The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg (German: Hochstift Brandenburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th century until it was secularized during the second half of the 16th century. It should not be confused with the larger Diocese of Brandenburg (Latin: Dioecesis Brandenburgensis) established by King Otto I of Germany in 948, in the territory of the Marca Geronis (Saxon Eastern March) east of the Elbe river. The diocese, over which the prince-bishop exercised only spiritual authority, was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, its seat was Brandenburg an der Havel.

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Quick Facts Hochstift Brandenburg (German), Status ...

Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg Hochstift Brandenburg (German)
1165–1598
Coat of arms
Episcopal territories, about 1535
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Brandenburg an der Havel Ziesar (residence)
Common languages	Brandenburgisch, Polabian
Religion	Roman Catholic until the 1530s, then Lutheran
Government	Elective monarchy, ruled by the bishop holding the see, elected by the cathedral chapter or, exceptionally, appointed by the Pope, or ruled by a regent
Prince-Bishop, or Regent
• 1173–1179	Prince-Bishop Sigfrid I
• 1421–1459	Prince-Bishop Stephan
• 1560–1569	Regent John George
• 1569–1571	Regent Joachim Frederick
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Diocese founded and restored	948 1161
• Territorial reign est.	1165
• De facto supremacy of Electoral Brandenburg	1373
• Electors privileged to choose candidates for the see	1447
• Secularised as part of Electoral Brandenburg	1571
• Legal dissolution	1598
Currency	rixdollar
Preceded by Succeeded by Northern March Margraviate of Brandenburg

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The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire for some time, probably starting about 1161/1165. However, the Brandenburg bishops never managed to gain control over a significant territory, being overshadowed by the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which was originally seated in the same city. Chapter and cathedral, surrounded by further ecclesiastical institutions, were located on the Dominsel (Cathedral Island), which formed a prince-episcopal cathedral immunity district (Domfreiheit), distinct from the city of Brandenburg. Only in 1929 the - meanwhile former - immunity district was incorporated into the city itself.

As rulers of imperial immediacy, regnant in a, however, dispersed territory partitioned into the four bailiwicks (German: Ämter) of Brandenburg/Havel, Ketzin, Teltow and Ziesar. The prince-bishops from the early 14th century onwards resided in their fortress in Ziesar on the road to Magdeburg. The last actual bishop was Matthias von Jagow (d. 1544), who took the side of the Protestant Reformation, married, and in every way furthered the undertakings of the Hohenzollern elector Joachim II.

There were two more nominal bishops, but on the petition of the latter of these, the electoral prince John George of Brandenburg appointed in 1560, the secularisation of the bishopric was undertaken and finally accomplished in 1571, in spite of legal proceedings to reassert the imperial immediacy of the prince-bishopric within the Empire and so to likewise preserve the diocese, which dragged on into the 17th century.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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