Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg
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Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg | |||||||||
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| 1236–1648 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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.svg) The Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg shown within Mecklenburg c. 1250 | |||||||||
| Status | State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Ratzeburg | ||||||||
| Common languages | Low Saxon, German | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholic, Lutheran after 1554 | ||||||||
| Government | Elective monarchy, ruled by the bishop or administrator holding the episcopal see, elected by the chapter or, exceptionally, appointed by the Pope | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Diocese founded | c. 1050 | ||||||||
| 15 July 1066 | |||||||||
• Diocese refounded | 1154 | ||||||||
| 1180/1181 | |||||||||
| 1236 | |||||||||
| 1554 | |||||||||
| 1648 | |||||||||
| 1701 | |||||||||
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The Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg (German: Fürstbistum Ratzeburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was located in what is today the states of Schleswig-Holstein (the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (the district of Nordwestmecklenburg) in Germany. It was established in 1236 and disestablished following the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The state capital was the city of Ratzeburg. The Diocese of Ratzeburg had originally been established as a diocese of the Catholic Church in the 11th century but had fallen into abeyance; as a result of the Wendish Crusade, the diocese was re-created in the middle of the 12th century. The territory of the prince-bishopric was managed by secular lords on behalf of the Bishop of Ratzeburg. As a Prince-Bishopric of the Empire, the territory of the state was not identical with that of the bishopric, but was located within its boundaries and made up about a quarter of the diocesan area. When the Prince-Bishopric was disestablished, a new entity was established — the Principality of Ratzeburg. The principality became an exclave of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
County of Ratezeburg and the Land of Butin
Count Henry of Badewide feuded with Count Adolf II of Schauenburg over the counties of Holstein and Wagria. In 1143, the Duke of Saxony — Henry the Lion — mediated between the two counts, granting Wagria and Segeberg to Adolf. Henry was granted Polabia and Ratzeburg. The newly created County of Ratzenburg included Ratzeburg, Boitin, Gadebusch, Wittenburg, and Boizenburg. The count pursued a policy of expelling the native Slavs and inviting Westphalians to settle in the conquered territory. Henry received the titles Comes Polaborum (1154), Graf von Ratzeburg (1156), and Vogt von Ratzeburg (1162). He was succeeded by his son, Bernard I, Count of Ratzeburg. The title died out at the beginning of the thirteenth century with the death of Bernard's grandson, Bernard III.
The Land of Boitin was first mentioned in 1158 in the endowment document by Henry the Lion as Butin[1].. The name goes back to the Bytiner Polabian people.[2] As a result of a sound change still detectable in the Drawenopolabian language, y became oi, Bytin became Boitin.[3]
The boundaries of the Land of Boitin are described in the endowment deed as follows:
...from Lübecker Landgraben[4] up to a heap of stones near Bünstorf and from there further through the middle of the Menzendorfer See and from there in a straight line to a large stone, from this in the common forest[5] to a place popularly called Mannhagen, near Carlow and in the forest called Riepser Sumpf, in the direction of Schlagsdorf and from there along of the Lenschower Bach up to its confluence with the Wakenitz.
The Land of Boitin thus roughly encompassed the area of today's municipalities of Selmsdorf, Schönberg (Mecklenburg), Siemz-Niendorf and Lüdersdorf in the Northwest Mecklenburg district.
