Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiemsee

The Bishopric of Chiemsee was a Roman Catholic diocese. While based on the islands of the Chiemsee in Bavaria, Germany, most of its territory lay in the County of Tyrol, Austria. The bishopric ceased to be a residential see in 1808. and accordingly is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[1]

Bishopric of Chiemsee Bistum Chiemsee
1216–1808
Coat of arms
Capital Circle Bench	Herrenchiemsee Bavarian until ? none
Established	1216
Abolished	1808

Herrenchiemsee (left); Engraving by Merian, c. 1644

Chiemseehof, Salzburg

Establishment

The Bishopric of Chiemsee was established by the Archbishop of Salzburg, Eberhard II of Regensberg, on the islands of the Chiemsee in 1215. It followed the precedent set by his predecessor Gebhard, who had established the Bishopric of Gurk in 1072. This system of founding quite small suffragan dioceses was to be completed by the setting up of the bishoprics of Seckau in 1218 and Lavant in 1225. It was caused by the fact, that, after a large increase in size, stretching its borders from the Inn river in Bavaria to the Hungarian border, the archdiocese of Salzburg became hard to govern. Both the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope gave their consent and support to the establishment of the bishopric in 1213.

Structure

All bishops of Chiemsee were selected by the Archbishops, for the bishops were the most important supporters of the archbishops. The bishops usually served as auxiliary bishops or fulfilled other duties for the archbishops. Locally the ruling of the bishopric rested mostly with the archdeacons who, supported by the Dukes of Bavaria, prevented the bishops from residing in the bishopric. Therefore, the Bishops never became prince-bishops of the Empire, unlike most other ecclesiarchs. Thus the bishopric should not be considered as a state of the Holy Roman Empire, but as a territory within the state of the archbishopric. Accordingly, the bishops held a seat in the archbishoprics diet.

At first, the nuns monastery of Frauenchiemsee was to be the seat of the bishopric, but subsequently, the monks monastery church of the nearbyBenedictine Abbey of Herrenchiemsee was chosen to be the diocesan cathedral. In fact, the seat of the bishopric was the so-called Chiemseehof in the city of Salzburg. This building nowadays is used by the parliament and the government of the State of Salzburg.

The bishopric was rather small, consisting of 10 parishes when it was created, and finally 11in 1804, mostly consisting of exclaves in the vicinity of St. Johann in Tirol.

The best known bishop was Berthold Pürstinger (1508 - 1525) who twice used his influence to save innocent people from (the town-councillors in 1511, and the peasants in 1524); after retiring from office became a noted humanist.

Abolition

Together with the secularisation of the archbishopric in 1803, the bishopric also lost its territorial function. In 1808 the diocese was abolished after the last bishop waived his rights. Temporarily under the rule of the Ordinariate of the Bishopric of Freising, the Austrian parts returned to Salzburg and were added to the Bishopric of Brixen in 1817/18, the rest becoming a regular part of the newly renamed Archbishopric of Munich-Freising.

List of Bishops of Chiemsee (1216 - 1808)

num[2]	Name	Reign	Notes
1	Rudiger of Bergheim-Radeck[3]	1216–1233
2	Albert[4]	1233–1252
	vacant	1244–1246
	Albert Suerbeer	1246–1247	Administrator; Archbishop of Armagh
	Henry of Bilversheim	1247–1252	Administrator
3	Henry I[4]	1252–1266
4	Henry II, Bishop of Chiemsee [4]	1266–1274
5	John I of Ennstal[3]	1274–1279
6	Conrad I of Hintberg[4]	1279–1292
7	Frederick I of Fronau[3]	1292–1293
8	Albert of Bohnsdorf[4]	1293–1322
9	Ulrich I of Montpreis[3]	1322–1330
10	Conrad II of Liechtenstein[3]	1330–1355
11	Gerhoh of Waldeck[4]	1356–1359
12	Hugo of Schärfenberg[4]	1359–1360
13	Lodwig I Raidhofer[3]	1360–1361
14	Frederick II[4]	1361–1387
15	George I of Neuberg[4]	1387–1395
16	Eberhard of Berned[4]	1395–1399
17	Engelmar kröl[4]	1399–1420
18	Frederick III Theis of Thesingen[4]	1421–1429	Bishop of Lavant
19	John II Ebser[3]	1429–1438
20	Sylvester Pflieger[3]	1438–1453
21	Ulrich II of Plankenfels[3]	1453–1467
22	Bernard of Kraiburg[4]	1467–1477
23	George II Altdorfer[4]	1477–1495
24	Lodwig II Ebmer[3]	1495–1502
25	Christoph I Mendel of Steinfels|[4]	1502–1508
26	Berthold Pürstinger[4]	1508–1525
27	Aegid Rehm	1525–1536
28	Hieronymus Meittinger[3]	1536–1557
29	Christoph II Schlattl[4]	1557–1589
30	Sebastian Cattaneus[3]	1589–1609
31	Ernfried of Khünburg[4]	1610–1619
32	Nicholas of Wolkenstein[3]	1619–1624
33	Christopher III John of Liechtenstein[4]	1624–1643
34	Francis Vigil of Spaur[3]	1644–1670
35	Franz of Preysing[4]	1670–1687
36	Sigmund Ignatz of Wolkenstein[3]	1687–1696
37	Sigmund Carl of Castel-Barco[3]	1696–1708
38	John Sigmund Grag of Khünburg[3]	1708–1711	Bishop of Lavant
39	Franz Adolph of Wagensberg[3]	1712–1723	Bishop of Seckau
40	Carl Joseph of Khünburg[4]	1724–1729	Bishop of Seckau
41	Joseph Francis Valerian of Arco[3]	1730–1746
42	Franz Carl of Friedberg and Trauchburg[4]	1746–1772
43	Ferdinand Christoph of Zeil and Trauchburg[4]	1772–1786
44	Franz Xavier of Breuner[3]	1786–1797
45	Sigmund Christoph of Zeil und Trauchburg[3]	1797–1805	Archbishop of Salzburg
	vacant	1805–1808

Notes

1. Segreteria di Stato Vaticano 2013, p. 868.
2. Deutinger 1850, pp. 236–237.
3. Deutinger 1850, p. 237.
4. Deutinger 1850, p. 236.

References

• Deutinger, Martin (1850), Beiträge zu geschichte...des erzbisthums Münschen und Freysing, Lindaner, pp. 236–237
• Segreteria di Stato Vaticano (2013), Annuario Pontificio 2013, Vatican City: Libreria editrice vaticana, p. 868, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1

External links

• Diocese of Chiemsee at catholic-hierarchy.org
• Titular Episcopal See of Chiemsee at gcatholic.org
• Article about the Bishopric of Chiemsee at Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (German)