Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen

Origins

The archdiocese of Hamburg was founded in 831 for Ansgar, apostle of the North, and joined to Bremen after Vikings sacked Hamburg in 845. Under Archbishop Adalbert in the 11th century it claimed authority over all of Scandinavia. After Henry the Lion fell in 1180 the archbishops built a secular principality between the lower Weser and Elbe.

Rule and society

The archbishops governed marshland and moor from Stade and Bremervörde, while the wealthy city of Bremen slipped from their control. Free peasant communities in the marshes resisted lordship. The estates, including the cathedral chapter, nobles and towns, shared power. In the 16th century the land became Lutheran, and administrators came from princely houses such as Holstein-Gottorp and Denmark.

Decline and legacy

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 secularised it as the Duchy of Bremen under Sweden, which ruled it with Verden. Denmark took it in 1712 and sold it to the Electorate of Hanover in 1715. The land is now in Lower Saxony.