Prince-Bishopric of Chur | |||||||||
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1170–1803 | |||||||||
Capital | Chur | ||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||
Government | Prince-Bishopric | ||||||||
Bishop | |||||||||
Historical era | Medieval | ||||||||
• Established | 1170 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1803 | ||||||||
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The Prince-Bishopric of Chur (German: Hochstift Chur, Fürstbistum Chur, Bistum Chur) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and had Imperial immediacy. The Prince-Bishopric of Chur controlled contiguous land from the city of Chur, to Engadin, and to Vinschgau.[1] The historical State must be distinguished from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur which still exists, even if the bishop was the same man.
They were led by the League of God's House from the 15th century.[2] The Three Leagues then took over any effective power from the Prince-Bishopric (while in Vinschgau the control passed to the Habsburg), and after the Reformation the bishop's estates remained the sole territory of the principality. The bishop had the vote number 51 in the Imperial Diet.