The
Bishopric of Minden was a
Roman CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
dioceseA diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
and a state,
Prince-bishopA Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
ric of Minden , of the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. Its capital was
MindenMinden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
which is in modern day
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
History
The diocese was founded by
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
in 803, after he had conquered the
SaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
. It was subordinate to the Archbishopric-Electorate of Cologne. It became the
Prince-Bishopric of Minden in 1180, when the
Duchy of SaxonyThe medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
was dissolved. In the 16th century, the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
was starting to take hold in the state, under the influence of the Duchy of
Brunswick-LüneburgThe Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
. Minden was occupied by
SwedenThe Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
in the
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, and was secularized. The
Peace of WestphaliaThe Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
of 1648 gave it to the
Margraviate of BrandenburgThe Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
as the
Principality of Minden .
Since 1719, Minden was administered by
Brandenburg-PrussiaBrandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
together with the adjacent County of Ravensberg as
Minden-RavensbergMinden-Ravensberg was a Prussian administrative unit consisting of the Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg from 1719–1807. The capital was Minden. In 1807 the region became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a client state of Napoleonic France...
. In 1807, it became part of the
Kingdom of WestphaliaThe Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...
. In 1814, it returned to Prussia and became part of the
Province of WestphaliaThe Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Kingdom of Westphalia, which was a client state of the First French Empire from 1807 to 1813...
.
As of 1789, the principality had an area of 1100 km² (424.7 sq mi). It was bordered by (clockwise from the north): an exclave of the Landgraviate of
Hesse-KasselThe Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...
(or Hesse-Cassel), the
Electorate of HanoverThe Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation...
,
the County of
Schaumburg-LippeSchaumburg-Lippe was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bückeburg.- History :...
, another exclave of Hesse-Kassel, the
Principality of LippeLippe was a historical state in Germany. It was located between the Weser River and the southeast part of the Teutoburg forest.-History:...
, the County of Ravensberg, and the
Prince-Bishopric of OsnabrückThe Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück was a prince-bishopric centred on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück. The diocese was erected in 772 and is the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony....
. Cities included
MindenMinden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
and
LübbeckeLübbecke is a town in northeast North Rhine-Westphalia in north Germany. This former county town lies on the northern slopes of the Wiehen Hills and has around 26,000 inhabitants. The town is in the Eastwestphalian district of Minden-Lübbecke...
.
Famous bishops
- Saint Erkanbert (803–813)
- Saint Hardward (813–853)
- Saint Theoderich (853–880)
- Saint Thietmar
Saint Thietmar of Minden was bishop of Minden from 1185 or 1186 until his death in 1206. According to tradition, Thietmar was from Bavaria....
(1185–1206)
- Francis of Waldeck
Count Franz von Waldeck , was Prince-Bishop of Münster, Osnabrück, and Minden and a leading figure in putting down the Münster Rebellion....
(1530–53)
- Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1568 until his death....
(1553–54)
- Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry Julius was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1589 until his death. In 1576 he had become the first rector of the Protestant University of Helmstedt.- Life :...
(1582–85, Protestant)
- Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, was Prince of Lüneburg and Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden.- Life :...
(1599–1625, Protestant)
- Francis of Wartenberg
Franz Wilhelm, Count von Wartenberg was a Bavarian Catholic Bishop of Osnabrück, expelled from his see in the Thirty Years' War and later restored, and at the end of his life a Cardinal....
(1631–48)
See also