The Archbishopric of Salzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire Archbishop of Salzburg as a Prince-Bishop. This means the archbishop had his ecclesiatical (church) powers and also the powers of an he Archbishopric was about the same size as the modern state of Salzburg in Austria.

The most famous Archbishop was probably the last to rule as a prince. He was Hieronymus von Colloredo, who was an early patron of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

History
Bishops of Salzburg
- Abbot-Bishops of Iuvavum c. 300s–c. 482
- Bishops of Iuvavum (from 755, Salzburg)
Archbishops of Salzburg
Suffragan Dioceses
Images for kids
See also

History

Abbot-Bishopric (4th century–c. 482)

In 450 a book was written about the live of St Severinus of Noricum. The book said that Salzburg had two churches and a monastery. St. Maxius is the only abbot-bishop known by name. Soon after Maxius was martyred, Salzburg was destroyed soon after in about 482.

Bishopric (c. 543/698–798)

St. Rupert later went back to Salzburg to set up the churches again. He saw the ruins of Salzburg overgrown with brambles, but no one knows whether he arrived about 543 during the time of Theodo I or in about 698 when Bavaria was conquered by the Franks.

It was not until after 700 that Christian civilisation started to grow again in the region. The cathedral monastery was named in honour of St. Peter and Rupert's niece Ehrentrudis founded the nunnery at Nonnberg.

Early Archbishopric (798–1060)

Arno, Archbishop of Salzburg enjoyed the respect of the Frankish king Charlemagne. Charlemagne asked him to make the land between the Danube, the Raab, and Drave Rivers Christian. This area ad recently been taken from the Avars. Monasteries were founded and all of Carinthia was slowly Christianised.

While Arno was in Rome attending to some of Charlemagne's business in 798, Pope Leo III appointed him Archbishop over the other bishops in Bavaria (Freising, Passau, Regensburg, and Säben). When the dispute over the church's border between Salzburg and Aquileia broke out, Charlemagne declared the River Drave to be the border. Arno also began the copying of 150 volumes from the court of Charlemagne. This was the start of the first library in Austria.

Investiture Era (1060–1213)

The first archbishop of the era was Gebhard, who during the Investiture Controversy remained on the side of the Pope. Because of this, Gebhard was exiled for nine years, but was allowed to return shortly before his death and was buried in Admont. His successor Thimo was imprisoned for five years, and suffered a horrible death in 1102. After King Henry IV abdicated and Conrad I of Abensberg was elected Archbishop. Conrad lived in exile until the Calistine Concordat of 1122.

The Archbishops again took the side of the Pope during the arguments between the Pope and the Hohenstaufens. Archbishop Eberard I of Hilpolstein-Biburg was allowed to reign in peace, but his successor Conrad II of Austria made the Emperor's angry and died in 1168 in Admont trying to hide from the Emperor. Conrad III of Wittelsbach was appointed the Archbishop of Salzburg in 1177 at the Diet of Venice, after the supporters of both Pope and Emperor were deposed.

Prince-Bishopric (1213–1803)

Archbishop Eberard II of Truchsess was made a prince of the Empire in 1213, and created three new sees: Chiemsee (1216), Seckau (1218) and Lavant (1225). Eberard was excommunicated in 1245 after refusing to publish a decree deposing the emperor. Eberard died suddenly the next year. During the German Interregnum, Salzburg also suffered confusion. Philip of Carinthia was made ruler of Salzburg, but refused to become a priest. This meant he could not be Archbishop, so he was deposed (sacked) by Ulrich, Bishop of Seckau.

King Rudolph I of Habsburg quarrelled with the archbishops. The arguments wer started by Abbot Henry of Admont After Henry died the archbishops and the Habsburgs made peace in 1297. The people and archbishops of Salzburgs remained loyal to the Habsburgs in their struggles against the Wittelsbachs. When the Black Death reached Salzburg in 1347, the Jews were accused of poisoning the wells and suffered severe persecution. The Jews were expelled from Salzburg in 1404. Later, the Jews were allowed to return but were forced to wear pointed hats. Although the Renaissance was a time when new paintings, sculptures and music was being made across Europe, this did not happen in Salzburg because the archbishops were not got rulers, and because of poor conditions in the empire during the reign of Frederick IV.

Conditions were at their worst during the reign of Bernard II of Rohr. The country was in depression, local authorities were raising their own taxes and the Turks were attackingthe archdiocese. In 1473, he summoned the first provincial diet (parliament) in the history of the archbishopric, and eventually abdicated. It was only Leonard of Keutschach (reigned 1495–1519) who changedthe situation. He had all the burgermeisters and town councillors (who were charging unfair taxes) arrested at the same time and imprisoned in the castle. His last years were spent in bitter struggle against Matthäus Lang of Wellenburg, Bishop of Gurk, who succeeded him in 1519.

Archbishop Paris of Lodron led Salzburg to peace and prosperity during the Thirty Years' War in which the rest of Germany was thoroughly devastated. During the reign of Leopold Anthony of Firmian, Protestants emerged more vigorously than before. He invited the Jesuits to Salzburg and asked for help from the emperor, and finally ordered the Protestants to recant or emigrate - about 30,000 people left and settled in Württemberg, Hanover and East Prussia, and a few settled in Georgia in the United States of America. The last Prince-Archbishop, Hieronymus of Colloredo, is probably the most well known for his patronage of Mozart. His reforms of the church and education alienated himself from the people.

Modern Archbishopric (1803–present)

In 1803, Salzburg was secularised (stopped being control by the church) as the Electorate of Salzburg. The former Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany (brother of Emperor Francis II) was made elector. In 1805 Salzburg became a part of Austria, and in 1809, a part of Bavaria. The Bavarians closed the University of Salzburg, banned monasteries from accepting novices (new monks for training), and banned pilgrimages and processions. The Congress of Vienna returned Salzburg to the Austrians in 1814.

Bishops of Salzburg

Abbot-Bishops of Iuvavum c. 300s–c. 482

St. Maximus of Salzburg d. 476

Abandoned after c. 482

Bishops of Iuvavum (from 755, Salzburg)

St. Ruprecht c. 543–? or c. 698–c. 718
Vitalis
Erkenfried
Ansologus
Ottokar
Flobrigis
Johann I
St. Virgilius c. 745 or c. 767–c. 784

Archbishops of Salzburg

Archbishops of Salzburg, 798–1213

Arno 784–821
Adalram 821–836
Leutram 836–859
Adalwin 859–873
Adalbert I 873
Dietmar I 873–907
Pilgrim I 907–923
Adalbert II 923–935
Egilholf 935–939
Herhold 939–958
Friedrich I 958–991
Hartwig 991–1023
Günther 1024–1025
Dietmar II 1025–1041
Baldwin 1041–1060
Gebhard 1060–1088
Thiemo 1090–1101
Konrad I von Abensberg 1106–1147
Eberhard I von Hilpolstein-Biburg 1147–1164
Konrad II of Austria 1164–1168
Adalbert III of Bohemia 1168–1177
Conrad III 1177–1183
Adalbert III of Bohemia (restored) 1183–1200

Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg, 1213–1803

Eberhard II von Truchsees 1200–1246
Bernhard I von Ziegenhain 1247
Philipp of Carinthia 1247–1256
Ulrich von Sekau 1256–1265
Ladislas of Silesia-Liegnitz 1265–1270
Friedrich II von Walchen 1270–1284
Rudolf von Hoheneck 1284–1290
Konrad IV von Breitenfurt 1291–1312
Weichard von Pollheim 1312–1315
Friedrich III von Liebnitz 1315–1338
Heinrich Pyrnbrunner 1338–1343
Ordulf von Wiesseneck 1343–1365
Pilgrim II von Pucheim 1365–1396
Gregor Schenk von Osterwitz 1396–1403
Eberhard III von Neuhaus 1403–1427
Eberhard IV von Starhemberg 1427–1429
Johann II von Reichensperg 1429–1441
Friedrich IV Truchsees von Emmerberg 1441–1452
Sigismund I von Volkersdorf 1452–1461
Burchard von Weissbruch 1461–1466
Bernhard II von Rohr 1466–1482
Bernhard III Peckenschlager 1482–1489
Friedrich V von Schallenburg 1489–1494
Sigismund II 1494–1495
Leonhard von Keutschach 1495–1519
Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg 1519–1540
Ernest of Bavaria 1540–1554
Michael von Khuenburg 1554–1560
Johann Jakob Khun von Bellasy 1560–1586
Georg von Khuenburg 1586–1587
Wolfgang Dietrich von Raitenau 1587–1612
Marcus Sittich von Hohenems 1612–1619
Paris von Lodron 1619–1653
Guidobald von Thun 1654–1668
Maximilian Gandalf von Khuenburg 1668–1687
Johann Ernst von Thun 1687–1709
Franz Anton von Harrach 1709–1727
Leopold Anton von Firmian 1727–1744
Jakob Ernst von Liechtenstein-Castelcorno 1744–1747
Adnreas Jakob von Dietrichstein 1747–1753
Sigismund III von Schrattenbach 1753–1771
Hieronymus von Colloredo 1772–1812 (last prince-archbishop, lost temporal power in 1803 after secularization)

Duchy of Salzburg 1803–1805

The secularized Duchy of Salzburg was created in 1803, but annexed by Austria in 1805. The Duke of Salzburg was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Würzburg:

Ferdinand 1803–1805

Modern Archbishops of Salzburg 1803–present

Sigmund Christoph, Graf von Zeil und Trauchburg 1812–1814
Augustin Johann Joseph Gruber 1823–1835
Friedrich Johann Joseph Cölestin, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg 1835–1849
Maximilian Joseph von Tarnóczy 1850–1876
Franz de Paula Albert Eder 1876–1890
Johann Evangelist Haller 1890–1900
Johannes Baptist Katschthaler 1900–1914
Balthasar Kaltner 1914–1918
Ignaz Rieder 1918–1934
Sigismund Waitz 1934–1941
Andreas Rohracher 1943–1969
Eduard Macheiner 1969–1972
Karl Berg 1972–1988
Georg Eder 1988–2002
Alois Kothgasser 2002–present

Suffragan Dioceses

Feldkirch
Graz–Seckau
Gurk
Innsbruck

Images for kids

18th century map of the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg
Rupert of Salzburg with salt barrel, mediæval depiction
Archbishopric of Salzburg, c. 1715
Coat of arms of Hieronymus von Colloredo as Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, incorporating elements of princely and ecclesiastical heraldry.