| Bishopric of Merseburg Bistum Merseburg | |
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| 968 - 981 & 1004 - 1565 | |
| Capital Circle Bench |
Merseburg Upper Saxon Council of Princes |
| Established | 968 |
| Secularised to Saxony | 1565 |
The Bishopric of Merseburg was a Roman Catholic diocese based in Merseburg in far southeastern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It existed from 968 until 981 and again from 1004 until 1565, although the last Catholic bishop had died in 1548.
The diocese of Merseburg (968 - 1565)[]
The Bishopric was founded by the Emperor Otto I the Great in 968 with the support of the Synod of Ravenna following the defeat of the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld. The first bishop was Boso (968 - 970). He was succeeded by Giselher. When Giselher was appointed the Archbishop of Magdeburg in 981, the diocese of Merseburg was abolished.
In 1004 King Henry II the Saint refounded the diocese. Merseburg became an important religious centre in eastern Germany. Merseburg was one of the smallest bishoprics in Germany, containing the important city of Leipzig and parts of modern Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. On 3 May 1525 Bishop Adolph of Anhalt-Zerbst fled the diocese after Lutheran unrest in Leipzig. On the 8th the Cathedral was besieged. The last Catholic bishop died in 1561. The prince-bishopric was administered by a member of the Saxon Elector's family before being secularised in 1565.
See also[]
- List of Bishops of Merseburg
| Upper Saxon Circle |
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| Anhalt | Barby | Brandenburg | Cammin | Further Pomerania | Gernrode | Hatzfeld | Hither Pomerania Hohnstein | Lohra and Klettenberg | Mansfeld | Quedlinburg | Querfurt | Reuss | Saxe-Altenburg | Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Eisenach | Saxe-Gotha | Saxe-Weimar | Saxony | Schönburg | Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Stolberg | Walkenried | Wernigerode
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