Three Bishoprics
Three Bishoprics | |||||||||||||||||
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Government of Kingdom of France | |||||||||||||||||
1552–1790 | |||||||||||||||||
Capital | Metz | ||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | 1552 | ||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1790 | ||||||||||||||||
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Lorraine |
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The Three Bishoprics (
History
In the course of the rebellion against the
Dissatisfied with the
Backed by Duke
From the emperor's perspective, Elector Maurice and his allies had no right to legally dispose of Imperial territory, Charles V started a campaign against the French in order to reconquer the occupied dioceses culminating in the Siege of Metz from 19 October 1552 to 2 January 1553. The expedition ultimately failed, when the Imperial troops were defeated by the French forces under Duke Francis of Guise in the 1554 Battle of Renty. When the emperor, worn out and exhausted, abdicated in 1556, his successor Ferdinand I discontinued all attempts to regain the Three Bishoprics.
King Henry II left a permanent garrison in each of the cities and gradually subjected their citizens to his royal authority. The townsmen of Metz filed several petitions to the
The acquisition of the Three Bishoprics was finally recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. The province's territory was further enlarged by parts of the Duchy of Luxembourg around Thionville (Diedenhofen), ceded to France according to the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees, as well as by several Lorraine villages annexed in 1661.
The Diocese of Saint-Dié, created in 1777 and sometimes called the "Fourth Bishopric of Lorraine" ("le Quatrième Évêché lorrain"), is not related historically to the Three Bisphoprics.
Sources
- (in French) Trois-Évêchés on the French Wikipedia
- (in French) 450th anniversary celebrations on the French Ministry of Culture's website
- (in French) Biography of Henry II