STRASBURG
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STRASBURG
the pope. Notwithstanding their share in imperial
poUtics, these bishops found time to hold synods and
labour effectually for church discipline in the diocese.
In 13.59 John II of Lichtenberg (1353-65) obtained the Landgraviate of Lower Alsace from the Counts of Oettingen. A land-register, that gave exact infor- mation concerning the secular possessions of the dio- cese, was drawn up during his administration. The dioce.se included: in Lower Alsace the districts of Ben- field, Markolsheim, Schirmeck, Dachstein, Kochers- berg, Wanzemau, and Zabern; in Upper Alsace the stewardship of Rufach; in the present Duchy of Baden the districts of Oberjii-ch and Ettenheim. The episcopal possessions in Alsace were only exceeded in area by those of Hamburg. With shrewd policy the bishops had oijportunely broken the power of the local governors, and had successfully opposed the restoration of imperial administrative suzerainty over diocesan territories. Under John's successors began the decline of the diocese, promoted by unhappy po- litical conditions and by the Great Schism. This decay was especially rapid during the episcopate of Wilham of Diest (1394-1439), who, to carry on innu- merable private and public wars, frequently mortgaged and squandered the episcopal lands. His successors, who, with the aid of the cathedral chapter, finally paid off his debts, were: Rupert of the Pfalz (1440- 78), who called the celebrated preacher Geiler von Kayser.sberg (q. v.) to the pulpit of the minster; Al- bert of the Pfalz (147S-1506); and Wilham III of Honstein (1507-41).
Soon after 1520 the Reformation gained many ad- herents in the city of Strasburg, owing to the labours of Luther's friends, Wolfgang Capito and Martin Bucer, the efforts of the preacher Matthias Zell and of the Humanists Sturm and Hedio. In 1529 the council abolished the Mass; in 1531 the city joined the Smalkaldic League, whereupon the bishop trans- ferred his see to Zabern. Despite the vigorous oppo- sition of William of Honstein and Erasmus of Limburg (1541-6S), all the secular lordships of the diocese in Lower Alsace adopted the new doctrine, except the landgraviate; even part of the cathedral chapter be- came Protestant. John IV of iManderscheid-Blanken- heim (1569-92) summoned the Jesuits to Molsheim to check the apostasy, and encouraged the Count er-Refor- mation. After his death there was a double election: the Protestant cathedral canons chose John George of Brandenburg as admmistrator; the Catholic canons. Cardinal Charles of Lorraine. The struggle between the two candidates, called the Bishops' Warof Stras- burg (1592-1604), caused the diocese great miser>-. Charles of Lorraine was \'ictor. Catholic ownership was further secured in the successive election of two Austrian archdukes as bishop: Leopold (1607-25), a brother of Emperor Ferdinand II, and Leopold Wil- liam (1625-62), one of Ferdinand's sons. During the Thirty Years' War the territorj' was so ravaged by Ernst of Mansfeld, the Swedes, and the French, that the jiop- ulation decreased 75 per cent. In 1680, during the episcopate of Charles Egon of Furstenberg (1663-82), whose sympathies were French, Louis XIV seized all the territory of the diocese on the left bank of the Rhine under pretence of " reunion " ; the city of Stras- burg became a French possession in 1681. The bishop retained the internal administration of his possessions in Alsace and the title of landgrave. The districts on the right bank of the Rhine remained within the German Empire, and the bishop was still their ruler ;is prince of the em))ire. The occupation of Strasburg by the French brought the minster once more into the hands of the Catholics. William Egoii of Fiirstenberg (1682-1704) established the seminary for priests at Stra.sburg and placed the Jesuits in charge of it. The succeeding four bishops belonged to the French princely family of de Roh.an; the la.st of these, Louis Rene de Rohan (1779-1802), was in-
volved in the notorious affair of the diamond neck-
lace. In 1790 the Constituent National Assembly
secularized the Alsatian possessions of the diocese and
Rohan transferred his see to the German portion of his
bishopric. In Strasburg Brendel, a constitutional
bishop, was elected; Eulogius Schneider, whom he ap-
pointed vicar-general, persecuted Catholic priests who
refused to take the oath, until the overthrow of the
Reign of Terror in Paris put an end to this injustice.
By the Concordat of 1801 the Diocese of Strasburg
received new boundaries, extending the jurisdiction of
the bishop over and beyond Alsace to the Lake of
C.4THEDR.\L. Strasburg
Bienne in Switzerland, and south-westerly as far as
Montbeliard. Rohan havmg resigned at the request
of the pope, Peter Saurine (1802-13), former consti-
tutional bishop, became Bishop of Strasburg. The
districts on the right bank of the Rhine fell to Baden
on account of the secularization of the German
Church in 1803. The diocese, which had been a
suffragan of Mainz until 1802, became (1822) a suf-
fragan of Besangon; it was reduced in size towards the
south and south-west. Bishop Andreas Riiss (1842-
87) endeavoured to revive Catholicism in Germany,
to promote the education of the clergy, and to estab-
lish religious associations. When Alsace became a
German possession in 1871, the diocese received its
present extent and was declared directly dependent
on the Holy See by Decrees of 10 and 14 July, 1874,
and by the Treaty of Paris of 7 October, 1874. Rass
Wiis succeeded by Peter Paul Stumpf (1887-90), and
the present bishop, Adolf Fritzen, consecrated on 21
.July, 1891. Bishop Fritzen has aspecially en-
couraged Catholic associations, the Catholic press.
Church liturgy and psalmody. In 1902 he established
a tlicologicalfaculty at the University of Strasburg.
Statistics. — The Diocese of Strasburg includes the departments of Upper and Lower Alsace in the Ger- man Crown-Province of Alsace-IiOrraine. In 1911 it contained 57 deaneries, 710 parishes, 283 curacies, 710 parish jiriests, 454 curates and ecclesiastics in other pt)sitions, 92 priests retired ot on leave elsewhere, 106 regulars, and S4(>,100 Catholics, while 350,0(K1 of the population belonged to other faiths. The bishop ia appointed by the pope in agreement with the German Emperor, and the cathedral chapter is appointed by
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