secularprince
A secular prince is a historical term most often used in reference to the Holy Roman Empire to describe a prince who ruled a secular, or civil, territory. The designation is used to distinguish such rulers from ecclesiastical princes, such as prince-bishops and abbots, who held religious office in addition to governing lands.
In the empire, secular princes governed imperial immediate territories—areas that reported directly to the Emperor rather
The degree of autonomy varied, bounded by imperial laws, oaths to the Emperor, and the complex legal
Decline and legacy: the processes of mediatisation and secularization in the early 19th century significantly reduced