The Prince-Bishopric of Minden (german: Fürstbistum Minden; Bistum Minden; Hochstift Minden; Stift Minden) was an

ecclesiastical principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

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 unt ...

. It was progressively secularized following the Protestant Reformation when it came under the rule of Protestant rulers, and by the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

of 1648 given to Brandenburg as the Principality of Minden. It must not be confused with the Roman Catholic diocese of Minden, which was larger, and over which the prince-bishop exercised spiritual authority.

History

The diocese was founded by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

in 803, after he had conquered the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

. It was subordinate to the Archbishopric-Electorate of Cologne. It became the Prince-Bishopric of Minden (german: Fürstbistum Minden) in 1180, when the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...

was dissolved. As to the diocese of Minden, it ceased to exist following the Swedish takeover of 1648. Prior to its dissolution, the diocesan area comprised, in addition to the temporal prince-bishopric, parts of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and all of Schaumburg-Lippe. The defunct diocese came under the care of by the Apostolic Vicariate of the Nordic Missions in 1667. Between 1709 and 1780 it formed part of the

Vicariate Apostolic of Upper and Lower Saxony The Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Germaniae Septentrionalis), known for most of its existence as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Northern (or Nordic) Missions ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Missionum Septentrio ...

, before it was reincorporated into the Nordic Missions. In 1821 the former Minden diocesan area within the former prince-bishopric boundary became part of the

Diocese of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...

, whereas the Brunswickian part became part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anhalt and Brunswick in 1825, only to join the Diocese of Hildesheim in 1834. The Schaumburg-Lippe area stayed with the Nordic Missions until their dissolution in 1930, becoming first part of the

Diocese of Osnabrück In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

and then of Hildesheim as of 1965.

Transition to a secular principality

In the 16th century, 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 i ...

was starting to take hold in the state, under the influence of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Minden was occupied by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

in 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 batt ...

, and secularized. The

of 1648 gave it to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

as the Principality of Minden (german: Fürstentum Minden). After 1719 Minden was administered by

Brandenburg-Prussia Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohe ...

together with the adjacent

County of Ravensberg The County of Ravensberg (german: Grafschaft Ravensberg) was a historical county of the Holy Roman Empire. Its territory was in present-day eastern Westphalia, Germany at the foot of the Osning or Teutoburg Forest. History Ravensberg was f ...

Minden-Ravensberg Minden-Ravensberg was a Prussian administrative unit consisting of the Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg from 1719–1807. The capital was Minden. In 1807 the region became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a client state ...

. In 1807, it became part of the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

. In 1814, it returned to Prussia and became part of the

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 191 ...

. As of 1789, the principality had an area of . It was bordered by (clockwise from the north): an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the Landgraviate of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the L ...

(or Hesse-Cassel), the

Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover (german: Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in northwestern Germany and taking its name from the capital city of Hanover. It was formally known as ...

, the County of

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bü ...

, another exclave of Hesse-Kassel, the

Principality of Lippe Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a historical state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest. It was founded in the 1640s under a sep ...

, the County of Ravensberg, and the

Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück The Prince-Bishopric of OsnabrückAlso known as the Prince-Bishopric of Osnaburg) (german: link=no, Hochstift Osnabrück; Fürstbistum Osnabrück, Bistum Osnabrück) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1225 until 1803. ...

. Cities included

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of De ...

and

Lübbecke Lübbecke (; wep, Lübke) is a town in northeast North Rhine-Westphalia in north Germany. This former county town lies on the northern slopes of the Wiehen Hills (''Wiehengebirge'') and has around 26,000 inhabitants. The town is part of distri ...

Famous bishops

* Saint Erkanbert (803–813) * Saint Hardward (813–853) * Saint Theoderich (853–880) * Saint Thietmar (1185–1206) * Francis of Waldeck (1530–53) *

Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Julius of Braunschweig; 29 June 1528 – 3 May 1589), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1568 until his death. From 1584, he ...

(1553–54) *

Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry Julius (german: Heinrich Julius; 15 October 1564 – 30 July 1613), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1589 until his death. He also served as administrator of the ...

(1582–85, Protestant) * Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1599–1625, Protestant) *

Francis of Wartenberg Franz Wilhelm, Count von Wartenberg (born at Munich, 1 March 1593; died at Ratisbon, 1 December 1661) was a Bavarian Catholic Bishop of Osnabrück, expelled from his see in the Thirty Years' War and later restored, and at the end of his life a Ca ...

(1631–48)

Auxiliary bishops

* Johann Christiani von Schleppegrell, O.S.A. (1428–1468)"Bishop Johann Christiani von Schleppegrell, O.S.A."
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016 * Johannes Tideln, O.P. (1477–1501)"Bishop Johannes Tideln, O.P.
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016 * Johannes Gropengeter, O.S.A. (1499–1508)"Bishop Johannes Gropengeter, O.S.A.
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 28, 2016 * Ludwig von Siegen, O.F.M. (1502–1508)"Bishop Ludwig von Siegen, O.F.M."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016 * Heinrich von Hattingen,

O. Carm. , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

(1515–1519)"Bishop Heinrich von Hattingen, O. Carm.
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 28, 2016

References

At Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minden, Bishopric Subdivisions of Prussia Roman Catholic dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany Former states and territories of North Rhine-Westphalia

Bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

1807 disestablishments in Germany Dioceses established in the 9th century Religious organizations established in the 800s Religious organizations disestablished in 1648 Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle 1180s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1180 establishments in Europe

History

Transition to a secular principality

Famous bishops

Auxiliary bishops

See also

References