Prince-abbot

A prince-abbot (German: Fürstabt) is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church (like a Prince-bishop), in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity, usually a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The territory ruled by a prince-abbey is known as a princely abbey, a prince-abbacy or an abbey principality. The holder, however, does not hold the ecclesiastical office of a bishop.

Adolphus von Dalberg, Prince-Abbot of Fulda 1726–1737

Part of a series on the
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
Saint Peter
Ecclesiastical titles (order of precedence)
Pope Cardinal Cardinal Vicar Crown Prince Protector Moderator of the curia Chaplain of His Holiness Papal legate Papal majordomo Apostolic nuncio Apostolic delegate Apostolic Syndic Apostolic visitor Vicar apostolic Apostolic exarch Apostolic prefect Assistant to the papal throne Eparch Metropolitan Patriarch Catholicos Bishop Archbishop Bishop emeritus Diocesan bishop Major archbishop Primate Suffragan bishop Titular bishop Coadjutor bishop Auxiliary bishop Prelate Pontiff Territorial prelate Territorial abbot
Liturgical titles Acolyte Consecrator Lector Subdeacon
Administrative and pastoral titles Auditor Brother Chancellor Chaplain Military chaplain Military ordinary Coarb Confessor Consultor Curate Deacon Archdeacon Defender of the bond Definitor Devil's advocate Diocesan administrator Ecclesiastical judge Exorcist Laity Lay abbot Abthain Commendatory Lay cardinal Minister Missionary Monsignor Officialis Ostiarius Pastor Assistant pastor Palatinus Personal prelate Preacher Prefect Presbyter Elder Priest Principal Protonotary apostolic Reverend Saint Servant of God Blessed Venerable Seminarian Vicar Judicial vicar Vicar general Vicar forane Sub-dean
Consecrated and professed titles Abbess Abbot Consecrated virgin Corrector Custos Friar Dean Grand master Hermit Master of novices Monk Novice Nun Postulant Oblate Prior Provincial superior Rector Religious Superior general
Additional titles Almoner Altar server Archimandrite Archpriest Archdeacon Canon Captain General of the Church Chorbishop Coarb Commissary Apostolic Datarius Gonfalonier of the Church Honorary Prelate Minor canon Notarius Ostiarius Peritus Postulator Prebendary Precentor Prince-bishop Prince-abbot Prince-primate Prince-provost Promotor Fidei Protopriest Protodeacon Protosyncellus Regionarius Sacristan
Organization titles Grand master Knights Hospitaller Order of the Holy Sepulchre Teutonic Knights Inquisitor Grand Inquisitor
Catholic Church portal

The designated abbey may be a community of either monks or nuns. Thus, because of the possibility of it being a female monastery, an abbey-principality is one of the few cases in which the rule can be restricted to female incumbents, styled Princess-Abbess.

In some cases, the holder was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfürst), with a seat and a direct vote (votum virile) in the Imperial Diet. Most immediate abbots however, while bearing the title of a "Prince-Abbot", only held the status of an Imperial prelate with a collective vote in the Imperial Diet. The Imperial prelates were represented in the Diet by the envoys of the Swabian Circle and the Rhenish College, both holding one collective vote. Actual Prince-Abbots were:

• the Abbot of Fulda, "Archchancellor of the Empress", according to a 1220 decree by Emperor Frederick II, elevated to a Prince-Bishopric by Pope Benedict XIV in 1752
• the Abbot of Prüm, elevated by Emperor Frederick II in 1222, held in personal union by the Archbishop of Trier from 1576
• the Abbot of Kempten, confirmed by King Charles IV in 1348
• the Abbot of Murbach, elevated by King Ferdinand I in 1548
• the Abbot of Stavelot-Malmedy
• the Abbot of Corvey, elevated to a Prince-Bishop in 1792
• the Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg