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WURTEMBERG
third centuries, but was not permanently established
until the reign of Cliarleniagne (d. 814). The care
both of religious hfe and of the entire intellectual life
was exercised by the monasteries, especially by those
of the Benedictines. Probably the most celebrated
Benedictine abbey was that of Hirsau, which was
founded about 850 and reorganized to conform to the
Rule of Cluny by the abbot Blessed Wilhelm (d. 1091).
After the Reformation the abbey was a Protestant
institution, and in 161)2 it was destroyed by the
French. Other important Benedictine abbeys were:
that at Alpirsbach. in the Kinzigtal, founded in 1095
and existed until 1648; its fine Romanesque abbey
church is now used by the Protestants; the abbey at
EUwangen, founded in 764, from 1460a house of secular
Augustinian Canons which was directly dependent on
the Empire, and which was suppressed in 1803; its
fine abbey church is in the Riini.anes(|ue style; the ab-
bey at Murrhardt, foundc<I by theKnij)eror Louis the
Pious, suppressed during the Reformation; a part of
it wa-s the celebrated late Romanesque chapel, now
used by the Protestants, called Walderichskapelle;
the abbey at Weingarten (10.52-1802), the richest
abbev in Swabia ; the abbey at Wiblingen (1093-1806) ;
that "at Zwcifalten (1089-1803), etc. Two noted
Cistercian abbeys which have preserved almost
entirely their tjTjical medieval form are: the abbey at
Maulbron, founded in 1146, became a Protestant
theological seminary in 1556, and the abbey at Beben-
hausen, foimded in 1185, made a Protestant monas-
tery school in 1560, and since 1807 a royal hunting
castle. Among the proofs of the flourishing condition
of Cathohc hfe in the cities during the era before the
Reformation are some of the celebrated monimients of
Gothic architecture, as: the minster at Ulm, now used
by the Protestants, which next to Cologne cathedral
is the largest church building in Germany, and has an
area of about 75,778 sq. feet ; the Church of the Holy
Cross and of Our Lady, at Schwiibisch-Gmund, with-
out a tower; and the Church of Our Lady at Reutlin-
gen, now used by the Protestants. Among the noted
Catholic churches of a later date special mention
should be made of the Catholic cathedral at Rotten-
burg (seventeenth century), and the church at Wein-
garten, a structure of the eighteenth century in the
baroque style. This latter church is distinguished
for a relic of the Holy Blood, in honour of which a
large equestrian procession, called the BhdriU, is
held annually on the Friday after Ascension Day.
.\s early as the years 1520-30 the Reformation found entrance into Wilrtembcrg. The extrava- gance and cruelty of a number of the rulers and the harsh oppression of the people had led to several fierce wars with the cities and revolts of the peasan- try; all this prepared the way for the new doctrine. Duke iririch (1498-15.50), who had been driven from the country on account of his acts of violence and had been put under the ban of the empire in 1519 for murder, became a Protestant. With the aid of Landgrave Philip of Hesse, who is well known on account of his two marriages, LHrich acquired posses- sion of his territories once more, and introduced the Reformation throughout them, while at the same time he confiscated all the lands of the churches and monasteries. The work of the Reformation was com- pleted by Ulrich's son Duke Christopher (1.5.50-1568). Wiirtemberg suffered terribly in the great religious struggle known as the Thirty Years War. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it had an area of 2093 sq. miles and 6.50,000 inhabitants. Owing to the great changes brought about in Germany by Napoleon, Wiirtemberg obtained diiring the years 1802-1810 an incre.i.se of population that doubled the niimber of its inhabitants and an increase of territory that gave the country its present extent. This increase added Catholic districts once more to the state, which up to then had been entirely Protestant.
The additions were, mainly, a large part of the ,\ue-
trian possessions in Swal)ia, the lands of the Teutonic
Knights, which \ip till then had been held inmiediately
from the empir(\ the lands belonging to the provost-
ship of EUwangen, the lands of various monasteries
which had held their territories directly from the
empire, etc. A state board called the spiritual council
was at once appointed to protect the sovereign rights
of the .State as against the Catholic Church; since
1816 this board has been called the church council.
The newly acquired Catholic districts, however,
belonged to different dioceses, e. g. the dioceses of
Constance, Augsburg, ^\'iirzburg, and Spcyer, conse-
quently a vicar-generalate was created which was
provided with a seminary for priests and a Catholic
theological faculty at El'lwangen. In 1817, however,
the office of the vicariate general and the seminary for
priests were transferred to Rottenburg, where they
were established in the Carmelite monastery of that
place, and the Catholic theological faculty was
united with the University of Tiibingen.
On 16 Aug., 1821, the papal Bull "Provida sollers- que" erected the new Diocese of Rottenburg for the entire territory' of Wtirtcmbcig; it was united with the Church province of the I'pper Rhine and was made suffragan to the Archbishop of Freiburg. The Bull "Ad doniinici gregis custodiam", of 11 April, 1.827, regulated the right to the appointment of the bishop and of the cathedral canons, and in 1828 Vicar- General von Keller was enthroned as first bishop. The list of bishops is: Johann Baptist von Keller (d. 1845), Joseph von Lipp (d. 1869), Karl Joseph von Hefele (d. 1893), Wilhelm von Reiser (d. 1898). Franz Xaver von Linsenmann (d. 1898) ; since 18 Jan., 1899, Paul Wilhelm von Kcppler (b. 1852; ordained priest, 1875). During the decade of 1840 a dispute arose between the bishoj) and the State concerning the limits of the State's riglits of .sovereignty and super- vision. In 18.54 the Government made an agreement with the bishop which, however, was not recognized by the pope. A concordat between the pope and the kingdom, which was made in 1857, was not accepted by the Diet. After this the law of 30 Jan., 1862, made a one-sided adjustment of the relations between State and Church. In most particulars this law repeated the contents of the Concordat, so that up to now actu.al conflict has been avoided. Wiirtemberg was spared the violent conflict between Church and State, known as the Kidlurkniiijtf, which raged in almost all of the German countries of the empire during the years directly following 1870. This peace was due to the kindliness of the king, the good sense of the Government, and the modci'ate position taken by the Diet. It is only of late years that religious differences have become more evident in poliiical life. Much is said in the history of the Church of Wiirteniberg of the Rottenburg dispute. This was a quarrel between the bishop, the Catholic theological faculty, and the director of the Wilhelm School at Tiibingen on the one side, and the heads of the seminary for priests and a large body of the jjriests on the other side, as to the religious, scholarly, and moral training of the clergy. The matter was settled by the intervention of the Holy See.
The relations between Church and State are regu- lated by the law of 30 Jan., 1862. Both the bishop and the vicar-general appointed by him receive the rank of nobles. The bishop is elected from among the clergy of the diocese by the cathedral chapter, which consists of a cathedral dean and six canons; the list of candidates is first handed to the ruler, who strikes off the names of those most dis- tasteful to him. The members of the cathedral chapter are selected alternately by the bishop or chapter, the ruler having the same rights as in the election of a bishop. The governmental right of supervision (Jus circa sacra) is exercised by the Catho-
