Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen

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Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen Erzstift Bremen
1180–1648
Coat of arms
Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire (as of 1648), the episcopal residence (in Vörde) shown by a red spot.
Status	Defunct
Capital	Bremen (seat of chapter) Vörde (seat of govt from 1219) Basdahl (venue of Diets)
Common languages	Northern Low Saxon, Frisian
Religion	Catholic Church
Government	Principality
Ruler: Prince-archbishop, administrator, or chapter (in vacancy)
• 1180–1184	Prince-Archbishop Siegfried
• 1185–1190	Prince-Archbishop Hartwig II
• 1596–1634	Admin. John Frederick
• 1635–1645	Administrator Frederick II
High Bailiff (Landdrost)
Legislature	Estates of the Realm (Stiftsstände) convening at Diets (Tohopesaten or Landtage) in Basdahl
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Break-up of stem     duchy of Saxony	1180
• Bremen city de facto     independent	1186, especially from the 1360s
• Conquered by     Catholic League	Summer 1627
• Conquered by     Sweden, Bremen     and Lübeck	10 May 1632
• Seized by Sweden	13 August 1645
• Secularised as the     Duchy of Bremen	15 May 1648
Currency	Reichsthaler, Bremen mark
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Saxony Bremen-Verden Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Dithmarschen

The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (German: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Duchy of Bremen (German: Herzogtum Bremen). The prince-archbishopric, which was under the secular rule of the archbishop, consisted of about a third of the diocesan territory. The city of Bremen was de facto (since 1186) and de jure (since 1646) not part of the prince-archbishopric. Most of the prince-archbishopric lay rather in the area to the north of the city of Bremen, between the Weser and Elbe rivers. Even more confusingly, parts of the prince-archbishopric belonged in religious respect to the neighbouring Diocese of Verden, making up 10% of its diocesan territory.