The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn () was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802.

History

The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope Leo III. In the early years it was subordinated to the bishop of Würzburg. Since 855 the clergy had the right to elect the bishop. The diocese included the larger part of Lippe, Waldeck, and nearly half of the County of Ravensberg.

In 1180 when the Duchy of Saxony ceased to exist, the rights which the old dukedom had exercised over Paderborn were transferred to the Archbishopric of Cologne. The claims of the archbishops of Cologne were settled in the 13th century, almost wholly in favor of Paderborn. Under Bernhard II of Ibbenbüren (1198–1204) the bailiwick over the diocese, which since the middle of the 11th century had been held as a fief by the Counts of Arnsberg, returned to the bishops. This was an important advance in the development of the bishops' position as temporal sovereigns. From this time on the bishops did not grant the bailiwick as a fief, but managed it themselves, and had themselves represented in the government by one of their clergy. They strove successfully to obtain the bailiwicks over the abbeys and monasteries situated in their diocese.

Bishop Otto von Rietberg had to contend with Cologne; in 1281, when only bishop-elect, he received the regalia from Rudolph of Habsburg, and full judicial power (except penal judicature); henceforward the bishops were actual sovereigns, though not over the whole of their diocese. Bernhard V of Lippe (1321–41) had to acknowledge the city of Paderborn as free from his judicial supremacy. Heinrich III Spiegel zum Desenberg (1361–80), also Abbot of Corvey, left his spiritual functions to a suffragan; in 1371 he rebuilt the Burg Neuhaus at Paderborn. Simon II, Count of Sternberg (1380–89), involved the bishopric in feuds with the nobility, who after his death devastated the country. Wilhelm Heinrich van Berg, elected 1399, sought to remedy the evils which had crept in during the foregoing feuds, but when in 1414 he interested himself in the vacancy in the Archbishopric of Cologne, the cathedral chapter in his absence chose Dietrich von Mörs (1415–63). The wars of Dietrich, also Archbishop of Cologne, brought heavy debts upon the bishopric; during the feuds of the bishop with the city of Soest (1444–49) Paderborn was devastated.

Under Erich, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1502–1532), the Protestant Reformation obtained a foothold in the diocese, although the bishop remained loyal to the Church. Hermann von Wied (1532–47), also Archbishop of Cologne, sought to introduce the new teaching at Paderborn as well as Cologne, but he was opposed by all classes. The countships of Lippe, Waldeck, and Pyrmont, the part of the diocese in the Countship of Ravensberg, and most of the parishes on the right bank of the Weser became Protestant.

Heinrich IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (1577–1585), was a Lutheran; he permitted the adoption of the Augsburg Confession by his subjects. In the city of Paderborn only the cathedral and the Monastery of Abdinghof remained faithful. To save the Catholic cause, the cathedral chapter summoned the Jesuits to Paderborn in 1580. Theodor von Fürstenberg (1585–1618) restored the practice of the Catholic religion, built a gymnasium for the Jesuits, and founded the University of Paderborn in 1614.

During the German Mediatisation in 1802, the bishopric became Prussian, from 1807 until 1813 it was part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, and then part of the Prussian province of Westphalia.

Prince-bishops

• Bernhard V. zur Lippe (1321–1341)

• Balduin von Steinfurt (1341–1361)

• Heinrich III. von Spiegel zum Desenberg OSB (1361–1380)

• Simon II. von Sternberg (1380–1389)

• Ruprecht von Berg (1389–1394)

• Johann I. von Hoya (1394–1399)

• Bertrando d’Arvazzano (1399–1401)

• Wilhelm I. von Berg (1400–1414)

• Dietrich III. von Moers (1414–1463)

• Simon III. zur Lippe (1463–1498)

• Hermann I. von Hessen (1498–1508)

• Erich von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen (1508–1532)

• Hermann of Wied (1532–1547)

• Rembert von Kerssenbrock (1547–1568)

• Johann II. von Hoya (1568–1574)

• Salentin von Isenburg (1574–1577)

• Heinrich IV. von Sachsen-Lauenburg (1577–1585) – Protestant

• Dietrich IV. von Fürstenberg (1585–1618)

• Ferdinand I. von Bayern (1618–1650)

• Dietrich Adolf von der Recke (1650–1661)

• Ferdinand II. von Fürstenberg (1661–1683)

• Hermann Werner von Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1683–1704)

• Franz Arnold von Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1704–1718)

• Clemens August I. von Bayern (1719–1761)

• Wilhelm Anton von der Asseburg (1763–1782)

• Friedrich Wilhelm von Westphalen (1782–1789)

• Franz Egon von Fürstenberg (1789–1825)

Sources, references & external links

Paderborn (Bishopric)Category:799 establishmentsCategory:Dioceses established in the 8th centuryCategory:PaderbornCategory:States and territories established in 1281
de:Fürstbistum Paderbornnl:Prinsbisdom Paderbornzh:天主教帕德伯恩总教区