Prince-Bishopric of Minden Hochstift Minden (German) | |||||||||
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| 1180–1648 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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.svg) Map of part of the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle in 1560, Prince-Bishopric of Minden highlighted in red | |||||||||
| Status | Prince-Bishopric | ||||||||
| Capital | Minden | ||||||||
| Common languages | Northern Low Saxon | ||||||||
| Government | Prince-Bishopric | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Founded by Charlemagne | 803 | ||||||||
• Gained Reichsfreiheit | 1180 | ||||||||
• Possessed Hamelin | 1259–77 | ||||||||
| 1648 | |||||||||
• Ceded to Westphalia | 1807–14 | ||||||||
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The Prince-Bishopric of Minden (German: Fürstbistum Minden; Bistum Minden; Hochstift Minden; Stift Minden) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It was progressively secularized following the Protestant Reformation when it came under the rule of Protestant rulers, and by the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 given to Brandenburg as the Principality of Minden. It must not be confused with the Roman Catholic diocese of Minden, which was larger, and over which the prince-bishop exercised spiritual authority.