In the high Middle Ages, when this type of town achieved its greatest importance, episcopal towns in the narrower sense were towns with an episcopal see in which all official powers derived from the bishop [2. 239] (Episcopate). They constituted the focus of their dioceses, to which they gave their name, even though in Western Europe (and large parts of Central Europe, roughly as far as the Elbe) the see was older than the town. Episcopal towns acquired their special significance precisely because in Western and Central Europe …
Episcopal town(806 words)
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Keller, Katrin, “Episcopal town”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017685>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626
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