Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen
Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen | |||||||||||||
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| 1180–1648 | |||||||||||||
The Duchy of Bremen around 1655, the Imperial City of Bremen is insufficiently demarcated, bottom right in pink the Duchy of Verden | |||||||||||||
Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire (as of 1648), the episcopal residence (in Vörde) shown by a red spot. | |||||||||||||
| Status | Defunct | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Bremen (seat of chapter) Vörde (seat of govt from 1219) Basdahl (venue of Diets) | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Northern Low Saxon, Frisian | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Catholic Church | ||||||||||||
| Government | Ecclesiastical principality | ||||||||||||
| Ruler: Prince-archbishop, administrator, or chapter (in vacancy) | |||||||||||||
• 1180–1184 | Prince-Archbishop Siegfried | ||||||||||||
• 1185–1190 | Prince-Archbishop Hartwig II | ||||||||||||
• 1596–1634 | Admin. John Frederick | ||||||||||||
• 1635–1645 | Administrator Frederick II | ||||||||||||
| High Bailiff (Landdrost) | |||||||||||||
| Legislature | Estates of the Realm (Stiftsstände) convening at Diets (Tohopesaten or Landtage) in Basdahl | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
• Break-up of stem duchy of Saxony | 1180 | ||||||||||||
| 1186, especially from the 1360s | |||||||||||||
Summer 1627 | |||||||||||||
10 May 1632 | |||||||||||||
• Seized by Sweden | 13 August 1645 | ||||||||||||
15 May 1648 | |||||||||||||
| Currency | Reichsthaler, Bremen mark | ||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||||||
The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (German: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Duchy of Bremen (German: Herzogtum Bremen). The prince-archbishopric, which was under the secular rule of the archbishop, consisted of about a third of the diocesan territory. The city of Bremen was de facto (since 1186) and de jure (since 1646) not part of the prince-archbishopric. Most of the prince-archbishopric lay rather in the area to the north of the city of Bremen, between the Weser and Elbe rivers. Even more confusingly, parts of the prince-archbishopric belonged in religious respect to the neighbouring Diocese of Verden, making up 10% of its diocesan territory.