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The term Prince of the Church is nowadays used nearly exclusively for Catholic Cardinals. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. However the term is historically more important as a generic term for clergymen whose offices hold the secular rank and privilege of a prince (in the widest sense) or are considered its equivalent. Prince, from the Latin root Princeps, is a general term for a Monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family and is a In the case of Cardinals, they are always treated in protocol as equivalents of royal princes.
By analogy with secular princes, in the broad sense of the ruler of any principality regardless of the style, it made perfect sense in a feudal class society to regard the highest members of the clergy, mainly prelates, as a privileged class ('estate') similar to the nobility, ranking just below or even above it in the social order; often high clerical ranks, such as bishops, were given high protocolary precedence amongst the nobility, and seats in the highest assemblies, including courts of justice and legislatures, such as Lord Bishops in the English (later British) House of Lords and Prince primates in the Kingdom of Hungary. Prince, from the Latin root Princeps, is a general term for a Monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family and is a Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. A prelate is a high-ranking member of the Clergy who either is an Ordinary or ranks in precedence with ordinaries Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight " Lord Bishop " is a traditional form of address used for bishops since the Middle ages, an era when bishops occupied the feudal rank of 'lord' by virtue of their The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Prince-Primate ( Fürstprimas in German, hercegprímás in Hungarian) is a rare Princely title held by individual The Kingdom of Hungary (short form Hungary) was a considerable state in Central Europe that existed from 1001 to 1918 then from 1919 to 1946
In Europe, as it became common for younger sons of dynastic houses to seek careers in the church hierarchy, especially when they were expected to be excluded from the succession, members of royal families and the aristocracy began to occupy many of the highest prelatures; examples include Henry, Cardinal-Duke of York, the second grandson of James II of England, and Henry, Cardinal-King of Portugal, the fifth son of Manuel I of Portugal. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Henry Benedict Cardinal Stuart ( 11 March 1725 &ndash 13 July 1807) was the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones James II of England and Ireland James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 &ndash 16 September 1701 was King of England, King of Scots, Later that same year James For the Count of Portugal see Henry Count of Portugal; for the Prince see Henry the Navigator Henry Cardinal-King of Portugal or Manuel I (mɐnuˈɛɫ Archaic Portuguese: Manoel I, English: Emmanuel I) the Fortunate ( Port Even popes openly created Cardinal nephews from their own family. Nepotism is the showing of favoritism toward relatives and friends based upon that relationship rather than on an objective evaluation of ability Meritocracy or suitability However, these are individual cases; the term Prince of the church applies rather to the following institutionalised cases.
Clerics as European territorial princes
Especially in the Holy Roman Empire, a large number of Prince-bishops, Prince-archbishops and superiors of the regular clergy (mainly Prince-abbots, but also -abbesses, Prince-Provosts and Grand masters) obtained for their seats, concurrent with the ecclesiastical office, one or more secular feudal estates of various status and importance (from tiny mere lordships to fairly great principalities such as duchies), that would otherwise be hereditary and often had been; in other cases territories were carved out especially by a higher authority, such as the empire, notably for an (arch)diocese or monastery, under such names as Stift (German; in the case of a diocese rather Hochstift, for an archdiocese rather Erzstift) or Sticht (Dutch), both meaning foundation, e. A Prince-Bishop is a Bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more Secular principalities usually pre-existent titles of nobility The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in A Prince-Bishop is a Bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more Secular principalities usually pre-existent titles of nobility A Prince-Bishop is a Bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more Secular principalities usually pre-existent titles of nobility A Prince-abbot is a cleric who is a Prince of the church (like a prince-bishop in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity known as prince-abbacy Prince-Provost is a rare title for a monastic superior with the ecclestiastical style of provost who is a Prince of the Church in the sense that he also ranks as a g. to set up a close relative as its first prelate; occasionally a normal secular style principality was created but immediately awarded to a prelate, such as the duchy of Westphalia for the Archbishop and Prince-elector of Cologne. The Duchy of Westphalia was a historic territory in the greater region of Westphalia, located in the east of modern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Many of them were at some point formally granted the rank of Reichsfürst, literally "Prince of the Empire", in itself entitling them to representation in the Reichstag (Imperial Diet). (plural Fürsten) is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince. The Reichstag ( German for "Imperial Diet " was the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, For example, the bishop of Liège was a Fürst on account of several secular principalities merged into the bishopric (including the countships of Loon/Looz and Ho(o)rn, marquisate of Franchimont and duchy of Bouillon) ruling a vast area, the prince-bishopric, but much smaller than his ecclesiastic diocese, the Bishopric of Liège in feudal times this territory was the only part of the Low Countries not counted among the "Seventeen Provinces" but seen as an integral part of Germany. The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium The County of Loon (Graafschap Loon, Comté de Looz) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, lying in present-day Belgium. Horne (also Horn, Hoorn or Hoorne) is a small historic County of the Holy Roman Empire in present Netherlands and Franchimont Castle is a medieval castle in the municipality of Theux in Belgium. Bouillon is a Municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Luxembourg Province. The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt The Seventeen Provinces were a Personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century roughly covering the current Netherlands Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. However the principalities of some of the highest prelates were not known as prince-(arch)bishopric, which they effectively were, but rather by a term corresponding to a more prestigious ecclesistial or temporal rank: the three German archbishoprics of Prince-electors (Cologne, Mayence and Trier) were styled Kurfürstentum 'Electorate', the patriarchate (an archbishopric) of Aquileia just that, the (Arch)Bishop of Rome's Italian principalities the Papal State(s); on the other hand the papal principality in France, the Countship of Venaissin, where the papacy had resided in 'Babylonian exile' in Avignon, but which remained a papal state, separate from the Italian states, even after Avignon had been raised to archbishopric, was simply known by its temporal status, no reference to the highest of all princes of the church. The Papal States, State(s of the Church or Pontifical States (in Italian Stato Ecclesiastico, Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa The Comtat Venaissin, often called the Comtat for short (lo Comtat Venaicin la Comtat is the former name of the region around the city of Avignon in what is now
An exclusively religious category of Princes were the Grand Masters, by somewhat different styles, of those military orders that had been granted statehood over a territory to defend it against the infidels and/or in recognition of the order's military merit in crusading and conquests, notably against the (mainly Slavonic and Baltic) peoples in the north and east —notably the Teutonic Knights' Ordensstaat became the major power in the Baltic region, for example, absorbing its counterparts— and against the Muslim Moors in Iberia. Grand Master is the typical Title of the supreme head (in some national orders below the Sovereign Head of state of various orders of knighthood including Military orders military order is a Christian Order of knighthood that is founded for crusading, i The Balts or Baltic peoples (People who live by the Baltic Sea) defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European The Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim (and earlier non-Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra While the Grand masters and their fighting knights were usually professed nobles, the orders included clergy and were as a whole recognized as a truly "militant" form of devotion with papal recognition just as a normal monastic order. Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages.
By the twentieth century only the Bishop of Rome (the Pope, as Sovereign Monarch of Vatican City, formerly of the Papal States, a major power on the Italian peninsula until 1870) and the Bishop of Urgell (as Co-Prince of Andorra) were still reigning, territorial "princes of the church". The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The Bishop of Rome is the bishop of the Holy See, more often referred to in the Catholic tradition as the Pope. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano is a Landlocked sovereign City-state whose territory The Papal States, State(s of the Church or Pontifical States (in Italian Stato Ecclesiastico, Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa Th Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the three Peninsulas of Southern Europe The Diocese of Urgell is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical unit in Catalonia, Spain, with origins in the fifth century AD or possibly This is a list of Co-Princes of Andorra. The Principality of Andorra, in the Pyrenees Mountains on the French – Spanish border Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western For all other clergymen prince-like worldly power is now considered as conflicting with the prescriptions of the church.
Papal electors
Every Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church is still called a Prince of the Church because their College of Cardinals elects a new pope (de facto from their number) during a period sede vacante in a special session called a conclave, where an age-limit applies. A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. The College of Cardinals (verbose Sacred College of the Holy Roman Church, Sancta Romana Ecclesia, S History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Sede vacante is the vacancy of the Episcopal see of a Particular church in the Canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect the Pope (or Bishop of Rome) who is considered by Catholics to be the Successor The Cardinals thus are an ecclesiastical equivalent to the Prince-electors of the former Holy Roman Empire, the other major elective monarchy. The Prince-Electors (or simply Electors) of the Holy Roman Empire ( German: Kurfürst ( pl The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Similarly at present the seven Emirs of the United Arab Emirates elect the federation's President, traditionally the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Likewise, in Malaysia, seven Sultans, Negri Sembilan's Yang di-Pertuan Besar (himself an elective ruler) and the Raja of Perlis elect amongst themselves the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, federal Paramount Ruler, a non-executive head of state often translated as King. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings For other uses see Raja (disambiguation and Rajah (disambiguation. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the highest ranking office created by the constitution of the federation of Malaysia The term Paramount Ruler, or sometimes Paramount King, is a generic description though occasionally also used as an actual title for a number of rulers' position in relative Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state However, in both modern cases the election is only for a five years term and is essentially ceremonial, a pope governs absolute for life.
Improper use
Informally, other members of the higher hierarchic echelons of the Catholic church are in recent times also occasionally called "Princes of the church", in which case this title can sometimes be intended more or less ironically by the speaker.
Counterparts
For analogous positions in non-Roman Catholic, and especially non-Christian contexts, the term Prince of the Faith is used.
In the Hindu realms of the Indian Sub-Continent, the priestly caste of Brahmans ranks higher than the noble caste of Kshatriyas. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. Castes are Hereditary systems of occupation, Endogamy, social culture, Social class, and Political power. Brahmin ( Brāhmaṇa, sa ब्राह्मणः is the class of educators scholars and preachers in Brahminical Hinduism. Kshatriya (क्षत्रिय kṣatriya from क्षत्र kṣatra) is one of the four varnas (social orders in Hinduism As a result, princes of the faith can be considered the de jure superiors to princes of the blood. However, the two groups have often competed with one another for de facto sovereignty, and some historic figures in Indian history have held both sacred and secular titles.
Sources and references
(incomplete)*
- Catholic Encyclopaedia
- Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)
- WorldStatesmen- per present country
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