Osnabrück, Prince-Bishopric of
Substate | Defunct
1225 CE to 1803 CE
The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück is a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1225 until 1803.
It is the territory of princely rule held by the incumbents of the Diocese of Osnabrück, therefore wielding secular and religious functions as prince-bishops.
It is named after its capital, Osnabrück.The still extant Diocese of Osnabrück, erected in 772, is the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony.
The episcopal and capitular temporal possessions of the see, originally quite limited, grows in time, and its prince-bishops exercise an extensive civil jurisdiction within the territory covered by their rights of Imperial immunity.
The Prince-Bishopric continues to grow in size, making its status during the Reformation a highly contentious issue.In the German Mediatization of 1803, the Bishopric is dissolved and the secular or temporal power given to the Hanover branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the see, the chapter, the convents and the Catholic charitable institutions are secularized.
The territory of the see passes to Prussia in 1806, to the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, to Napoleonic France in 1810, and again to Hanover in 1814.With the end of the prince-bishopric also the future of the diocese becomes unclear.
Klemens von Gruben, titular Bishop of Paros in Greece, is made vicar apostolic of Osnabrück, and as such cares for the spiritual interests of the Catholic population.
The ordinary Latin (Roman) Catholic episcopacy is restored in 1824, but henceforth the bishops will no longer wield any temporal power.
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Maurice of Nassau, sovereign Prince of Orange from 1618 and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from earliest 1585 until his death in 1625, had asserted (with the assent of the other provinces) a federal sovereignty that superseded the provincial one.
He had also purged the Holland regents that supported the provincial-sovereignty pretensions of Landsadvocaat Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and so had managed to acquire a political dominance in the government of the Republic that assumed almost monarchical proportions.
His brother, and successor as stadtholder, Frederick Henry, had held on to this ascendancy, due to a deft policy of divide-and conquer, playing off the regent factions against each other.
On the death, in March 1647, of Frederick Henry, sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel, his son William II had been appointed stadtholder in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelderland (the office will not become hereditary until 1747).
William II does not have the stature of his father, also because Frederick Henry had not thought highly of his capabilities and had refused to allow him to lead troops in the field during the war against Spain that was then in its last stages.
William is opposed to the peace with Spain, but he is largely ignored by the politicians in the States General, especially the representatives of the city of Amsterdam.
Lutheran Sweden's peace negotiations with the Empire, including the allies of both sides, takes place in its preferred conference venue, Osnabrück.
the Thirty Years War, after five years of negotiations between Spain and the United Provinces, and between France, Sweden, the Holy Roman Emperor and the German princes, ends with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.
The treaties of Osnabruck and Münster result from the first modern diplomatic congress, thereby initiating a new political order in central Europe, based upon the concept of a sovereign state governed by a sovereign.
In the event, the treaties’ regulations becomes integral to the constitutional law of the Holy Roman Empire.
The power taken by Ferdinand III in contravention of the Holy Roman Empire's constitution is stripped and returned to the rulers of the Imperial States.
This rectification allows the rulers of the Imperial States to independently decide their religious worship.
Protestants and Catholics are redefined as equal before the law, and Calvinism is given legal recognition.
Also, each of the four hundred or so princes of the Holy Roman Empire are given equal authority to that of the Emperor, decentralizing the government and effectively ending the power of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Holy See is very displeased at the settlement, with Pope Innocent X reportedly calling it "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time".
Barriers to trade and commerce erected during the war are abolished, and "a degree" of free navigation is guaranteed on the Rhine.
It is agreed that the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück will alternate between Protestant and Catholic holders, with the Protestant bishops chosen from cadets of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
There are also territorial adjustments: ...