Archbishop of Utrecht
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Archbishop_of_Utrecht".

content
Bisdom Utrecht (nl)
Fürstbistum Utrecht (de)
Principauté d'Utrecht (fr)
Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht
State of the Holy Roman Empire
1024 – 1528 →

Coat of arms of Utrecht

Coat of arms
Location of Utrecht
Bishopric of Utrecht, labelled 11 in this map of the Seventeen Provinces, just south of the IJsselmeer
Capital Utrecht
Government Theocracy
Historical era Middle Ages
 - Bishopric established 695
 - Created Princes of the
    Holy Roman Empire		  
1024
 - Territories sold to
    Emperor Charles V		  
1528
 - Union of Utrecht 1579

The Archbishopric of Utrecht is the Archbishopric based in the Dutch city of Utrecht. It was a Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire from 1024 until the reformation in the Netherlands ended the official Catholic church hierarchy in 1580. The archbishopric was reinstated in 1853.

Contents

History

Foundation

The Diocese of Utrecht was established in 695 when Saint Willibrord was consecrated bishop of the Frisians at Rome by Pope Sergius I, and with the consent of the Frankish ruler, Pippin of Herstal, settled at the market-town of Utrecht. After Willibrord's death the diocese suffered greatly from the incursions of the Frisians, and later on of the Normans.

Prince-Bishopric

Better times appeared during the reign of the Saxon emperors, who frequently summoned the Bishops of Utrecht to attend the imperial councils and diets. In 1024 the bishops were made Princes of the Holy Roman Empire and the new Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht was formed. It contained the present day Dutch province of Utrecht and the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, and Overijssel.

In 1122, with the Concordat of Worms, the Emperor's right of investiture was annulled, and the cathedral chapter received the right to the election of the bishop. It was, however, soon obligated to share this right with the four other collegiate chapters in the city: St. Salvator, St. John's, St. Peter's and St. Mary's. The Counts of Holland and Geldern, between whose territories the lands of the Bishops of Utrecht lay, also sought to acquire influence over the filling of the episcopal see. This often led to disputes and consequently the Holy See frequently interfered in the election. After the middle of the 14th century the popes repeatedly appointed the bishop directly without regard to the five chapters.

In 1527, the Bishop sold his territories to Emperor Charles V and the principality became part of the Habsburg dominions; the chapters voluntarily transferred their right of electing the bishop to Charles, a measure to which Pope Clement VII gave his consent.

Under the Habsburgs

In 1559, Utrecht was raised to the rank of an archdiocese and metropolitan see with six suffragan dioceses, but this new state of affairs did not last long. When the northern provinces of the Netherlands revolted, the archdiocese fell, with the overthrow of the Spanish power. According to the terms of the Union of Utrecht, the rights and privileges of the Roman Catholic religion were safeguarded, however a few years later, on June 14, 1580, the public practice of Catholicism was forbidden by the magistrates of Utrecht. On August 25, 1580, Archbishop Schenk died, and two successors appointed by Spain did not receive canonical confirmation, neither could they enter their diocese.

The See remained vacant until 1602, when the place of Archbishop was taken by the apostolic vicars of the Dutch Mission (Hollandse Zending), who, however, were not allowed in the country by the Estates-General and had to administer their charge from abroad. These vicars were consecrated as titular archbishops in order not to offend the Dutch Government. They would assume the real title of Archbishop of Utrecht when circumstances permitted.

During the last period of the apostolic vicariate, Jansenism and Gallicanism spread among the clergy and vicar Petrus Codde was suspended by the Pope, who accused him of being a Jansenist. He continued as Archbishop, remaining out of communion with the Papacy. After his death the majority of the diocesan clergy continued to claim the right to elect the bishops for themselves.

Having obtained the permission of the Dutch government, in 1723 the chapter elected a new archbishop, who was not confirmed in post, and excommunicated by Pope Benedict XIII. This was the beginning of what would become the Old Catholic Church. All the Old Catholic Archbishops from 1723 until 1858 informed the Popes of their elections. The pope however appointed Roman Apostolic Vicars to the Netherlands (to Utrecht) until 1853, when Roman diocesan hierarchy was re-established throughout the northern Netherlands. In 1853, the Holy See was allowed to re-established its hierarchy in the Netherlands. At present, the Archbishop who heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht has frequently been promoted to cardinal. He is the Primate of the Netherlands and the Metropolitan of a province with six suffragans throughout the Netherlands.

Bishops until Reformation

Archbishops

Apostolic Vicars of the Dutch Mission

Archbishops in partibus and Apostolic Vicars, in Utrecht

Pro-Apostolic Vicars

in Brussels:

in Münster and Amsterdam:

in The Hague:

Old-Catholic archbishops who notified their election to the Pope

For more information on the Old-Catholic hierarchy, see main article.

Roman Catholic archbishops

References

 This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)


v • d • e
States Map indicating the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire
Dependent territories
© jGames.co.uk 2007 (some content from Wikipedia under GDL ) !-- ValueClick Media 468x60 and 728x90 Banner CODE for jgames.co.uk -->
Your Ad Here