Prince-Bishopric of Münster | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1180–1802 | |||||||||||||||
 Flag (1770–1802)  Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Map of part of theLower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle in 1560, Prince-Bishopric of Münster highlighted in red | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Prince-Bishopric | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Münster in Westphalia | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Low Saxon,German,Frisian | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Catholic | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||
| 1180 | |||||||||||||||
• Secularised toPrussia | 1802 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
ThePrince-Bishopric of Münster (German:Fürstbistum Münster,Bistum Münster orHochstift Münster) was a largeecclesiastical principality in theHoly Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today'sNorth Rhine-Westphalia and westernLower Saxony. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, it was often held inpersonal union with one or more of the nearby ecclesiastical principalities ofCologne,Paderborn,Osnabrück,Hildesheim, andLiège.
Münster was bordered by theUnited Provinces to the west, byCleves,Vest Recklinghausen, andMark in the south, Paderborn and Osnabrück in the east. In the north and north-east it borderedEast Frisia,Oldenburg and theElectorate of Hanover (est. 1692).
As with all the other prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, it is important to distinguish between the Prince-Bishopric of Münster and theDiocese of Münster although both entities were ruled by the same individual. The dioceses were generally larger than the corresponding prince-bishoprics and in the parts that extended beyond the prince-bishopric, the prince-bishop's authority was strictly that of an ordinary bishop and limited to spiritual matters.
.jpg)
TheDiocese of Münster was founded byCharlemagne towards the end of theSaxon Wars about 795, as asuffragan ofCologne. He gave three large landed estates. These lands, at least in part, lay within the area of the later city. They were called the Brockhof, owned by the cathedral chapter; the Kampwordeshof, belonged later to the collegiate church of St. Moritz; and the Bispinghof belonged to the bishop.[1]
The first bishop wasLudger, who, since the year 787, had been a zealous missionary in fiveFrisian "hundreds", or districts. AsMimigernaford had been designated the centre of the new district, Ludger built a monastery forcanons regular there, from which the place took the name ofMünster. Here he lived with his monks according to the rule of SaintChrodegang ofMetz, which in 789 had been made obligatory in theFrankish territories.[2]
The territory of the Diocese of Münster was bounded on the west, south, and north-west by the dioceses of Cologne andUtrecht, on the east and north-east byOsnabrück. The diocese also included districts remote from the bulk of its territory, namely, the five Frisian hundreds on the lowerEms (Hugmerki, Hunusgau, Fivelgau, Federitgau, and Emsgau).
Most of the territory over which the bishop eventually exercised sovereign rights lay north of the RiverLippe, extending as far as the upperEms and theTeutoburg Forest. The most important accession was in 1252, when the see purchased the Countship ofVechta. The country between these new districts was acquired later: in 1403 the district aboutCloppenburg and Oyte was gained, in 1406 the manorial domain ofAhaus and the castle of Stromberg with its jurisdiction; and in 1429Wildeshausen in pledge from thePrince-Archbishopric of Bremen, renewed by its successor SwedishBremen-Verden by theTreaty of Nijmegen on 19 March 1679. According to the latter Prince-BishopFerdinand II, Baron of Fürstenberg grantedSweden a loan amounting to 100,000riksdalers in return for the renewed pledge. This last addition made the new territory, which was entirely separate from the southern part of the bishopric, a compact body subsequently known as "the lower bishopric"; it remained an integral part of the Bishopric of Münster until theReformation, which somewhat reduced its size. What was left was retained until the secularization.
The 12th century was marked by a considerable growth of the bishops' secular power. In 1173 the right of administering the city passed to the bishop and the cathedral chapter.[1] Bishop Ludwig I, Count of Tecklenburg (1169–73), restored to the see the temporal jurisdiction over its domains previously exercised by theCounts of Tecklenburg. Hermann II, like his immediate predecessors,Frederick II, Count of Are (1152–68), and Ludwig I, was a partisan ofFrederick Barbarossa. With the overthrow ofHenry the Lion,Duke of Saxony, the last obstacle in the way of the complete sovereignty of the bishops was removed, and Hermann appears as a great feudatory of the empire. During the episcopate of his second successor,Dietrich III of Isenberg-Altena (1218–26), the position of the bishop as a prince of the empire was formally acknowledged in 1220 byFrederick II. Hermann II was the last bishop directly appointed by theemperor. Dissensions arose about the election of his successor,Otto I, Count of Oldenburg (1204–18), and EmperorOtto IV decreed that thenceforward thecathedral chapter alone should elect the bishop. The See of Cologne retained the right of confirmation, and the emperor that of investiture. The bishop's temporal authority was limited in important matters; particularly in taxation, the consent of representative bodies of his subjects was necessary. Among these, the cathedral chapter appears early in the 13th century; later, the lower nobility, and, lastly, the city of Münster. In course of time the cathedral chapter extended its rights by agreements made with bishops before election.
The temporal power of the see increased greatly during the episcopate of BishopOtto II, Count of Lippe (1247–59). The city, at the same time, struggled to become independent of the bishop, but was not entirely successful, despite its alliance with the cathedral chapter. In 1252 Countess Jutta von Vechta-Ravensberg soldMeppen to the Bishop of Münster.
Even as early as the eleventh century the bishops all belonged to noble families, generally to those possessing lands in the neighbourhood; only too often the bishopric was administered for the benefit rather of the bishop's family than of the Church. The bishops were, in consequence, frequently involved in the quarrels of the nobility; ecclesiastical affairs were neglected and the prosperity of the inhabitants of the prince-bishopric suffered. Conditions were at their worst during what is known as theMünster Diocesan Feud (1450–57). The arbitrary conduct of BishopHenry II of Moers (1424–50) had aroused a very bitter feeling in the city. After his death the majority of the cathedral chapter electedWalram of Moers, brother of Henry and also Archbishop of Cologne, while the city and a minority of the chapter demanded the election ofEric of Hoya, brother of CountJohn of Hoya. Although the election of Walram was confirmed by the pope, open war for the possession of the see broke out, and Walram was unable to gain possession of the city of Münster. In 1457, after his death, a compact was made by which Eric of Hoya received a life income, and the privileges of the city were confirmed, while both parties recognized the new bishop appointed by the pope,John II, Count Palatine of Simmern (1457–66).
Under Frederick III (1522–32), brother of the Archbishop of Cologne,Hermann of Wied,Lutheranism spread rapidly after 1524, especially in the city. Scarcely any opposition to the innovation was made by the next bishop,Franz von Waldeck (1532–53), who from the first planned to aid theReformation in his three prince-bishoprics of Münster,Minden, and Osnabrück, in order to form out of these three a secular principality for himself. He was obliged, indeed, for the sake of his endangered authority, to proceed against theAnabaptists in the city of Münster; but he did little for the restoration of the Faith, and at last joined theSmalkaldic League. William of Ketteler (1553–57) was more Protestant than Catholic: although he regarded himself as an administrator of the old Church, and took the Tridentine oath, he refused to comply with the demands of Rome, and resigned in 1557.
BishopJohn William of Cleves (1574–85), inherited theDuchy of Cleves in 1575, married, and gave up the administration of the bishopric. A long diplomatic battle as to his successor arose between the Catholic and Protestant powers, during which the bishopric was administered by Cleves. The maintenance of Catholicism in the bishopric was assured by the victory ofErnst of Bavaria (1585–1612), who was alsoBishop of Freising,Hildesheim, andLiège, andArchbishop of Cologne. He zealously undertook theCounter-Reformation, invited theJesuits to aid him, and encouraged the founding of monasteries of the old orders, although he could not repair all the losses. The western part of the Frisian district under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Münster was transferred, in 1569, to the newly founded bishoprics ofGroningen andDeventer, and with them fell into Protestantism. In the same way the possessions of the Counts ofBentheim-Steinfurt and some other fortified towns passed from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop.
Christoph Bernhard von Galen (1650–78) was equally efficient both as bishop and as secular ruler; he forced the refractory city of Münster, after a long siege, to acknowledge his sovereign rights, succeeded in freeing his territory from foreign troops, gained parts of thePrince-Archbishopric of Bremen and of thePrince-Bishopric of Verden in awar withSweden (taking part in theBremen-Verden Campaign), restored church discipline, and established a school system for his territory. He attacked theDutch Republic in theFranco-Dutch War.
BishopClemens August of Bavaria (1719–61) was alsoElector of Cologne, andBishop of Paderborn,Hildesheim, andOsnabrück. During his rule, the bishopric suffered heavily during theWar of the Polish Succession and theSeven Years' War. His successor,Maximilian Frederick of Königsegg-Rothenfels (1761–84), who was also Elector of Cologne, mostly left the administration of Münster to a young cathedral canon,Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, during whose administration the principality attained unparalleled prosperity. However, at the election of an auxiliary bishop, von Fürstenberg was defeated byMaximilian Franz of Austria, who later succeeded to both the sees of Münster and Cologne (1784–1801). Maximilian Franz fledBonn in 1794 at the arrival ofFrench revolutionary troops, who were to remain in permanent occupation of the part of the bishopric located on the left bank of the Rhine. He spent the rest of his life in Vienna, although still nominally the prince-bishop of Münster. Upon his death, his nephew,Archduke Anton Victor of Austria, succeeded him. He was the last Elector of Cologne and Prince-Bishop of Münster. A secret agreement betweenFrance andPrussia on 5 August 1796 had chosen the Prince-Bishopric as the Prussian compensation for the territories on the left bank of the Rhine lost to France.
In 1803 the bishopric, with c. 310,000 inhabitants was secularized by theReichsdeputationshauptschluss and broken up into numerous parts. The larger Eastern share was assigned toPrussia, which took possession in March 1803.Oldenburg gained the Northern part (Vechta andCloppenburg). The other parts were given as compensation to former rulers of territories west of the Rhine:Arenberg,Looz-Corswarem,Salm andCroÿ. Within the following years all parts became French.
In 1815 Prussia was given the southern part (Oberstift) and theKingdom of Hanover most of the north (Niederstift), withOldenburg keeping its acquisitions.
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). "Diocese of Münster".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
| Prince-bishops |  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince-abbots | |||||||
| Secular | |||||||
| Counts /Lords |
| ||||||
| Cities | |||||||
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
| |||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
