The
Archbishopric of Mainz () or
Electorate of Mainz ( or
Kurmainz) was an influential ecclesiastic and secular
prince-bishopric in the
Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the
Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the
primas Germaniae, the substitute of the
Pope north of the
Alps. Aside from
Rome, the See of Mainz is the only other see referred to as a "Holy See", although this usage has become rather less common.
The archbishopric was a substantial ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It included several non-contiguous blocks of territory: lands near
Mainz on both the left and right banks of the
Rhine; territory along the
Main above
Frankfurt (including the district of
Aschaffenburg); the
Eichsfeld region in
Lower Saxony and
Thuringia; and the territory around
Erfurt in Thuringia. The archbishop was also, traditionally, one of the Imperial
Prince-Electors, the
Arch-chancellor of
Germany, and presiding officer of the
electoral college technically from 1251 and permanently from 1263 until 1803.
History
The
see was established in
ancient Roman times, in the city of
Mainz, which had been a Roman
provincial capital called Moguntiacum, but the office really came to prominence upon its elevation to an
archdiocese in 780/82. The first bishops before the 4th century have legendary names, beginning with
Crescens. The first verifiable Bishop of Mainz was Martinus in 343. The ecclesiastical and secular importance of Mainz dates from the accession of St.
Boniface to the see in 747. Boniface was previously an archbishop, but the honor did not immediately devolve upon the see itself until his successor
Lullus.
In 1802, Mainz lost its archiepiscopal character. In the secularizations that accompanied the
Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the seat of the elector,
Karl Theodor von Dalberg, was moved to
Regensburg, and the electorate lost its left bank territories to
France, its right bank areas along the Main below Frankfurt to
Hesse-Darmstadt and the
Nassau princes, and Eichsfeld and Erfurt to the
Kingdom of Prussia. Dalberg retained the Aschaffenburg area as the
Principality of Aschaffenburg. In 1810 Dalberg merged Aschaffenburg,
Frankfurt,
Wetzlar,
Hanau, and
Fulda, to form the new
Grand Duchy of Frankfurt in 1810. Dalberg resigned in 1813 and in 1815 the
Congress of Vienna divided his territories between the
Kingdom of Bavaria, the Electorate of
Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), the
Grand Duchy of Hesse and the
Free City of Frankfurt.
The modern
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz was founded in 1802, within the territory of
France and in 1814 its jurisdiction was extended over the territory of Hesse-Darmstadt. Since then it has had two
cardinals and via various
concordats was allowed to retain the mediæval tradition of the
cathedral chapter electing a successor to the
bishop.
Bishops and archbishops
Bishops of Moguntiacum, 80–745
- St. Crescentius c. 109–127
- Martin II c. 330s – c. 360s
- Sidonius I c. late 360s – c. 386
- Sigismund c. 386 – c. 392
- Eutropius c. 443 – c. 467
- Gewielieb c. 743 – c. 745
Archbishops of Mainz, 745–1251
- Lullus 755–786 (First "real" archbishop of Mainz)
- Conrad I of Wittelsbach (restored) 1183–1200
Archbishops-Electors of Mainz, 1251–1803
- Gerhard I von Daun-Kirberg 1251–1259
- Werner II von Eppstein 1260–1284
- Heinrich II von Isny 1286–1288
- Gerhard II von Eppstein 1286–1305
- Matthias von Buchek 1321–1328
- Heinrich III von Virneberg 1328–1337
- Johann I von Luxemburg-Ligny 1371–1373
- Ludwig von Meissen 1374–1379
- Adolf I von Nassau 1379–1390
- Konrad II von Weinsberg 1390–1396
- Johann II von Nassau 1396–1419
- *Joffrid von Leiningen 1396–1397 (in opposition)
- Jakob von Liebenstein 1504–1508
- Sebastian von Heusenstamm 1545–1555
- Daniel Brendel von Homburg 1555–1582
- Wolfgang von Dalberg 1582–1601
- Johann Adam von Bicken 1601–1604
- Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg 1604–1626
- Georg Friedrich von Greiffenklau 1626–1629
- Anselm Casimir Wambold von Umstadt 1629–1647
- Lothar Friedrich von Metternich 1673–1675
- Damian Hartrad von der Leyen 1675–1678
- Karl Heinrich von Metternich 1679
- Philipp Karl von Eltz 1732–1743
- Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim 1763–1774
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