Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg

Origins

The diocese was founded in 742 by Saint Boniface, with Burkard as its first bishop. Royal grants gave the bishops wide lands on the Main, and in 1168 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa confirmed their judicial and ducal rights across eastern Franconia, the basis of their later title of Dukes of Franconia and of a territorial principality inside the Holy Roman Empire.

Rule and society

The prince-bishop was elected by the noble cathedral chapter and governed from the Marienberg fortress, later from the town below. Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn refounded the university in 1582, built the Juliusspital and drove a forceful Counter-Reformation. The 17th century saw some of Germany's worst witch trials. Under the Schönborn bishops Balthasar Neumann built the Residenz, decorated with Tiepolo's ceiling frescoes, and vineyards along the Main supported a wealthy wine trade.

Decline and legacy

Secularised in 1802 and given to Bavaria, the territory became the Grand Duchy of Würzburg under Ferdinand of Tuscany from 1805 to 1814 before returning to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The diocese survives, and the Residenz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.