Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg

The Prince Bishopric of Bamberg was established in 1007, to further expand the spread of Christianity in Germany. The ecclesiastical state was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from about 1245 until it was subsumed to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1802.StateThe Bishops of Bamberg received the princely title by Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen before his deposition by Pope Innocent IV in 1245, whereby the diocese became an Imperial state.During the 18th century, it was often held in conjunction with the neighboring Bishopric of Würzburg. Bamberg was bordered, among others, by Würzburg to the west, by the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach and the Free City of Nuremberg to the south, by the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth to the east and by the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg to the north.The prince-bishopric also ruled over large possessions within the Duchy of Carinthia, including the strategically important towns of Villach, Feldkirchen, Wolfsberg and Tarvisio at the transalpine road to Venice, as well as Kirchdorf an der Krems in the Archduchy of Austria. The Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa purchased these territories in 1759.