- Source: Prince-Bishopric of Verdun
The Prince-Bishopric of Verdun was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was located at the western edge of the Empire and was bordered by France, the Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Duchy of Bar. Some time in the late 990s, the suzerainty of the County of Verdun passed from Herman of Ename of the House of Ardenne–Verdun to the Bishopric of Verdun.
History
This fief also included the advowson of the church of Verdun over its possessions along the river Moselle. According to a chronist's report, written around the year 900, the Merovingian king Childebert II (575–596) came to visit Verdun. There was not enough wine to serve the monarch and the Bishop Agericus was very embarrassed. However God rewarded him for his good deeds and miraculously increased the amount of wine. The king presented Agericus of Verdun with the Schloss Veldenz as a fief of Verdun "because of the wine". Around 1156 Frederick Barbarossa confirmed the holding by Bishop Albert I of Verdun of the castle together with the surrounding land.
A story that Peter (774-798), successor of Madalvaeus, was granted temporal lordship of the Diocese by Charlemagne, but this is no longer accepted.
Because of the destruction of the archives in a fire, Bishop Dadon (880-923) commissioned the Gesta episcoporum Virodunensium (Chronicle of the Bishops of Verdun) from Bertharius, a Benedictine monk. This was continued to 1250 by a second monk, Lawrence, and later by an anonymous writer.
A key element of Emperor Otto I's domestic policy was to strengthen ecclesiastical authorities at the expense of the nobility who threatened his power. To this end he filled the ranks of the episcopate with his own relatives and with loyal chancery clerks. As protector of the Church he invested them with the symbols of their offices, both spiritual and secular, so the clerics were appointed as his vassals through a commendation ceremony. Historian Norman Cantor concludes: "Under these conditions clerical election became a mere formality in the Ottonian empire ..." The Bishop of Verdun, appointed by Otto, was totally faithful to the emperor.
In 990 Bishop Haimont ordered the construction of a new cathedral on the Romano-Rhenish plan: a nave, two transepts, two opposing apses, each one flanked by two bell towers. The Holy Roman Emperor Otto III bestowed the title Count on Bishop Haimont (990-1024) and his successors in 997. The bishops had the right to appoint a temporary "count for life" (comte viager), theoretically subject to the authority of the bishop. These counts were selected from the noble family of Ardennes. There was frequent conflict between the count and the bishop.
With the marriage of Philip IV with Joan I of Navarre, the daughter of the Count of Champagne, Lorraine and particularly Verdun become a primary focus for the crown of France. After 1331, appointment to the episcopal see was controlled by the King of France rather than the Emperor.
The Bishopric was annexed to France in 1552; this was recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. It then was a part of the province of the Three Bishoprics.
List of prince-bishops
990–1024: Haimont (Heymon)
1024–1039: Reginbert
1039–1046: Richard I
1047–1089: Theoderic
1089–1107: Richer
1107–1114: Richard II of Grandpré
1114–1117: Mazo, administrator
1117–1129: Henry I of Blois, deposed at the Council of Chalon (1129)
1129–1131: Ursion de Watronville
1131–1156: Adalbero III of Chiny
1156–1162: Albert I of Marcey
1163–1171: Richard III of Crisse
1172–1181: Arnulf of Chiny-Verdun
1181–1186: Henry II of Castel
1186–1208: Albert II of Hierges
1208–1216: Robert I of Grandpré
1217–1224: John I of Aspremont
1224–1245: Radulf of Torote
1245–1245: Guy (Wido) I of Traignel
1245–1247: Guy (Wido) II of Mellote
1247–1252: John II of Aachen
1252–1255: James (Jacques) I Pantaléon of Court-Palais
1255–1271: Robert II of Médidan
1271–1273: Ulrich of Sarvay
1275–1278: Gerard of Grandson
1278–1286: Henri of Grandson
1289–1296: James (Jacques) II of Ruvigny
1297–1302: John III of Richericourt
1303–1305: Thomas of Blankenberg
1305–1312: Nicholas I of Neuville
1312–1349: Henry IV of Aspremont
1349–1351: Otto of Poitiers
1352–1361: Hugh III of Bar
1362–1371: John IV of Bourbon-Montperoux
1371–1375: John V of Dampierre-St. Dizier
1375–1379: Guy III of Roye
1380–1404: Leobald of Cousance
1404–1419: John VI of Saarbrücken
1419–1423: Louis I of Bar († 1430), administrator
1423–1423: Raymond
1423–1424: William of Montjoie
1424–1430: Louis I of Bar († 1430), administrator
1430–1437: Louis of Haraucourt
1437–1449: Guillaume Fillastre
1449–1456: Louis of Haraucourt
1457–1500: William of Haraucourt
1500–1508: Warry de Dommartin
1508–1522: Louis de Lorraine
1523–1544: Jean de Lorraine (1498–1550), brother of predecessor
1544–1547: Nicolas de Mercœur (1524–1577), nephew of predecessor
1548–1575: Nicolas Psaume. The Bishopric was annexed to France in 1552. This was not formally recognised in the Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
1576–1584: Nicolas Bousmard
1585–1587: Charles de Lorraine
1588–1593: Nicolas Boucher
1593–1610: Eric of Lorraine
1593–1601: Christophe de la Vallée, administrator
1610–1622: Charles de Lorraine, nephew of predecessor
See also
Roman Catholic Diocese of Verdun
Verdun Cathedral
Counts of Verdun
External links
Website of the diocese
Historia brevis episcoporum Virdunensium