Bishopric of Merseburg

Prince-Bishopric of Merseburg
Hochstift Merseburg
1004–1565
Coat of arms of Merseburg
Coat of arms
Bishoprics of Merseburg, Naumburg and Zeitz (violet) about 1250
Bishoprics of Merseburg, Naumburg and Zeitz (violet) about 1250
StatusPrince-Bishopric
CapitalMerseburg
Common languagesUpper Saxon
Religion
Roman Catholic
GovernmentPrince-Bishopric
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Bishopric established
967
1004
• Turned Protestant
1544
• Incorporated by Saxony
1565
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Duchy of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
Mitre of Friedrich II von Holm, Bishop of Merseburg 1357-1382, Rustkammer museum , Dresden

The Bishopric of Merseburg was an episcopal see on the eastern border of the medieval Duchy of Saxony with its centre in Merseburg, where Merseburg Cathedral was constructed. The see was founded in 967 by Emperor Otto I at the same time in the same manner as those of Meissen and Zeitz (from 1029: Naumburg), all suffragan dioceses of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg as part of a plan to bind the adjacent Slavic ("Wendish") lands in the Saxon Eastern March beyond the Saale River more closely to the Holy Roman Empire.

The prince-bishopric was re-established by King Henry II of Germany in 1004. It then covered a considerable small territory stretching from the Saale up to the Mulde River and the Margraviate of Meissen in the east.


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