Primate Germaniae
Primate Germaniae ("Primate of Germany") is a title that originally belonged to the most outstanding bishop ( Primate ) " Germania ", that is, of all German countries. In the course of history, the title was claimed and used by the archbishops of Trier , Mainz , Magdeburg and Salzburg , often at the same time, which contradicts the actual meaning of the word. However, powers over the other archbishoprics of the empire were never associated with the title.
Such privileges could only be obtained through special papal commission with a legation, i.e. the appointment as papal legate with far-reaching powers. Legates can actually act with the authority of the Pope towards other bishops, depending on how their powers are structured. Some particularly prominent archbishops therefore liked to refer to themselves as "born legates" ( legatus natus ) to indicate that the legate dignity was permanently linked to their bishopric. However, the regular authority of such permanent legates to act in the name of the Pope is limited to the metropolitan area of their seat, in which they as archbishop already exercise the highest jurisdiction. The designation, like the title “Primate”, is largely a mere honorary title.
Trier, Mainz and Magdeburg lost their primate status with the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and with the secularization during the Napoleonic era (1802), while Salzburg's archbishop still holds it today. Like the Salzburg resident, the Archbishop of Cologne also has the title Legatus natus , but only rarely called himself Primate Germaniae .
The individual primates
Mainz
The Anglo-Saxon missionary Bonifatius had become bishop of Mainz around 745 , which at that time had the rank of suffragan . Boniface possessed exceptional powers, given by the Pope, for his missionary work, similar to those of the later papal legates. He was allowed to found dioceses, demarcate their areas from each other and appoint or remove bishops in them. That is why he was given the personal title " Archbishop " in church historiography and, in recent times, he is also called "Apostle of the Germans" because of his services to the Church in the Empire . The diocese of Mainz , which was raised to an archbishopric around 780/82 , therefore claimed an outstanding position among the German dioceses due to its appeal to Boniface . Under his successors it became by far the largest ecclesiastical province in the empire; added was still a key position in the constitutional structure of the empire : the archbishop of Mainz was archchancellor for Germania and later belonged to the seven electors who have the right to royal election had.
From this, and not from a formal award, the primacy of the Archbishop of Mainz, which has been confirmed from 900 onwards, was founded. In contrast, he was never legally granted primacy. The archbishops never used it as a law firm title.
The Archbishop of Mainz did not exercise any rights over the other metropolitans . It was just an honorary priority. In order to obtain actual competences over his ecclesiastical province, the archbishops had to try to obtain a vicariate or legation privilege with the Pope . Such privileges have also been bestowed on some archbishops over the years. B. the Archbishops Willigis , Adalbert I of Saarbrücken and Conrad I of Wittelsbach . From the 11th century onwards, the archbishops adopted a permanent legation or a vicariate connected to the Mainz chair . The claims raised in this way could not be enforced against the other metropolitans. The priority of honor remained. With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803, the Mainz dignities were transferred to the Church of Regensburg , to whose bishopric seat the last Archbishop of Mainz, Karl Theodor von Dalberg, was also transferred. With his death in 1817, the title of primate based in Regensburg expired.
trier
For the Archbishop of Trier, the title Prima is attested as early as the 9th century, but only great for the province of Belgica . In the 10th century he received a vicariate privilege, which gave him priority over all other bishops of the empire and all legates residing there. In the 11th century, the archbishops repeatedly obtained confirmation of their privileges and, under Pope Innocent II, even the legation over the archdioceses of Mainz, Cologne, Salzburg, Bremen and Magdeburg. The Archbishops of Trier were later referred to more often as primates, but rarely used the title themselves. They had just as little primatial jurisdiction as the Mainz people. The powers of the legations also hindered each other. In 1802 the title expired when the archdiocese was suppressed to become a suffragan.
Salzburg
For Salzburg , the existence of a papal vicariate privilege is assumed for the time of the first archbishop, Arno von Salzburg (798-821), but this has not been passed on with certainty. In the course of the Middle Ages, they were awarded the title of legate and vicar of the Roman See several times. The archbishops claimed the right to call themselves born legates ( legati nati ) and primates of Germany. According to an inscription on the monument to Archbishop Andreas Jakob von Dietrichstein (1689–1753) in Salzburg Cathedral , he was the first Salzburg Archbishop to receive this title formally from the Roman-German Emperor. The Archbishop of Salzburg still holds both titles today; They do not have any priority of jurisdiction, but they do have liturgical precedent. Salzburg is the only archbishopric that held the title of primate as early as the Middle Ages and early modern times and that retained the rank of archbishopric even after the post-Napoleonic reorganization.
Magdeburg
The Magdeburg primacy goes back to a papal charter from 986. In it, the archbishop of the just founded province were given the same rights as the archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne. The Archbishops of Magdeburg therefore called themselves Primate Germaniae, just like the Salzburgers, while Mainz and Trier, as already described, did not or only rarely used the title themselves.
In the 15th century, therefore, there was a dispute between the Magdeburg and Salzburg archbishop over the hierarchy of the Reichstag. This dispute was settled by a settlement in 1530, which determined that the two should take turns in precedence every day.
During the Reformation , the Archdiocese of Magdeburg fell to the Protestant party. The Protestant administrators continued to use the title Primate Germaniae until the former Archbishopric of Magdeburg was converted into the secular Duchy of Magdeburg after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 .
Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is also occasionally granted the title of Primate Germaniae . This is justified with the extraordinary honorary rights of the Cologne resident, which fully corresponded to those of the other primate seats. In 1240 he was also given the legation for Germany. Later, the Archbishops of Cologne also carried the title Legatus natus , which they have retained to this day.
Powers of the Primate Germaniae
The primatial seats are a further development of the Apostolic Vicariate, which was already known in the early Middle Ages (which must not be confused with today's form of organization). The vicars apostolic exercised jurisdiction for the Pope over areas assigned to them that went beyond their actual scope. The firm connection with a certain bishopric led to the status of a "prima sedes" of a certain province. The vicars' prerogatives were, for example, the ordination of the metropolitans in their area, the convening of plenary councils or the maintenance of a court of appeal for the judgments of the metropolitan courts .
A real expression of the primate as a regular authority between the Metropolitans and the Apostolic See in Rome did not come about in the West. Therefore, the primacy of Germany was only ever associated with priority of honor. In addition, the title was claimed or used by several different episcopal seats as described. The title could therefore not acquire any real meaning.
The only legal content was the position of legate or vicar. In the course of time a number of bishops were granted legacy rights. The corresponding privileges, however, were often formulated indefinitely and, moreover, only granted personally to the bishop concerned. Their real legal quality is therefore uncertain.
After most of the primates soon referred to themselves as born legates (in order to permanently connect the legation to their bishopric), the same effect occurred as with the title of primate. The title Legatus natus soon meant only an honorary priority, although it is unclear whether the legacy rights could ever develop any assertiveness against other powerful archbishops.
Primacy and legation today
The title Primate Germaniae is now only used by the Archbishop of Salzburg, who also retained the title of Legatus natus . In canon law is laid down that the title of Primate includes only political rights. The title of Legatus natus no longer appears in the Codex Iuris Canonici from 1983, but is still used as a habit .
The rights of honor consist in liturgical precedent . Primates take precedence over metropolitans and in turn follow cardinals and patriarchs . The born legates are allowed to use legate purple (not to be confused with cardinal purple ) according to traditional tradition . The tassels in their coats of arms are therefore always red and not green as in bishops .
The current Primate Germaniae is Archbishop Franz Lackner .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Georg May : The Archbishop of Mainz as Primate , in: Archives for Catholic Church Law 1995, p. 76.
- ↑ Georg May: The Archbishop of Mainz as Primate , in: Archives for Catholic Church Law 1995, p. 77f.
- ^ Paul Hinschius : System of Catholic Canon Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 608.
- ^ Paul Hinschius: System of Catholic Church Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 607.
- ^ Paul Hinschius: System of Catholic Church Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 608 fn. 6.
- ^ Paul Hinschius: System of Catholic Canon Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 609.
- ^ A b c Paul Hinschius: System of Catholic Church Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 610.
- ^ Paul Hinschius: System of Catholic Canon Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 611.
- ↑ a b c Paul Hinschius: System of Catholic Church Law , Vol. 1, Berlin 1869, p. 612.
- ↑ Georg May: The Archbishop of Mainz as Primate , in: Archives for Catholic Church Law 1995, p. 87.