The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (german: Hochstift Hildesheim, Fürstbistum Hildesheim, Bistum Hildesheim) 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 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 the Middle Ages until its dissolution in 1803. The Prince-Bishopric must not be confused with the

Diocese of Hildesheim The Diocese of Hildesheim (Latin: ''Dioecesis Hildesiensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheim ...

, which was larger and over which the prince-bishop exercised only the spiritual authority of an ordinary bishop.

History

Desmarées - Elector Clemens August at the hunt - Falkenlust, Unterer Salon

After 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 ...

had been conquered by the

Frankish Kingdom Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, Emperor

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 Holy ...

in 800 founded a missionary diocese at his

eastphalia Eastphalia (german: Ostfalen; Eastphalian: ''Oostfalen'') is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern ''Gaue'' (shires) of the historic stem duchy of Saxony, roughly confined by the River Leine in the west and the Elbe a ...

n court in

Elze Elze () is a town in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approximately west of Hildesheim. The municipality of Elze also comprises the villages of ''Esbeck, Mehle, Sehlde, Sorsum, Wittenburg'' ...

(''Aula Caesaris''), about west of Hildesheim. His son King

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

established the bishopric at Hildesheim in 815, dedicated to

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. According to legend delivered by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

, the king was hunting in the wintery woods of Elze, when he realized that he had lost his pendant with the

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of Blessed Virgin Mary. Distraught he sent out his attendance who finally discovered a flowering rose bush with the relic in his branches, which it would not let go. Louis had a chapel built by the side of the rose, the later St. Mary's Cathedral. A

rosa canina ''Rosa canina'', commonly known as the dog rose, is a variable climbing, wild rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia. Description The dog rose is a deciduous shrub normally ranging in height from , though sometimes it ...

is still growing at the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the cathedral, called the

Thousand-year Rose The Thousand-year Rose (German: ''Tausendjähriger Rosenstock'', literally: Thousand-year-old Rosebush), also known as the Rose of Hildesheim, grows on the apse of the Hildesheim Cathedral, a Catholic cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, that is dedi ...

(''Tausendjähriger Rosenstock''). His son King

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

appointed the famous former

archbishop of Rheims The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese ...

Ebbo Ebbo or Ebo ( – 20 March 851) was the Archbishop of Rheims from 816 until 835 and again from 840 to 841. He was born a German serf on the royal demesne of Charlemagne. He was educated at his court and became the librarian and councillor ...

, as bishop between 845 and 847. Ebbo's successor

Altfrid Saint Altfrid (or Altfrid of Hildesheim) (died 15 August 874) was a leading figure in Germany in the ninth century. A Benedictine monk, he became Bishop of Hildesheim, and founded Essen Abbey. He was also a close royal adviser to the East Frankis ...

began the construction of the cathedral, the groundplan of which has not been changed since then. During the reign of the Saxon

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

Hildesheim, together with the neighbouring bishoprics of

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

and

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 Magdebur ...

, became the central ecclesiastical territory of the

. Bishop

Bernward Bernward (c. 960 – 20 November 1022) was the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim from 993 until his death in 1022. Life Bernward came from a Saxon noble family. His grandfather was Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. Having lost his parents at ...

(993-1022) and his successor Gotthard (1022-1038) added much to the architectonic and cultural tradition of the present-day

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. At the Reichstag at

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

of August 15, 1235 Bishop

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

reached the official acknowledgement of Hildesheim as a Prince-bishopric (''

Hochstift In the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church, the German language, German term (plural: ) referred to the territory ruled by a bishop as a prince (i.e. prince-bishop), as opposed to his diocese, generally much larger and over which he exer ...

'') by Emperor Frederick II. As a negative consequence of this success, Hildesheim began to interfere with the neighbouring

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, culminating in the

Hildesheim Diocesan Feud The Hildesheim Diocesan Feud (german: Hildesheimer Stiftsfehde) or Great Diocesan Feud, sometimes referred to as a "chapter feud", was a conflict that broke out in 1519 between the Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (''Hochstift Hildesheim'') and the ...

1519-1523 with the warlike Brunswick duke Henry the Younger that led to a significant loss of territories. In the 16th century, most of the diocese as well as most of the state of Hildesheim switched to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. But the Bishopric managed not only to retain its independence from the surrounding Protestant states of Brunswick-Lüneburg, but also to retrieve large parts of the lost estates, mostly because its bishops were members of the powerful

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 ...

from 1573 until 1761, the last Clemens August of Bavaria from 1723, who also was archbishop and prince-elector of Archbishopric of Cologne, Cologne, prince-bishop of Prince-Bishopric of Münster, Münster, Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, Osnabrück and Bishopric of Paderborn, Paderborn as well as Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Teutonic Order. Hildesheimer Dom 2015.JPG, Hildesheim Cathedral Hildesheim, ehemalige fürstbischöfliche Residenz - Bischöfliches Generalvikariat.jpg, Former palace of the prince-bishops, today general vicariate of the diocese Hildesheim-Marienburg hell.jpg, Marienburg Castle (Hildesheim) Hildesheim-Burg.Steuerwald.Torturm.03.jpg, Steuerwald Castle In the course of the German Mediatisation of 1803, Hildesheim was secularised and its territory was annexed to Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia. Four years later, however, Prussia lost it to the newly established Kingdom of Westphalia. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 gave the territory of the former prince-bishopric to the Kingdom of Hanover. Blaeu 1645 - Episcopatus Hildesiensis descriptio novissima

Blaeu 1645 - Episcopatus Hildesiensis descriptio novissima

Subdivisions ''(Ämter)''

Wittelsbach prince-bishops

* Ernest of Bavaria, Ernest (1573-1612) * Ferdinand of Bavaria (bishop), Ferdinand (1612-1650) (Administrator) * Maximilian Henry of Bavaria, Maximilian Henry (1650-1688) * Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, Joseph Clemens (1702-1723) * Clemens August of Bavaria, Clemens August (1723-1761)

References

External links

Map of Lower Saxony in 1789
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishopric Of Hildesheim 1803 disestablishments Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany, Hildesheim History of Hildesheim Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim Lower Saxon Circle, Hildesheim Former monarchies of Europe

History

Subdivisions ''(Ämter)''

Wittelsbach prince-bishops

See also

References

External links