The term Prince of the Church is nowadays used nearly exclusively for Catholic cardinal s. However the term is historically more important as a generic term for clergymen whose offices hold the secular rank and privilege of a prince or are considered its equivalent.... (like a prince-bishop) in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity known as prince-abbacy or abbey-principality, which is an area that is ruled by the head of an abbey
Abbey
An abbey , is a Christianity monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.... .
Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone .... or a convent
Convent
A convent may refer to a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or it may refer to the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion.... . Thus, because of the possibility of it being a convent, an abbey-principality is one of the few cases in which the rule can be restricted to female incumbents, styled princess-abbess.
In many cases, they were prince of the empire of a Reichsabtei in or near Germany, with a seat in the Reichstag (imperial diet).
Other examples include the abbot nullius of Pinerolo
Pinerolo
Pinerolo is a town and comune in north-western Italy, 40 kilometres southwest of Turin on the river Chisone.... in Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 km? and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is Turin. The main local dialect is Piedmontese....
