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The Prince-Bishopric of Freising (German: ''Hochstift Freising'') was an ecclesiastical principality of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
from 1294 until its
secularisation
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
in the early years of the 19th century.
The Prince-Bishopric of Freising should not be confused with the
diocese of Freising
The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (german: Erzbistum München und Freising, la, Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany. , which was considerably larger and over which the prince-bishop's authority was that of an ordinary bishop and therefore limited to spiritual and pastoral matters.
Geography
While the prince-bishopric's territory was comparatively small, it was very fragmented and its lands were dispersed over a wide area, from central
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
in the west to
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
and
Carniola in the east (see map).
In 1800, the 15,000 subjects of the Prince-Bishop lived in the following areas:
*
Immediate lordships:
** the City of
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
on the
Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...
river, located about north of
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, with a population of approximately 4,000 (as of 1800 AD)
** the adjacent County of
Ismaning
Ismaning is a municipality in Bavaria, Germany, located near Munich.
Geography
In 2016 it had 16,770 inhabitants. The town is located about seven kilometers northeast of Munich on the right high bank of the Isar River that flows into the Danube. ...
(also called ''Yserrain''), a narrow band of territory stretching along the east bank of the Isar (''Yser'') river, from Freising in the north to the outskirts of Munich in the south
** the exclave of Burgrain centred around
Isen Abbey
Isen Abbey (Kloster Isen) was a Benedictine abbey, later a collegiate foundation, at Isen in Bavaria, Germany.
History
Dedicated to Saint Zeno of Verona, the abbey was founded by members of the Fagana family, an indigenous Bavarian noble clan, and ...
, east of Yserrain
** the
County of Werdenfels The County of Werdenfels (German: ''Grafschaft Werdenfels'') in the present-day Werdenfelser Land in South Germany was a county that enjoyed imperial immediacy that belonged to the Bishopric of Freising from the late 13th century until the secularis ...
, located between Munich and Innsbruck, with the towns of
Garmisch, Partenkirchen and
Mittenwald
Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria.
Geography
Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the River Isar, ...
.
* Mediate estates:
** several small territories in
Old Bavaria
Altbayern ( Bavarian: ''Oidbayern'', also written Altbaiern, English: "Old Bavaria") is the territory and people of the three oldest parts of the Free State of Bavaria, which were earlier known as Kurbayern (English: "Electoral Bavaria") after the ...
(''Altbayern'')
**
Entersdorf,
Hollenburg,
Ulmerfeld, and
Waidhofen in Austria (present-day
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
)
**
Wölz in Styria
**
Innichen (San Candido) in Tyrol (present-day
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous province
, image_skyline =
, image_alt ...
, Italy)
**
Bischoflack (Škofja Loka) and
Klingenfels (Klevevž) in Carniola (present-day Slovenia)
** County of
Cadore
Cadore (; lld, Ciadòre; vec, italic=yes, Cadór or, rarely, ''Cadòria''; german: italic=yes, Cadober or ''Kadober''; Sappada German: ''Kadour''; in the
Patria del Friuli
The Patria del Friuli ( la, Patria Fori Iulii, fur, Patrie dal Friûl) was the territory under the temporal rule of the Patriarch of Aquileia and one of the ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1420, the Republic of Venice acquir ...
.
History
Foundation
The Benedictine abbey of Freising was founded by
Saint Corbinian
Saint Corbinian ( la, Corbinianus; french: Corbinien; german: Korbinian; 670 – 8 September c. 730 AD) was a Frankish bishop. After living as a hermit near Chartres for fourteen years, he made a pilgrimage to Rome. Pope Gregory II sent him to ...
circa 723–730 although it was only in 739 that the diocese as such was established by
Saint Boniface
Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant ...
.
In 783, Bishop Atto von Kienberger acquired the town of Innichen (San Candido) in the South Tyrol after having delivered on his promise to the lord of the area, Duke
Tassilo III
Tassilo III ( 741 – c. 796) was the duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings. The Son of Duke Odilo of Bavaria and Hitrud, the Daughter of Charles Martell.
Tassilo, then still a child, began his rule as a Frankis ...
of Bavaria, to build a Benedictine convent there. He then acquired the lordship of Burgrain in 808.
Emperor Otto II
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
donated the lordship of Bischoflack in Carniola (now
Skofja Loka, Slovenia) in 973 and
Henry II the lordships of Wölzer and Katschtal (Styria) in 1007. About 250 years later, the possessions of the bishops were to increase substantially with the acquisition of the rich
county of Werdenfels The County of Werdenfels (German: ''Grafschaft Werdenfels'') in the present-day Werdenfelser Land in South Germany was a county that enjoyed imperial immediacy that belonged to the Bishopric of Freising from the late 13th century until the secularis ...
in the late 13th century.
In 1294, the bishop was raised to the status of prince-bishop and thus became an
Estate of the Empire enjoying
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 pri ...
. A few years later, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria sold several towns along the Isar River to the bishop. That area became known as the county of Yserrain.
In contrast to the prince-bishopric which was made of several disparate small enclaves, the diocese of Freising, administered by the same bishop, was very large and covered most of the surrounding duchy of Bavaria, including the capital Munich. This was to remain a source of friction with the increasingly ambitious
House of Wittelsbach
The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...
whose dukes/electors tried more than once to bring Freising under their authority. The prince-bishops were nevertheless able to maintain their independence despite the fact that the Wittelsbach, the most powerful Catholic dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire after the Habsburg, succeeded now and then to have one of their own elected to the episcopal See.
As with all German prince-bishoprics, the canons of the cathedral chapter were solely responsible for electing a new prince-bishop, although outside interference from the Emperor and powerful neighbours, such as the Bavarian Wittelsbach, was to be expected.
Freising was incorporated into the
Bavarian Circle
The Bavarian Circle (german: Bayerischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.
The most significant state by far in the circle was the Duchy of Bavaria (raised to an Electorate by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1623) with the U ...
when the imperial circles were set up in the early years of the 16th century. The prince-bishop had seat and voice in the
Reichstag as a member of the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes.
Like other parts of the Holy Roman Empire, Freising did not escape the ravages of the
Thirty Years’ War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
and while it paid the ransom demanded by the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus in 1632, the city was still pillaged. There was then to be famine and pestilence when the Swedes invaded again in 1646. A dark chapter of the history of Freising in the late 17th century was the trial and execution of several Freising children during the witch hunts that desolated Germany at the time.
Golden Era
![Alte Poststraße 42 St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Alte_Poststra%C3%9Fe_42_St._Peter_und_Paul_Innenraum_Freising-1.jpg)
Freising was to reach its peak under Prince-Bishop Johann Franz Ecker von Kapfing und Liechtenech (1696–1727) who founded the first Hochschule (high school) in 1697 and carried out extensive renovations of the cathedral church on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the diocese (1724). He also commissioned the Benedictine monk Karl Meichelbeck to write a new chronicle of the diocese, ''Historia frisingensis'', considered by many to be one of the first examples of critical historical research in Germany.
End of the Prince-Bishopric
Like the great majority of the German ecclesiastical principalities, Freising was secularised in the course of the mass
secularisations of 1802–03. On November 1802, Bavarian officials and troops entered the city and the territory of the prince-bishopric was annexed to Bavaria, except for the distant Styrian and Slovenian enclaves which were annexed by Austria.
Church property was expropriated and the former capital city of the prince-bishops became one more small country town of the new kingdom. In 1821, the former diocese of Freising was absorbed into the newly created
Archdiocese of Munich and Freising
The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (german: Erzbistum München und Freising, la, Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany. , whose seat was transferred to Munich.
The Freising Manuscripts
![Freising manuscript](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Freising_manuscript.jpg)
The name of Freising is associated with the
Freising Manuscripts
The Freising manuscriptsAlso ''Freising folia'', ''Freising fragments'', or ''Freising monuments''; german: Freisinger Denkmäler, la, Monumenta Frisingensia, sl, Brižinski spomeniki or are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic ...
, a unique manuscript of the late Carolingian period which owes its fame primarily to its few pages written in Slovene, the oldest known text in that language. The late 10th-century document dates from the time of Bishop Abraham of Freising. Like his predecessors, Bishop Abraham had been actively involved in missionary work among the Slavic populations east of the Alps, which explains why an area of Slovenia (Skofja Loka) was to become part of the distant Prince-Bishopric of Freising for several centuries.
The manuscript came to light after the content of the rich episcopal library of Freising was transferred to Munich after the secularisation of Freising in 1802–03.
Books
* Georg Urban Zacher: ''Eine alte Grenzbeschreibung des Hochstifts Freysing''. Oerbayerisches Archiv Bd. 4 (1843), S. 425-428.
* Stahleder/Steigelmann: ''
Historischer Atlas von Bayern: Hochstift Freising.'' Altbayern Reihe I Heft 33, 1974
* Albrecht: ''Historischer Atlas von Bayern: Grafschaft Werdenfels (Hochstift Freising).'' Altbayern Reihe I Heft 9, 1955
References
{{Authority control
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
1294 establishments in Europe
1290s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1802 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Freising (district)
Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire