List of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Minden

This list records the bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Minden (German: Bistum Minden), a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cologne, who were simultaneously rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of Minden (German: Hochstift Minden; est. 1180 and secularised in 1648), a state of imperial immediacy within the Holy Roman Empire. Minden was the seat of the chapter, the cathedral and residence of the bishops until 1305, Petershagen became the prince-episcopal residence since.

Coat-of-arms of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden

Titles of the incumbents of the Minden See[]

In 1180 part of the Minden diocesan territory were disentangled from the Duchy of Saxony and became an own territory of imperial immediacy called Prince-Bishopric of Minden, a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. The prince-bishopric was an elective monarchy, with the monarch being the respective bishop usually elected by the Minden Cathedral chapter, and confirmed by the Holy See, or exceptionally only appointed by the Holy See. Papally confirmed bishops were then invested by the emperor with the princely regalia, thus the title prince-bishop. However, sometimes the respective incumbent of the see never gained a papal confirmation, but was still invested the princely regalia. Also the opposite occurred with a papally confirmed bishop, never invested as prince. A number of incumbents, elected by the chapter, neither achieved papal confirmation nor imperial investiture, but as a matter of fact nevertheless de facto held the princely power. Between about 1555 to 1631 all incumbents were Lutherans. The respective incumbents of the see bore the following titles:

• Bishop of Minden until 1180
• Prince-Bishop of Minden from 1180 to 1554 and again 1631 to 1648
• Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden 1566 to 1630 and again 1631 to 1645. Either simply de facto replacing the Prince-Bishop or lacking canon-law prerequisites the incumbent of the see would officially only hold the title administrator (but nevertheless colloquially referred to as Prince-Bishop).

Catholic Bishops of Minden till 1180[]

Catholic Prince-Bishops (1180–1554)[]

Roman Catholic Prince-Bishops of Minden (1180-1554)
Reign and episcopate	Portrait	Name	Birth and death with places	Reason for end of office	Notes
1170–1185			*unknown – 1185*	death
1185–1206		Thietmar also: Thiemo, modernised: Dietmar	Bavaria, *unknown – 5 March 1206*	death	saint, feast day: 5 March
1206–1209		as Henry II	*unknown – 30 July 1209*	death
1209–1236		also: of Diepholz as Conrad I	*unknown – 26 June 1236*	death
1236–1242		as William I (Counts of Diepholz)	*unknown – 2 May 1242*	death	brother of the next
1242–1253		(Counts of Diepholz)	*c. 1175 – 13 January 1253*	death	brother of the former
1253–1261		as Wedekind I (Counts of Hoya)	*unknown – 1261*	death	son of
1261–1266
1266–1275		as Otto I	Stendal, *unknown – 1275*
1275–1293			*c. 1240/1245 – 4 May 1293*,	death	brother of Ludolph's brother's or sister's spouse
1293–1295		as Conrad II	*unknown – 1295*	death
1295–1304		also: Rosdorf	Hardenberg, *c. 1240–1304*, Minden	death	brother of Volkwin's brother's or sister's spouse through his sister Jutta granduncle of the next
1304–1324		(House of Waldeck)	*c. 1255/1260 – 14 May 1324*	death	brother of Adolf II of Waldeck; by his granduncle's wife also grandnephew of Ludolph moved the prince-episcopal residence to Petershagen castle
1324–1346		(House of Welf)	*c. 1300 – 18 July 1346*, Walsrode	death	son of Otto the Strict
1346–1353		as Gerard I (House of Schaumburg)	*unknown – 1 January 1353*	death	son of Adolphus VI, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg
1353–1361		also Kugelweit, Dietrich of Portitz as Dietrich III	Stendal, *c. 1300 – 17 December 1367	became Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg in 1361 (as Dietrich I)	before Bishop of Schleswig (1351–1353)
1361–1366		as Gerard II (House of Schaumburg)	*unknown – 25 September 1366*		son of [1]
1366–1368		also: of Golßen as Otto II (House of Wettin)	*unknown – 16 July 1368*	death	son of
1369–1383		also: Wittekind vom Berge as Wedekind II	*unknown – 1383*	death	son of
1384–1397		also: vom Berge as Otto III	*unknown – 1 January 1398*	resigned	last heir of the Lordship of Schalksberg, which he bequeathed to the Minden see; son of
1397–1398		as Gerard III (Counts of Hoya)
1398		also: Randeck	*unknown – 28. December 1406*	became Prince-Bishop of Constance in 1398	nephew of Patriarch Marquard of Randeck
1398–1402		as William II		death
1402–1403		sede vacante
1403–1406		as Otto IV	*unknown – 1406*	death	son of Otto II, Count of Rietberg
1406–1436		also: Wulbrand	*? – 23 December 1436*	death	before prince-Abbot of Corvey Abbey (1398–1406), last heir of the County of Hallermund, son of ,
1436–1473		German: Albrecht (Counts of Hoya)			son of Eric I, Count of Hoya
1473–1508		as Henry III (House of Schaumburg)			son of
1508–1529		Francis of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel as Francis I (House of Welf)	*1492 – 25 November 1529*, Wolfenbüttel	death	son of Henry IV
1530–1553		Francis of Waldeck as Francis II (House of Waldeck)	Sparrenberg Castle, *1491 – 15 July 1553*, Wolbeck (a part of today's Minden)	death	also Prince-Bishop of Münster (1532–1553) and of Osnabrück (1532–1553)
1553–1554		Julius of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Wolfenbüttel (House of Welf)	Wolfenbüttel, *29 June 1528 – 3 May 1589*, Wolfenbüttel	resigned, became heir to the Principality of Wolfenbüttel	Prince of Wolfenbüttel (1568–1589) and of Calenberg (1584–1589)

Lutheran Prince-Bishop and Administrators of the Prince-Bishopric[]

Lutheran Prince-Bishop and Administrators of the Prince-Bishopric (1554–1631)
Reign and episcopate	Portrait	Name	Birth and death with places	Reason for end of office	Notes
1554–1566		(House of Welf)	*22 November 1494 – 4 December 1566*, Verden upon Aller	death	elected by the Minden chapter and papally confirmed bishop, turned Lutheran and thus later acceding only as administrator (lacking papal confirmation) of the Bremen and Verden sees (1558–1566)
1566–1582		(House of Schaumburg)	*1545–1592*		son of Otto IV of Schaumburg
1582–1585		Henry Julius of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Wolfenbüttel (House of Welf)	Hessen am Fallstein, *15 October 1564 – 20 July 1613*, Prague	resigned, became Prince of Calenberg and of Wolfenbüttel in 1589	also administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt (1566–1613)
1585–1587		sede vacante
1587–1599		(House of Schaumburg)	*1549–1599*	death	son of Otto IV of Schaumburg
1599–1625		Christian of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Celle (House of Welf)	*9 November 1566 – 8 November 1633*	deposed	as Christian the Elder also Prince of Lunenburg-Celle (1611–1633)
1625–1631		sede vacante

Catholic Prince-Bishop (1631–1648)[]

Roman Catholic Prince-Bishop of Minden (1631–1648)
Reign and episcopate	Portrait	Name	Birth and death with places	Reason for end of office	Notes
1631–1648		Francis of Wartenberg as Francis III	Munich, *1 March 1593 – 1 December 1661*, Ratisbon	deposed by the Swedish conquerors	papally appointed, lacking the capitular elective mandate also Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück (1625–1634 and again 1648–1661), of Verden (1630–1631), of Ratisbon (1649–1661), and Vicar Apostolic of the Archdiocese of Bremen (1645/1648)
after 15 May 1648		The Prince-Bishopric was converted into a heritable monarchy, the Principality of Minden, ruled in personal union by the House of Hohenzollern in Brandenburg.

Auxiliary bishops[]

• Johann Christiani von Schleppegrell, O.S.A. (7 Jun 1428 to 8 Oct 1468)^[2]
• Johannes Tideln, O.P. (7 Feb 1477 to 28 Jul 1501)^[3]
• Ludwig von Siegen (bishop), O.F.M. (20 May 1502 to 13 Feb 1508)^[4]
• Johannes Gropengeter, O.S.A. (9 Jan 1499 to 25 Jan 1508)
• Heinrich von Hattingen, O. Carm. (10 Dec 1515 to 1519)

Sources[]

• Website Chronik Alt-Minden (retrieved on 29 April 2010) (in German)
• "Liste der Bischöfe" on Lexikon des Mittelalters (in German)

Notes[]