The Electorate of
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. In the hierarchy of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, the
Archbishop-Elector of Mainz was also the Primate of Germany ('), a purely honorary dignity that was unsuccessfully claimed from time to time by other archbishops. There were only two other ecclesiastical
Prince-electors in the Empire: the
Electorate of Cologne and the
Electorate of Trier
The Electorate of Trier ( or '; ) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince-archbishop of Trier (') wh ...
.
The Archbishop-Elector of Mainz was also
archchancellor of
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
(one of the three component titular kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, the other two being
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Burgundy) and, as such, ranked first among all ecclesiastical and secular princes of the Empire, and was second only to the
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
. His political role, particularly as an intermediary between the
Estates of the Empire and the Emperor, was considerable.
History

The episcopal see was established in
ancient Roman times in the city of Mainz, which had been a Roman provincial capital, Moguntiacum. The first bishops before the 4th century have legendary names, beginning with
Crescens.
The first verifiable Bishop of Mainz was Martinus in 343. The ecclesiastical and secular importance of Mainz dates from the accession of St.
Boniface to the see in 747. Boniface was previously an archbishop though without an assigned see, but that ecclesiastical status did not immediately devolve upon the see itself until his successor
Lullus; during his reign Mainz became an archdiocese, in 781. Another early bishop of Mainz was
Aureus of Mainz.
The territory of the Electorate included several non-contiguous blocks of territory: lands near Mainz on both the left and right banks of the Rhine; territory along the Main River above Frankfurt (including the district of
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
); the
Eichsfeld region in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
and
Thuringia
Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area.
Er ...
; and the territory around
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
in Thuringia.
As was generally the case in the Holy Roman Empire, the territory of a prince-bishopric or archbishopric differed from that of the corresponding diocese or archdiocese, which was the purely spiritual jurisdiction of the prince-bishop or archbishop. During the early modern age, the archdiocese of Mainz (see map below) was the largest ecclesiastical province of Germany, covering Mainz and 10 suffragant dioceses.
During the early modern period the
cathedral chapter of Mainz controlled the election of the archbishop and used its power to ensure only its members were elevated. By this time membership in the chapter had been monopolized by a few families of
Imperial Knights, securing their power within the Electorate.
In 1802, Mainz lost its archiepiscopal character. In the secularizations that accompanied the ' (
German mediatization) of 1803, the seat of the elector,
Karl Theodor von Dalberg, was moved to
Regensburg
Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...
, and the electorate lost its left bank territories to
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, its right bank areas along the Main below Frankfurt to
Hesse-Darmstadt and the
Nassau princes, and Eichsfeld and Erfurt to the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
. Dalberg retained the Aschaffenburg area as the
Principality of Aschaffenburg. In 1810 Dalberg merged Aschaffenburg,
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
,
Wetzlar,
Hanau
Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...
, and
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
Histor ...
, to form the new
Grand Duchy of Frankfurt in 1810. Dalberg resigned in 1813 and in 1815 the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
divided his territories between the
Kingdom of Bavaria, the
Electorate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), the
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
and the
Free City of Frankfurt.
The modern
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz was founded in 1802 when Mainz lost its archdiocese status and its territory west of the Rhine River became a mere diocese within the territory of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. In 1814 its jurisdiction was extended over the territory of Hesse-Darmstadt. Since then it has had two cardinals and via various
concordat
A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 s was allowed to retain the medieval tradition of the
cathedral chapter electing a successor to the bishop.
File:Kurfuerstliches Schloss Mainz Innenhof.jpg">
File:Schloss Johannisburg Aschaffenburg.jpg">Schloss Johannisburg in Aschaffenburg
File:ThüringerStaatskanzlei.jpg, Palace of the Mainz Governors in Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
File:Mainzer Dom von Nordosten.jpg, Mainz Cathedral
File:Erfurt cathedral and severi church.jpg, Erfurt Cathedral and St. Severus Church in Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
See also
*
Electorate of Cologne
*
Electorate of Trier
The Electorate of Trier ( or '; ) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince-archbishop of Trier (') wh ...
References
External links
* of the modern Diocese
Map of the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1789
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mainz, Electorate Of
780 establishments
1803 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Dioceses established in the 8th century
Electoral Rhenish Circle
Electorates of the Holy Roman Empire
Former states and territories of Bavaria
Former states and territories of Hesse
Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate
History of Catholicism in Germany
Electorate
Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany
Former monarchies of Europe
States and territories disestablished in 1803