Prior College

The Priorenkolleg was a body of the highest Cologne clergy who elected and advised the Archbishop of Cologne .

The origin of the prior college, which was a Cologne specialty, lies in the dark. It was first mentioned in 1090, but it is definitely older. Its members were the provosts and deans of the collegiate churches in Cologne, as well as the abbots of the old abbeys of the city of Cologne , the cathedral provost and the cathedral dean, the provosts of Bonn, Xanten and Soest, as well as the abbots of Siegburg and Deutz. The Archdeacons and Decani nati of the Archdiocese belonged to it, which meant that it could be considered the spiritual representative of the Diocese. This also gave him special weight in the administration of the diocese , in which it was significantly involved. It should be noted, however, that the Priorenkolleg is not a fixed body, but only the spiritual greats of the diocese. It only met to elect an archbishop, otherwise each prelate acted independently on behalf of the archbishop.

Already in the 12th century there were tensions with the Cologne cathedral chapter , which claimed the election of the archbishop for itself and wanted to force the priors out of the diocese administration. After a bishop's election by the prior college and cathedral chapter had already come in 1156, which the prior college could decide for itself by the decision of the emperor, the cathedral chapter tried to expand its influence on the diocesan administration by 1200 at the latest.

It is uncertain whether the Priorenkolleg was still involved in the election of Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden (1239), but certainly not in the archbishopric election of 1261. However, it was not finally eliminated until 1274.

source

• Eduard Hegel : History of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Bd. 2: The Archdiocese of Cologne in the late Middle Ages. 1191–1515, part 1 . Verlag Bachem, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-7616-1149-8 .