Primate of Germany

Primas Germaniae is a historical title of honor for the most important Roman Catholic bishop (Primate) in the German lands. Throughout the history of the Holy Roman Empire, it was claimed by the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, Magdeburg and Salzburg alike. Actual prerogatives, however, were exercised by bishops holding the rank of an Apostolic legatus natus. While Mainz, Trier and Magdeburg lost the Primate dignity upon the 1648 Peace of Westphalia and the Napoleonic Secularisation in 1802, the Salzburg archbishops bear the title up to today.

A first Concilium Germanicum synod, in order to reform the Germanic bishoprics in the Frankish Kingdom, was summoned by the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface in 742 AD. When he received the archiepiscopal title and the jurisdiction over the Diocese of Mainz three years later, he tried to establish Mainz as the see of an ecclesiastical province (metropolis), rivalling with the Irish bishop Vergilius of Salzburg. The Mainz bishopric was not elevated to an archdiocese until about 780; nevertheless, Boniface's successors ruled over the largest ecclesiastical province in Germany by far held the office of a German archchancellor and also were members of the electoral college voting for the King of the Romans and Emperor-to-be.

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