Bishopric of Eichstätt

Prince-Bishopric of Eichstätt
Hochstift Eichstätt
State of the Holy Roman Empire
1305–1802
Coat of arms
Prince-Bishopric of Eichstätt, J.B. Homann, c.1717
Capital		Eichstätt
Languages		Central Bavarian
Government		Prince-Bishopric
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Diocese established	741
•	Prince-Bishopric	1305
•	Joined    Franconian Circle	1500
•	Joined    Catholic League	1617
•	Mediatised to Bavaria	1802
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Bavaria Electorate of Bavaria

Coat of arms

The Bishopric of Eichstätt, or Prince-Bishopric of Eichstätt, was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Centered on the town of Eichstätt, it was located in the present-day state of Bavaria, somewhat to the west of Regensburg, to the north of Neuburg an der Donau and Ingolstadt, to the south of Nuremberg, and to the southeast of Ansbach.

Geographically, the territory of the Prince-Bishopric was very fragmented and, as of 1789, consisted of one main part to the east that was bordered by Bavaria in the north, east, and south, and by Pappenheim and Brandenburg-Ansbach in the west. The rest of the principality was located to the west and consisted of several fragments of various sizes enclaved mostly within Brandenburg-Ansbach. The total area was about 1100 km², with a population of 58,000 (as of 1855).

The Diocese of Eichstätt was established in 741, when the Anglo-Saxon missionary Willibald was consecrated to the episcopate by Saint Boniface and turned to the church of Eichstätt in the German stem duchy of Bavaria. His successors achieved the status of a Prince-Bishop, when they inherited the Franconian territories of their former Vogt officials, the extinct Counts of Hirschberg (at Hirschberg Castle in the present-day town of Beilngries). In reaction to the Protestant Reformation, Eichstätt joined the Catholic League in 1617. The lands of the bishopric were a centre of the Counter-Reformation and the site of numerous witchcraft trials.