![Salzburg Chiemseehof](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Salzburg_Chiemseehof.jpg)
The Bishopric of Chiemsee was a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
diocese. While based on the islands of the
Chiemsee
Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The Alz flows in ...
in
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 ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, most of its territory lay in the
County of Tyrol
The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised pr ...
,
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 ...
. The bishopric ceased to be a residential see in 1808. and accordingly is today listed by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
as a
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
.
Establishment
The Bishopric of Chiemsee was established by the
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
of
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
,
Eberhard II of Regensberg, on the islands of the Chiemsee in 1215. It followed the precedent set by his predecessor
Gebhard, who had established the
Bishopric of Gurk
The Bishop of Gurk is the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk, which was established in 1072 as the first suffragan bishop by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg in the Duchy of Carinthia.
Initially performing the functions of a mere archiep ...
in 1072. This system of founding quite small
suffragan dioceses
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
was to be completed by the setting up of the bishoprics of
Seckau
Seckau ( sl, Sekava ) is a Marktgemeinde in the state of Styria, Austria. It is situated near Knittelfeld. It is known for the Benedictine Order, Benedictine Seckau Abbey, once the seat of the Diocese, bishopric Graz-Seckau.
See also
*Diocese of ...
in 1218 and
Lavant in 1225. It was caused by the fact, that, after a large increase in size, stretching its borders from the
Inn river
, image = UnterinntalWest.JPG
, image_caption = Lower Inn valley from Rattenberg castle
, source1_location = Swiss Alps (Lägh dal Lunghin)
, source1_elevation =
, source1_coordinates=
, mouth_location = Danube (Passau)
, mo ...
in Bavaria to the
Hungarian border, the
archdiocese of Salzburg became hard to govern. Both the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
and the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
gave their consent and support to the establishment of the bishopric in 1213.
Structure
All bishops of Chiemsee were selected by the Archbishops, for the bishops were the most important supporters of the archbishops. The bishops usually served as
auxiliary bishops or fulfilled other duties for the archbishops. Locally the ruling of the bishopric rested mostly with the archdeacons who, supported by the Dukes of Bavaria, prevented the bishops from residing in the bishopric. Therefore, the Bishops never became
prince-bishops of the Empire, unlike most other ecclesiarchs. Thus the bishopric should not be considered as a state 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 ...
, but as a territory within the state of the archbishopric. Accordingly, the bishops held a seat in the archbishoprics
diet.
At first, the nuns monastery of
Frauenchiemsee
The island Frauenchiemsee, often called Fraueninsel (), is the second largest of the three islands in Chiemsee, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Chiemsee in the Upper Bavarian district of Rosenheim, which is the smallest municipality in ...
was to be the seat of the bishopric, but subsequently, the monks monastery church of the nearby
Benedictine Abbey of Herrenchiemsee was chosen to be the diocesan
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
. In fact, the seat of the bishopric was the so-called ''Chiemseehof'' in the city of Salzburg. This building nowadays is used by the parliament and the government of the
State of Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) (also known as ''Salzburgerland'') is a States of Austria, state (''Land'') of the modern Republic of Austria. It is officially named ''Land Salzburg'' to distinguish it from i ...
.
The bishopric was rather small, consisting of 10 parishes when it was created, and finally 11in 1804, mostly consisting of
exclaves
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 ...
in the vicinity of
St. Johann in Tirol
St. Johann in Tirol is a market town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kitzbühel district. In the regional ductus, the last syllable of the name is stressed as "Sankt yo-Hahn'".
History
St. Johann is situated in the Leukental, which extends from Jo ...
.
The best known bishop was
Berthold Pürstinger (1508 - 1525) who twice used his influence to save innocent people from (the town-councillors in 1511, and the peasants in 1524); after retiring from office became a noted humanist.
Abolition
Together with the
secularisation of the archbishopric in 1803, the bishopric also lost its territorial function. In 1808 the diocese was abolished after the last bishop waived his rights. Temporarily under the rule of the
Ordinariate In the organisation of the Catholic Church and of the Anglican CommunionSee, for example, thAnglican Military Ordinariate in Canada an ordinariate is a pre- or pseudo-diocesan ecclesiastical structure, of geographical or personal nature, headed by a ...
of the
Bishopric of Freising, the Austrian parts returned to Salzburg and were added to the
Bishopric of Brixen in 1817/18, the rest becoming a regular part of the newly renamed Archbishopric of Munich-Freising.
List of Bishops of Chiemsee (1216 - 1808)
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Diocese of Chiemseeat catholic-hierarchy.org
at gcatholic.org
Article about the Bishopric of Chiemseeat ''Historisches Lexikon Bayerns'' (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiemsee
Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany
Roman Catholic dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire
Catholic titular sees in Europe
States and territories established in 1216
States and territories disestablished in 1803
Former states and territories of Bavaria