Bishopric of Minden

The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese () and a state, the Prince-Bishopric of Minden (), of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern-day Germany.

History
The diocese was founded by Charlemagne in 803, after he had conquered the Saxons. It was subordinate to the Archbishopric-Electorate of Cologne. It became the Prince-Bishopric of Minden () in 1180, when the Duchy of Saxony was dissolved. In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation was starting to take hold in the state, under the influence of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Minden was occupied by Sweden in the Thirty Years' War, and was secularized. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 gave it to the Margraviate of Brandenburg as the Principality of Minden ().

Since 1719, Minden prince-bishopric was administered by Brandenburg-Prussia together with the adjacent County of Ravensberg as Minden-Ravensberg. In 1807, it became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. In 1814, it returned to Prussia and became part of the Province of Westphalia.

As of 1789, the principality had an area of . It was bordered by (clockwise from the north): an exclave of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), the Electorate of Hanover, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe, another exclave of Hesse-Kassel, the Principality of Lippe, the County of Ravensberg, and the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück. Cities included Minden and Lübbecke.

As to the diocese of Minden, there was no legitimate Roman Catholic pontificate any more since the Swedish takeover in 1648. The diocesan area, comprising besides the temporal prince-bishopric also parts of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and all of Schaumburg-Lippe, was made the first defunct diocese taken care of by the Apostolic Vicariate of the Nordic Missions in 1667. Between 1709 and 1780 the former diocesan area formed part of the Vicariate Apostolic of Upper and Lower Saxony, before it was reincorporated into the Nordic Missions. In 1821 the former Minden diocesan area within the former prince-bishopric boundary became part of the Diocese of Paderborn, whereas the Brunswickian part became part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anhalt and Brunswick in 1825, only to join the Diocese of Hildesheim in 1834. The Schaumburg-Lippe area stayed with the Nordic Missions until their dissolution in 1930, becoming first part of the Diocese of Osnabrück and then of Hildesheim as of 1965.

Famous bishops

 Saint Erkanbert (803–813)
 Saint Hardward (813–853)
 Saint Theoderich (853–880)
 Saint Thietmar (1185–1206)
 Francis of Waldeck (1530–53)
 Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1553–54)
 Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1582–85, Protestant)
 Christian the Elder, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1599–1625, Protestant)
 Francis of Wartenberg (1631–48)

Auxiliary bishops
Johann Christiani von Schleppegrell, O.S.A. (1428–1468)
Johannes Tideln, O.P. (1477–1501)
Johannes Gropengeter, O.S.A. (1499–1508)
Ludwig von Siegen, O.F.M. (1502–1508)
Heinrich von Hattingen, O. Carm. (1515–1519)

See also 
 Ostwestfalen-Lippe

References

 At Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888 
 At NRW-Geschichte.de (with map) 
 

Category:Subdivisions of Prussia
Category:Roman Catholic dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire
Category:Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany
Category:Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany
Category:Former states and territories of North Rhine-Westphalia
Bishopric
Category:1807 disestablishments in Germany
Category:Dioceses established in the 9th century
Category:Religious organizations established in the 800s
Category:Religious organizations disestablished in 1648
Category:Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle
Category:1180s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Category:1180 establishments in Europe

nl:Prinsbisdom Minden