Prince-Bishopric of Regensburg

Origins

Saint Boniface organised the diocese of Regensburg in 739, building on an older bishop's seat in the Roman city. Its bishops were overshadowed in the city by the Bavarian dukes and the abbey of St. Emmeram, but gathered scattered lordships such as Donaustauf, Wörth and Hohenburg, which they ruled as imperial princes from the 13th century.

Rule and society

The prince-bishop's secular territory was small and fragmented, while his diocese covered much of eastern Bavaria. The scholar Albertus Magnus served briefly as bishop in 1260 to 1262. The Gothic cathedral of St. Peter was built from 1273 over more than two centuries. The see remained Catholic, while the Free Imperial City of Regensburg around it turned Lutheran, and many bishops came from the Wittelsbach house.

Decline and legacy

In 1803 the prince-bishopric was merged into the Principality of Regensburg under Karl Theodor von Dalberg, which passed to Bavaria in 1810. The diocese continues, and its cathedral choir is world famous.