prince bishopric · Germany and Central Europe
Principality of Hersfeld
Origins
Hersfeld began as a hermitage of Saint Sturmi around 736 and was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by Archbishop Lullus of Mainz around 769. Charlemagne granted it royal protection in 775, making it an imperial abbey. Its relics of Saint Wigbert made it an important pilgrimage centre.
Rule and society
Hersfeld held lands across Hesse and Thuringia, recorded in the Breviarium Lulli. Its scholars included the chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld, who wrote a major account of the reign of Henry IV. The abbots were princes of the Empire, but rivalry with the town of Hersfeld and with the landgraves of Hesse slowly weakened them.
Decline and legacy
The landgraves of Hesse became protectors of the abbey and, after the Reformation, effectively controlled it. In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia secularised Hersfeld as a principality granted to Hesse-Kassel. The ruins of its Romanesque abbey church are among the largest in Germany.
Lineage
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- Principality of Hersfeld was part of Holy Roman Empire962 CE – 1648 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Principality of Hersfeld. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-hersfeld
- MLA
- “Principality of Hersfeld.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-hersfeld. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Principality of Hersfeld.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-hersfeld.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Principality of Hersfeld’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-hersfeld (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻