founded around 800 inVerden upon Aller as asuffragan in theecclesiastical province ofMainz.When the oldDuchy of Saxony was carved up in 1180, some of the territory around theSturnmigau' was erected as a state inImperial immediacy. The Bishop of Verden, in addition to his spiritual duties, was,ex officio, the temporal ruler of thePrince-Bishopric of Verden. The first Prince-Bishop — Tammo of Verden — ruled an area that was about a quarter of the extent of the diocesan territory. In 1195 Prince-Bishop Rudolph I founded the castle ofRotenburg upon Wümme as a stronghold against the neighbouringPrince-Archbishopric of Bremen. Later the castle took on the function of a prince-episcopalResidenz.
The bishops, and hence the prince-bishops, were elected by thecathedral chapter. However, the papacy tried to influence the elections and sometimes succeeded in getting their candidates elected. Such candidates, who were usually not local men, did not enjoy local support and were seen asLandfremde or alien.
From the early 16th century the prince-bishopric belonged to theLower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (colloquially:Westphalian Circle), a fiscal and military subsection of the empire. Verden sent its representatives to theImperial Diet and to theImperial Circle. While Verden, like the neighbouringCounty of Hoya, was a member of the Westphalian Circle, other adjacent territories, such as theDuchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and thePrince-Archbishopric of Bremen, were part of theLower Saxon Circle. At times, the prince-bishops also ruled the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen inpersonal union. In order to maintain their two seats in the diets, the states of Bremen and Verden were never formally united in areal union. The same is true for the collectively governedDuchies of Bremen and Verden which emerged in 1648 from the two secularised prince-bishoprics.
From 1558, a gradual change of confession to Lutheranism took place across the Verden diocesan. Within the hochstift, the Reformation was concluded with the enactment of achurch ordinance byAdministrator Eberhard von Holle, in 1568. In 1630, during theThirty Years' War, a Catholic bishop,Francis of Wartenberg, took over again as a consequence of theEdict of Restitution, but was only able to hold office until 1634. Thereafter, the Catholic Church was only represented there by theApostolic Vicariate of Northern Missions.
In 1648, by the terms of thePeace of Westphalia, the state was disestablished. In its place, a principality of the Empire was established that was ruled by the Swedish crown. The Principality of Verden was in turn disestablished in 1712. During this period, the principality was ruled inpersonal union with the territory of the formerPrince-Archbishopric of Bremen; they were informally known as theDuchies ofBremen-Verden or more formally the "Duchy of Bremen and Principality of Verden".
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1 from 1648 2 until 1648 3 without seat inImperial Diet ? status uncertain Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon
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