Imperial Abbacy/Principality of Essen

Abbacy of Rellinghausen

The Abbacy of Essen was founded in the 9th century as convent run by women. It achieved “imperial” status in 1216, making it equal to the neighboring men’s monastery in Werden. After 1495, secular administration of the abbacy was the purview of the Count of Mark. Sovereignty over the city of Essen itself was disputed until the abbey was dissolved in 1803, but a 1670 decision of the Imperial Court favored the abbacy over the city, so I do not recognize the city as a separate country.  In 1803, the abbacy’s territory was awarded to the Kingdom of Prussia where it constituted a principality.

 

The Abbacy of Rellinghausen, also a female-run institution, was founded in the 11th century. It operated independently of Essen until 1661, at which time it surrendered its secular authority to the Essen Abbacy. At that time, a portion of the abbacy’s properties were sold to a private party. Those lands became Herrschaft Byfang, while the abbacy’s properties became Herrschaft Rellinghausen.