The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg (german: Hochstift Brandenburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th century until it was secularized during the second half of the 16th century. It should not be confused with the larger Diocese of Brandenburg ( la, Dioecesis Brandenburgensis) established by King

Otto I of Germany Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Henr ...

in 948, in the territory of the ''

Marca Geronis The ''Marca Geronis'' (march of Gero) was a vast super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was created probably for Thietmar (in the 920s) and passed to his two sons consecutively: Siegfried and Gero. On Gero's death in 965 it was divid ...

'' ( Saxon Eastern March) east of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...

river. The diocese, over which the prince-bishop exercised only spiritual authority, was a suffragan diocese of the

Archdiocese of Magdeburg The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River. Planned since 955 and established in 968, the Roman ...

, its seat was

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

. The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg was an

imperial estate An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

for some time, probably starting about 1161/1165. However, the Brandenburg bishops never managed to gain control over a significant territory, being overshadowed by the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which was originally seated in the same city. Chapter and cathedral, surrounded by further ecclesiastical institutions, were located on the ''Dominsel'' (Cathedral Island), which formed a prince-episcopal

cathedral immunity district {{Multiple issues, {{refimprove, date=July 2015{{more footnotes, date=July 2015 In the Holy Roman Empire, the Domfreiheit (German language, German: Cathedral Freedom) or Domimmunität (Cathedral Immunity) was the area immediately around the sea ...

(''Domfreiheit''), distinct from the city of Brandenburg. Only in 1929 the - meanwhile former - immunity district was incorporated into the city itself.

History

The foundation charter of the Brandenburg diocese is dated 1 October 948, though the actual founding date remained disputed among historians. The medieval chronicler

Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. ...

mentions the year 938; the bishopric may also have been established in the course of the partition of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' and the emergence of the Northern March after Margrave Gero's death in 965. With the foundation, King Otto ( Holy Roman Emperor from 962) aimed at the

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, cont ...

of the Polabian Slavs (

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...

) and the incorporation of their territory into the East Frankish realm. Brandenburg was originally a suffragan of the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

, but in 968 it came under the jurisdiction of the Magdeburg archbishops. The

Great Slav Rising In the Slavic revolt of 983, Polabian Slavs, Wends, Lutici and Obotrite tribes, that lived east of the Elbe River in modern north-east Germany overthrew an assumed Ottonian rule over the Slavic lands and rejected Christianization under Emperor ...

of 983 practically annihilated it, when revolting Lutici tribes conquered Brandenburg and the neighbouring Bishopric of Havelberg. Brandenburg bishops continued to be appointed, but they were merely titular, residing in Magdeburg or acting as auxiliary bishops in the western territories of the Empire. Not until the final subjugation of the Wends in the 12th century by Margrave Albert the Bear, the German eastward settlement (''Ostsiedlung'') in the diocesan region revived the bishopric. Bishop Wigers of Brandenburg (acting 1138–60), an adherent of Norbert of Xanten, was the first of a series of bishops of the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

Order, which chose the occupants of the episcopal see until 1447; in that year a bull of

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...

gave the right of nomination to the Brandenburg

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

, with whom the bishops stood in a close feudal relation. Bishop Wigers also established a Premonstratensian convent at Leitzkau (today part of Gommern, Saxony-Anhalt). Probably at the request of the Hevellian prince Pribislav-Henry, he established another convent at the Slavic ''Parduin'' settlement in present-day Brandenburg an der Havel, which became the nucleus of the revived Brandenburg cathedral chapter. The incorporation into the Premonstratensian Order was confirmed by Pope Clement III in 1188. Burg Ziesar 14

As rulers of

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pr ...

, regnant in a, however, dispersed territory partitioned into the four bailiwicks (german: Ämter) of Brandenburg/Havel, Ketzin, Teltow and Ziesar. The prince-bishops from the early 14th century onwards resided in their fortress in Ziesar on the road to

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

. The last actual bishop was Matthias von Jagow (d. 1544), who took the side of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, married, and in every way furthered the undertakings of the Hohenzollern elector

Joachim II Joachim II may refer to: * Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (1505–1571) * Patriarch Joachim II of Constantinople Joachim II (1802 – 5 August 1878) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Ο� ...

. There were two more nominal bishops, but on the petition of the latter of these, the electoral prince John George of Brandenburg appointed in 1560, the secularisation of the bishopric was undertaken and finally accomplished in 1571, in spite of legal proceedings to reassert the imperial immediacy of the prince-bishopric within the Empire and so to likewise preserve the diocese, which dragged on into the 17th century.

Bishops of Brandenburg

* 949–968: Dietmar * 968–980: Dodilo * 980–1004: Volkmar * 992–1018: Wigo * 1022–1032: Luizo * 1032-1048: Rudolf * 1048–1051: Dankwart * 1068–1080: Dietrich I * 1080–1092: Volkmar II * 1100–1122: Hartbert * 1124–1137: Ludolf * 1137–1138: Landbert

Prince-bishops

* 1138–1160: Wiggar * 1160–1173: Wilman * 1173–1179: Sigfried I * 1179–1190: Baldran * 1190–1192: Alexius * 1192–1205: Norbert * 1205–1216: Baldwin * 1216–1220: Siegfried II * 1221–1222: Ludolf von Schanebeck, claimant, but not enthroned * 1221–1222: Wichmann von Arnstein, counter-claimant, also not enthroned * 1222–1241: Gernot * 1241–1251: Rutger von Ammendorf * 1251–1261: Otto von Mehringen * 1261–1278: Heinrich I von Osthenen (or ''Ostheeren'') * 1278–1287: Gebhard * 1287–1290: Heidenreich * 1290–1291: Richard, refused the appointment * 1291–1296: Dietrich, not enthroned * 1296–1302: Vollrad von Krempa * 1303–1316: Friedrich von Plötzkau * 1316–1324: Johann I von Tuchen * 1324–1327: Heinrich II Count of Barby, not enthroned * 1327–1347: Ludwig Schenk von Reindorf (or ''Neuendorf'') * 1347–1365: Dietrich II Kothe * 1366–1393: Dietrich III von der Schulenburg * 1393–1406: Heinrich III von Bodendiek (or ''Bodendieck'') * 1406–1414: Henning von Bredow * 1414: Friedrich von Grafeneck, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg 1413–1414 * 1415–1420: Johann von Waldow, Bishop of Lebus 1420–1423 * 1420: Friedrich von Grafeneck, again * 1421–1459:

Stephan Bodecker Stephan Bodecker (1384 – 15 February 1459) was the 37th Bishop of Brandenburg and a Christian Hebraist. He is known as the most important of the bishops of Brandenburg. He was born the son of a poor cooper from Rathenow, a small town on the ...

* 1459–1472: Dietrich IV von Stechow * 1472–1485: Arnold von Burgsdorff * 1485–1507: Joachim I von Bredow * 1507–1520: Hieronymus Schulz (or ''Scultetus''),

Bishop of Havelberg The Bishopric of Havelberg (german: Bistum Havelberg) was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I of Germany in 946, from 968 a suffragan to the Archbishops of Magedeburg. A Prince-bishopric (''Hochstift'') from 1151, Havelberg as a resu ...

1521–1522 * 1520–1526: Dietrich V von Hardenberg

Lutheran bishops

* 1526–1544: Matthias von Jagow * 1544–1546: ''

Sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. H ...

'' * 1546–1560: Joachim of Münsterberg-Oels * 1560–1569/71: John George of Brandenburg,

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

(''Verweser'') * 1569/71: Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg Secularized and merged into Brandenburg.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishopric Of Brandenburg Brandenburg Diocese Brandenburg Bishopric

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

Brandenburg Diocese

Former states and territories of Brandenburg Brandenburg an der Havel 10th-century establishments in Germany

History

Bishops of Brandenburg

Prince-bishops

Lutheran bishops

See also

References