Image Gallery of the coins from Salzburg

SALZBURG, Archbishopric

The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly consisting of the present-day state of Salzburg (the ancient Roman city of Iuvavum) in Austria. The last Archbishop with princely authority was Hieronymus von Colloredo, an early patron of Salzburg native Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Since 1648, the Archbishop of Salzburg has also borne the title Primas Germaniae ("First [Bishop] of Germania"). The powers of this title – now non-jurisdictional – are limited to being the Pope's first correspondent in the German-speaking world, but used to include the right to summon the Prince-electors. The Archbishop also has the title of legatus natus ("permanent legate") to the Pope, which, although not a cardinal, gives the Archbishop the privilege of wearing a cardinal's scarlet vesture, even in Rome.

St. Rupert, Bishop of Worms and called the apostle of Bavaria and Carinthia, came to the region and reestablished the diocese after erecting a church at Wallersee and finding the ruins of Salzburg overgrown with brambles. It is unknown whether he arrived in c. 543 during the time of Theodo I or in c. 698 when Bavaria was conquered by the Franks. In either case, it was not until after 700 that Christian civilisation reemerged in the region. The cathedral monastery was named in honour of St. Peter and Rupert's niece Ehrentrudis founded the nunnery at Nonnberg. St. Boniface completed the work of St. Rupert, and placed Salzburg under the primatial see of the Archbishopric of Mainz. St. Boniface quarrelled with Bishop St. Vergilius over the existence of antipodes, although St. Vergilius began the valuable book Liber Confraternitatum, or the Confraternity Book of St. Peter.

In the era beginning with Pope Gregory VII, the Catholic church entered an era of santification and righteousness in the church. The first archbishop of the era was Gebhard, who during the Investiture Controversy remained on the side of the Pope. Gebhard thus suffered a nine year exile, and was allowed to return shortly before his death and was buried in Admont. His successor Thimo was imprisoned for five years, and suffered a horrible death in 1102. After King Henry IV abdicated and Conrad I of Abensberg was elected Archbishop. Conrad lived in exile until the Calistine Concordat of 1122. Conrad spent the remaining years of his episcopate improving the religious life in the archdiocese.

The Archbishops again took the side of the Pope during the strife between them and the Hohenstaufens. Archbishop Eberard I of Hilpolstein-Biburg was allowed to reign in peace, but his successor Conrad II of Austria earned the Emperor's wrath and died in 1168 in Admont a fugitive. Conrad III of Wittelsbach was appointed the Archbishop of Salzburg in 1177 at the Diet of Venice, after the partisans of both Pope and Emperor were deposed.

Archbishop Eberhard II of Regensberg was made a prince of the Empire in 1213, and created three new sees: Chiemsee (1216), Seckau (1218) and Lavant (1225). In 1241 at the Council of Regensburg he denounced Pope Gregory IX at as "that man of perdition, whom they call Antichrist, who in his extravagant boasting says, I am God, I cannot err." Eberhard was excommunicated in 1245 after refusing to publish a decree deposing the emperor and died suddenly the next year. During the German Interregnum, Salzburg also suffered confusion. Philip of Spanheim, heir to the Dukedom of Carinthia, refused to take priestly consecrations, and was replaced by Ulrich, Bishop of Seckau.

King Rudolph I of Habsburg quarrelled with the archbishops through the manipulations of Abbot Henry of Admont, and after his death the archbishops and the Habsburgs made peace in 1297. The people and archbishops of Salzburgs remained loyal to the Habsburgs in their struggles against the Wittelsbachs. When the Black Death reached Salzburg in 1347, the Jews were accused of poisoning the wells and suffered severe persecution. The Jews were expelled from Salzburg in 1404. Later, the Jews were allowed to return but were forced to wear pointed hats. The Renaissance was a period of cultural decay due to the poor rulership of the archbishops and poor conditions in the empire during the reign of Frederick IV.

Conditions were at their worst during the reign of Bernard II of Rohr. The country was in depression, local authorities were raising their own taxes and the Turks were ravaging the archdiocese. In 1473, he summoned the first provincial diet in the history of the archbishopric, and eventually abdicated. It was only Leonard of Keutschach (reigned 1495–1519) who reversed the situation. He had all the burgomasters and town councillors (who were levying unfair taxes) arrested simultaneously and imprisoned in the castle. His last years were spent in bitter struggle against Matthäus Lang of Wellenburg, Bishop of Gurk, who succeeded him in 1519.

Matthäus Lang was largely unnoticed in official circles, although his influence was felt throughout the archbishopric. He brought in Saxon miners, which brought with them Protestant books and teachings. He then attempted to keep the populace Catholic, and during the Latin War was besieged in the Hohen-Salzburg, declared a "monster" by Martin Luther, and two later uprisings by the peasants lead to suffering to the entire archdiocese. Later bishops were wiser in the ruling and spared Salzburg the religious wars and devastations seen elsewhere in Germany. Archbishop Wolfgang Theodoric of Raitenau gave the Protestants the choice of either to live Catholic or leave. The Cathedral was rebuilt in such splendour that it was unrivalled by all others north of the Alps.

Archbishop Paris of Lodron led Salzburg to peace and prosperity during the Thirty Years' War in which the rest of Germany was thoroughly devastated. During the reign of Leopold Anthony of Firmian, Protestants emerged more vigorously than before. He invited the Jesuits to Salzburg and asked for help from the emperor, and finally ordered the Protestants to recant or emigrate - about 30,000 people left and settled in Württemberg, Hanover and East Prussia, and a few settled in Georgia in the United States of America. The last Prince-Archbishop, Hieronymus of Colloredo, is probably best well-known for his patronage of Mozart. His reforms of the church and education systems alienated him from the people.

In 1803, Salzburg was secularised as the Electorate of Salzburg for the former Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany (brother of Emperor Francis II), who had lost his throne. In 1805 it came to Austria, and in 1809 to Bavaria, who closed the University of Salzburg, banned monasteries from accepting novices, and banned pilgrimages and processions. The Congress of Vienna restored Salzburg to the milder Austrians in 1814, and ecclesiastical life was again normalised by Archbishop Augustus John Joseph Gruber (reigned 1823-1835). The archdiocese was reestablished as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg in 1818 without temporal power.

ARCHBISHOPS OF SALZBURG
* Arno 784–821
* Adalram 821–836
* Leutram 836–859
* Adalwin 859–873
* Adalbert I 873
* Dietmar I 873–907
* Pilgrim I 907–923
* Adalbert II 923–935
* Egilholf 935–939
* Herhold 939–958
* Friedrich I 958–991
* Hartwig 991–1023
* Günther 1024–1025
* Dietmar II 1025–1041
* Baldwin 1041–1060
* Gebhard 1060–1088
* Thiemo 1090–1101
* Konrad I von Abensberg 1106–1147
* Eberhard I von Hilpolstein-Biburg 1147–1164
* Konrad II of Austria 1164–1168
* Adalbert III of Bohemia 1168–1177
* Conrad III 1177–1183

* Adalbert III of Bohemia (restored) 1183–1200
* Eberhard II von Truchsees 1200–1246
* Bernhard I von Ziegenhain 1247
* Philipp of Carinthia 1247–1256
* Ulrich von Sekau 1256–1265
* Ladislas of Silesia-Liegnitz 1265–1270
* Friedrich II von Walchen 1270–1284
* Rudolf von Hoheneck 1284–1290
* Konrad IV von Breitenfurt 1291–1312
* Weichard von Pollheim 1312–1315
* Friedrich III von Liebnitz 1315–1338
* Heinrich Pyrnbrunner 1338–1343
* Ordulf von Wiesseneck 1343–1365
* Pilgrim II von Pucheim 1365–1396
* Gregor Schenk von Osterwitz 1396–1403
* Eberhard III von Neuhaus 1403–1427
* Eberhard IV von Starhemberg 1427–1429
* Johann II von Reichensperg 1429–1441
* Friedrich IV Truchsees von Emmerberg 1441–1452
* Sigismund I von Volkersdorf 1452–1461
* Burchard von Weissbruch 1461–1466
* Bernhard II von Rohr 1466–1482
* Bernhard III Peckenschlager 1482–1489

* Friedrich V von Schallenburg 1489–1494
* Sigismund II 1494–1495
* Leonhard von Keutschach 1495–1519
* Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg 1519–1540
* Ernest of Bavaria 1540–1554
* Michael von Khuenburg 1554–1560
* Johann Jakob Khun von Bellasy 1560–1586
* Georg von Khuenburg 1586–1587
* Wolfgang Dietrich von Raitenau 1587–1612
* Marcus Sittich von Hohenems 1612–1619
* Paris von Lodron 1619–1653
* Guidobald von Thun 1654–1668
* Maximilian Gandalf von Khuenburg 1668–1687
* Johann Ernst von Thun 1687–1709
* Franz Anton von Harrach 1709–1727
* Leopold Anton von Firmian 1727–1744
* Jakob Ernst von Liechtenstein-Castelcorno 1744–1747
* Adnreas Jakob von Dietrichstein 1747–1753
* Sigismund III von Schrattenbach 1753–1771
* Hieronymus von Colloredo 1772–1812 (last prince-archbishop, lost temporal power in 1803 after secularization)

Key Identification Notes: The Archbishopric's coins are most easily identified by spotting the arms shown above. These will often be combined with the Archbishop's personal arms, sometimes impaled on the same field (and almost always on top), other times as a seperate coat of arms. The patron saints of the city are Saint Rupert and Saint Vergilius and are frequently depicted together on the larger silver coins. St. Vergilius oversaw construction of the first cathedral in Salzburg and stands behind it. St. Rupert by tradition initiated the salt mining industry in the town and is depicted holding a small container of the valuable mineral.

½ Thaler