Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Roman Empire

The Christian faith is summed up to the 3rd century in the Rhine and Danube provinces of the Roman Empire , in the area of the later Holy Roman Empire , foot. Further construction was interrupted during the Great Migration . A continuity can only be proven for the lists of bishops of Trier and Aquileia . Only with the conversion of the Franks under Clovis and the transfer of power in the Franconian Empire from the Merovingians to the Carolingians did an expansion of the empire and church into the tribal areas of the Bavarians and Saxons go hand in hand.

For the history of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Roman Empire up to the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803 and the laying down of the imperial crown by Emperor Franz II in 1806 see among others:

• Ottonian-Salian imperial church system
• Spiritual territory

The term “Roman Catholic Church” is anachronistic for a large part of this history (at least until the Reformation ) and is not used in the historical sciences.