- Bishopric of Minden
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Prince-Bishopric of Minden
Hochstift MindenState of the Holy Roman Empire ← 
1180–1648 
→
Flag Coat of arms Map of part of the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle in
1560, Prince-Bishopric of Minden highlighted in redCapital Minden Government Principality Historical era Middle Ages - Founded by Charlemagne 803 - Gained Reichsfreiheit 1180 - Possessed Hamelin 1259–77 - Peace of Westphalia:
Secularised to
Brandenburg-Prussia
1648- Ceded to Westphalia 1807–14 
Historic view of Minden around 1647
The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese (German: Bistum Minden) and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden (German: Hochstift Minden), of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.
Contents
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 (German: Fürstbistum 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 (German: Fürstentum Minden).
Since 1719, Minden 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 1,100 km2 (420 sq mi). 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.
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)
See also
- List of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Minden
- Ostwestfalen-Lippe
References
- At Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888 (German)
- At NRW-Geschichte.de (with map) (German)
"Minden". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. (English)
Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (1500–1806) of the Holy Roman EmpireEcclesiastical 
The Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (color) within the Holy Roman Empire (white)Prelates Secular Counts
and lordsfrom 1500Bentheim · Bronkhorst (until 1719) · Diepholz · East Frisia (until 1667) · Horne3 (until 1614) · Hoya · Lingen3 · Lippe · Manderscheid (until 1546) · Moers (until 1541) · Nassau (Diez · Hadamar · Dillenburg (until 1664)) · Oldenburg (until 1777) · Pyrmont · Ravensberg3 · Reichenstein · Rietberg · Salm-Reifferscheid · Sayn · Schaumburg · Tecklenburg · Virneburg · Wied · Winneburg and Beilstein · Zimerauff?from 1792Anholt · Blankenheim and Gerolstein · Gemen · Gimborn · Gronsfeld · Hallermund · Holzapfel · Kerpen-Lommersum · Myllendonk · Reckheim · Schleiden · Wickrath · Wittemstatus
uncertainCities 1 from 1792. 2 until 1792. 3 without Reichstag seat. ? status uncertain.Territories and provinces of Prussia (1525–1947) Before 1701 Duchy of Prussia · Margraviate of Brandenburg · Cleves / Mark / Ravensberg (1614) · Farther Pomerania / Minden / Halberstadt (1648) · Lauenburg–Bütow / Draheim (1657) · Magdeburg (1680) · Colonies (Groß Friedrichsburg · Arguin)After 1701 Neuchâtel (1707) · Guelders (1713) · Minden-Ravensberg (1719) · Western Pomerania (1720, 1815) · Silesia / Glatz (1742) · East Frisia (1744) · East / West Prussia (1772-73) · South Prussia (1793) · New East Prussia / New Silesia (1795)Post-Congress of
Vienna (1814–15)Brandenburg · Pomerania · Grand Duchy of Posen1 · Saxony · Silesia · Westphalia · Rhine Province2 (1822) · Province of Prussia (1824–78) · Hohenzollern (1850) · Schleswig-Holstein / Hanover / Hesse-Nassau (1866–68)Territorial reforms
after 1918Lower / Upper Silesia (1919) · Greater Berlin (1920) · Posen-West Prussia (1922) ·
Halle-Merseburg / Magdeburg / Kurhessen / Nassau (1944)Categories:- Former principalities
- Former countries in Europe
- States of the Holy Roman Empire
- States and territories established in 1180
- States and territories disestablished in 1648
- Subdivisions of Prussia
- Roman Catholic dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire
- Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany
- Prince-Bishoprics of Germany
- History of North Rhine-Westphalia
- Minden
- 1807 disestablishments
- Dioceses established in the 9th century
- Religious organizations established in the 800s
- Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle
- History of territories in Germany ruled by an ecclesiastic sovereign
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