The Bishopric of Havelberg () was a Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I of Germany in 946, from 968 a suffragan to the Archbishops of Magedeburg. A Prince-bishopric (Hochstift) from 1151, Havelberg as a result of the Protestant Reformation was secularised and finally annexed by the margraves of Brandenburg in 1598.
Geography The episcopal seat was in Havelberg near the confluence of the Elbe and Havel rivers. The bishopric roughly covered the western Prignitz region, between the Altmark in the west and the Brandenburgian core territory in the east. While the episcopal territory was supervised by nine Archdeacons (Pröpste), the bishop's—considerably smaller—secular estates were subdivided into four Ämter: Wittstock Plattenburg with Wilsnack Schönhausen with Fischbeck Fehrbellin
History Early history King Henry the Fowler in 929 marched against the Polabian Slavs settling east of the Elbe River and defeated them in a battle near Lenzen. Occupying the eastern riverbank, Henry had a fortification built on a hill above the Havel tributary, near its mouth into the Elbe. His son Otto I continued the expeditions and in 936/37 established the Saxon Eastern March (Marca Geronis) on the conquered territories. In 948 he founded the dioceses of Havelberg and Brandenburg, initially suffragans to the Archbishops of Mainz, from 968 to the newly established Archdiocese of Magdeburg. Part of the Northern March from 968, Havelberg diocese was occupied by revolting Lutici tribes in the Great Slav Rising of 983 and the bishops remained far from their see.Schaff, Philip. "Havelberg, Bishopric of", The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. V, 1953
Not until 150 years later, King Lothair III of Germany re-occupied Havelberg in 1130; the eastern Elbe bank was finally reconquered by the Ascanian margrave Albert the Bear in 1136/37. In 1140 the northern part of the see was annexed to the newly formed Bishopric of Cammin.
Prince-bishopric
The first and most famous Prince-Bishop of Havelberg was the Premonstratensian canon Anselm of Havelberg, who had been anointed already in 1129 by the Magedeburg archbishop Norbert of Xanten. Anselm first took his seat at Jerichow in 1144. Upon the Wendish Crusade in 1147, he was able to found a cathedral chapter at Havelberg and to begin the building of St. Mary's Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1170.Karl Baedeker GmbH: Deutschland 2000, p. 203. Ostfildern 2000
Originally built as a Romanesque basilica, the Cathedral was severely damaged by fire in 1279 and then converted to the Gothic style. The complex eventually grew to include a priory, deanery, brewery, oast house, hospital, school, and residences for the canons."Cathedral of St. Mary", Brandenburg Tourism
The diocesan and secular territory were already separated in 1151. However, the bishops held no secular rights in the town of Havelberg itself, which was enfeoffed to the Brandenburg margraves. A charter issued by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to declare the residence an episcopal city was never carried out, and in the following centuries, the Havelberg bishops gradually moved their residence to their Amt Wittstock about to the northeast. In 1383 the Holy Blood of Wilsnack became a famous pilgrimage site, while Dietrich Man was bishop. In 1395, Bishop Johann III Wöplitz incorporated St. Nicholas' Church at Wilsnack into his episcopal household so that two-thirds of the income flowed directly to the bishopric. Luther and others criticized it as providing an incentive for church officials to encourage dubious shrines.Riedel, F. A., Codex diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, vol. 4, pt. 1 (Berlin, 1862), pp. 140-143 From the 14th century onwards, the Havelberg bishops also used Plattenburg Castle as a summer residence.
After long-lasting quarrels with the mighty Brandenburg prince-electors, the Premonstratensian chapter finally gave in to transform Havelberg into a collegiate church (Stift). From 1514 onwards the deans of the cathedral were appointed by the Margraves of Brandenburg. In the course of the Protestant Reformation, the Bishopric of Havelberg turned Lutheran and from 1554 was administrated by Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern,"Joachim Friedrich, Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg", The British Museum son of Elector John George of Brandenburg. The Bishopric was finally secularised and incorporated into Brandenburg in 1571. Its annexation was complete, when Joachim Frederick succeeded his father as Brandenburg elector in 1598.
Bishops Name From To Udo 946 983 Sede vacante 983 991 Hilderich 991 1008 Erich 1008 1024 ? Gottschalk 1024 ? 1085 Wichmann 1085 1089 Hezilo before 1096 1110 ? Bernhard 1110 ? 1118 Haimo 1118 1120 Gumbert 1120 1125 Anselm 1126 1155 Walo 1155 1176 Hugibert/Hubert 1176 1191 Helmbert 1191 1206 Sibodo of Stendal 1206 1219 Wilhelm 1219 1244 Heinrich I von der Schulenburg or perhaps von Kerkow 1244 1270 Heinrich II von Sternberg 1270 1290 Hermann of Brandenburg, son of Margrave John I 1290 1291 John I of Brandenburg, son of Margrave John II 1291 1292 John II 1292 1304 Arnold (possibly von Plötz) 1304 1312 Rainer von Dequede 1312 1319 Heinrich III 1319 1324 Dietrich I Kothe 1325 1341 Burkhard I von Bardeleben 1341 1348 Burkhard II, Count of Lindow-Ruppin 1348 1370 Dietrich Man 1370 1385 Johann III Wöplitz 1385 1401 Otto von Rohr 1401 1427 Friedrich I Krüger 1427 1427 Johann IV von Beust 1427 1427 Konrad von Lintorf 1427 1460 Witticho Gans zu Putlitz 1461 1487 Busso I of Alvensleben 1487 1493 Otto II von Königsmarck 1493 1501 Johann von Schlabrendorf 1501 1520 Georg von Blumenthal 1520 1521 Hieronymus Schulz, formerly Bishop of Brandenburg 1520 1522 Busso II of Alvensleben 1522 1548 Frederick II of Brandenburg (Lutheran), son of Elector Joachim II Hector 1548 1552 Sede vacante 1552 1554 Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg (Lutheran) 1554 1598
References
Sources Jürgen Schrader: Der Flecken Calvörde – Eine 1200-jährige Geschichte. Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt, 2011, p. 54.
External links Bishopric of Havelberg at GCatholic.org Bishopric of Havelberg at Catholic Hierarchy