The
Bishopric of Speyer was a former state, ruled by Prince-Bishops, in what is today the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate. It was
secularized in 1803. Its capital was
Speyer until the 14th century when the prince-bishop moved his residence to Uddenheim (
Philippsburg) then
Bruchsal.
Geography
The bishopric of Speyer belonged to the
Upper Rhenish Circle of the
Holy Roman Empire and encompassed an area of 28 square miles (about 1540 km²) on both sides of the
Rhine. It included the towns of
Bruchsal (on the right bank) as well as
Deidesheim,
Herxheim bei Landau, and
Lauterburg (on the left bank). Around 1800 the bishopric included about 55,000 people.
History
A Diocese of Speyer has possibly existed since the 3rd or 4th centuries. It was first mentioned in historical documents in 614. Until 748 it belonged to the
Archbishopric of Trier. From then until the dissolution of the bishopric in 1803, Speyer belonged to the
Archbishopric of Mainz.
The history of the Bishopric of Speyer began latest in the late 7th century when the bishop of
Speyer received royal domains in the neighboring
Speyergau. In the 10th and 11th centuries, the diocese received additional lands, including gifts by
emperor Otto I. In 1030 the building of the
cathedral was begun. In 1061 the cathedral was consecrated. In 1086
emperor Henry IV granted the bishopric the remaining parts of the county of Speyergau.
From 1111 the citizens of the city of Speyer began to increasingly loosen their bonds to the rulership of the bishop. In 1230 a
Bürgermeister was mentioned for the first time. 1294 Speyer became a
Free Imperial City. The bishop moved his palace in 1371 to Udenheim. At the beginning of the 17th century bishop
Philipp Christoph von Sötern expanded as the fortress of
Philippsburg. The prince-bishops reigned from there from 1371 to 1723. Afterwards the prince-bishop moved his seat to Bruchsal.
From 1681 to 1697, at the end of the
War of the Grand Alliance, part of the bishopric's left-bank territories went to
France. In 1801/1802, the
remaining left-bank territories were conquered by French troops as part of the
French Revolution. The right-bank territories went to
margraves of Baden.
This ended the worldy responsibilities of the bishop of Speyer. The bishopric was secularized and continued ecclesiastically as the
Diocese of Speyer.
Prince-bishops of Speyer
The following were
prince-bishops of Speyer, whom were worldly as well as ecclesiastical rulers.
See also
Footnotes
