Friedrich Bernard Christian Maassen
United Sees of Macerata and Tolentino
Vicariate Apostolic of Mackenzie
Marie-Edmé-Patrice-Maurice de MacMahon
Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyria de Mailla
François-Pierre-Gonthier Maine de Biran
Françoise, Marquise de Maintenon
Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre
Marcellinus of Civezza, O.F.M.
Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament
Prefecture Apostolic of Mariana Islands
Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill
Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
Lucius Perpetuus Aurelianus Marius Maximus
Vicariate Apostolic of Marquesas Islands
Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage
Diocese of Marseilles (Massilia)
Vicariate Apostolic of the Marshall Islands
Diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza
Luigi Ferdinando, Count de Marsigli
Missionaries of the Company of Mary
Servants of Mary (Order of Servites)
Society of Mary (Marist Fathers)
St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus
Richard Angelus a S. Francisco Mason
Devises and Bequests for Masses (United States)
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus
Caius Julius Verus Maximinus Thrax
Prefecture Apostolic of Mayotte, Nossi-Bé, and Comoro
Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod
Abbey and Congregation of Melk
Vicariate Apostolic of Méndez and Gualaquiza
Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo
Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode
Delegation Apostolic of Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia
Metal-Work in the Service of the Church
Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich
Francis, Joseph, and Paul Mezger
Military Orders of St. Michael
Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola
Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
Prefecture Apostolic of Misocco and Calanca
Congregation of Priests of the Mission
Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy
Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
Mission Indians (of California)
Catholic Indian Missions of Canada
Catholic Indian Missions of the United States
François-Napoléon-Marie Moigno
Diocese of Molfetta, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière
Principality and Diocese of Monaco
Canonical Erection of a Monastery
Monophysites and Monophysitism
Monothelitism and Monothelites
Montagnais Indians (Chippewayans)
Charles-Forbes-René, Comte de Montalembert
Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon
Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
Anne, First Duke of Montmorency
Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Antoine-Jean-Baptiste-Robert Auget, Baron de Montyon
Dioceses of Mostar and Markana-Trebinje
Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Congregations of Mount Calvary
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Karl Ernst, Freiherr von Moy de Sons
Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
St. Clair Augustine Mulholland
Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen
Archdiocese of Munich-Freising
Diocese of Minden (former see of Westphalia).
Minden on the Weser is first heard of in 798, and in 803 in the Treaty of Salz, made with the Saxons, it is spoken of as a see. The first bishop was Erkambert (Herumbert), probably a Saxon, who was appointed in 780 and died in 813. The third bishop, Dietrich I (853-80) fell in battle against the Northmen: the fifth, Drogo (887-902), founded a convent at Möllenbeck. The diocese gradually developed until it extended on the east across the Aller to Celle, on the west to Hunte, embracing the districts of Lidbekegowe, Enterigowe, Loingo, Merstem, Buki, and Tilithi. From the beginning the bishops of Minden were suffragans of Cologne. The later estates of the bishops comprised about a fourth of the diocese; it extended from Porta Westfalica, on both sides of the river, to Schlüsselburg, and on the north-west across to Hunte. The most important places were Minden, Lübbecke, Petershagen, Schlüsselburg, Reineberg, and Rahden. The see suffered in the tenth century from the Hungarians, but began to flourish under the Saxon dynasty.
Bishop Landward (956-69) obtained from Otto I immunity from all foreign jurisdiction, and also obtained the revenues derived from the administration of justice; Milo (969-96) on account of his loyalty to Otto II received important privileges, among others the right to elect the bailiff who represented the bishop in the imperial court, in 977 penal jurisdiction, the Weser toll, the right of coinage and of conducting a cattle market. The bishop became so important that he was almost an independent prince. The cathedral canons obtained in 961 the right to choose the bishop, provided a worthy man was chosen. Bishops Dietrich II (1002-22), Sigebert (1022-36), and Bruno (1037-55) were in the emperor's favour and consequently added to their church property. During the reign of Henry IV the bishops were caught in the Investitures conflict, and more than once papal and imperial sympathizers contended for the see. After the Concordat of Worms the bishopric under Sigward (1120-40) and Heinrich I (1140-53) made great strides. Werner (1153-70) and Anno (1170-85) guided the see safely through the struggle between Frederick Barbarossa and the Saxon Duke Henry the Lion. The episcopal dependence on the ducal power, and the prelates of Minden were henceforth subject to the emperor.
Continuous conflict with encroaching nobles brought a load of debt and forced many bishops to pledge or sell the diocesan estates. The town of Minden profited by the financial embarrassment of its episcopal lords, gradually acquired more rights, and partially freed itself from the overlordship of the bishops; on the other hand, the authority of bishop was restricted by the cathedral chapter which, in Minden as in other dioceses, acquired the right of choosing the provost and dean and made all important matters of administration subject to its consent. Bishop Gottfried von Waldeck (1304-24), to evade the oppression of the burgesses, moved his residence to the castle of Petershagen. With the papal nomination of Louis of Brunswick (1324-46) began the unedifying and detrimental series of conflicts between pope and chapter as to the nomination to the see. Louis involved the see in the feuds of neighbouring nobles. The town acquired the administration of Justice, the right to levy customs duties, and the right of coinage. Some energetic bishops followed: Gerhard I (1346-53); Gerhard II von Schauenburg (1361-66); Wedekind vom Berge (1369-83); Otto III (1384-97.
In the fifteenth century more than one double election took place. Wulbrand, Count of Hallermund (1406-36), endeavoured to bring order out of confusion; his successor, Albert II von Hoya, as coadjutor and as bishop (1436-73), was involved in a long dispute with Osnabrück and the Duke of Brunswick. His successor, Heinrich III von Schauenburg (1473-1508), sought better relations with his neighbours, but episcopal authority was so weakened that a return to former conditions was impossible. The power of the bishop was now so restricted by the chapter and the town, that he was unable to take any important step; without their consent; indeed a complete co-regency of the chapter was set up. Almost all the castles were in the hands of the aristocratic canons, and the revenues of the bishop were extremely limited. The lives of the clergy did not in many cases conform to the canonical rules; concubinage was quite general, monastic discipline had relaxed, and the faith of the laity had grown cold. For these reasons the Reformation spread rapidly in the town and the diocese under Bishop Franz I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1508-29), who involved the see in the Hildersheim chapter feuds, and died as the result of his excesses. His successor, Franz II von Waldeck, also Bishop of Münster and Osnabrück from 1532, led a dissolute life, and was an adherent of the new religious teachings, which he privately furthered with all his power. In 1553 he was forced to resign in favour of Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1553-54), who soon resigned in favour of his uncle, Georg (1554-66).
Under his successor Hermann von Schauenberg (1567-82), Protestantism spread rapidly; Hermann accepted the Council of Trent, it is true, but governed as a Protestant prince. Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1582-85) declared the Confession of Augsburg the only authorized creed in his diocese. Otto von Schaunberg (1587-99) was a devoted Catholic, but, owing to disputes with the cathedral chapter and the estates, accomplished little for Catholicism. The last bishop but one, Christian of Brunswick (1599-1633, a Protestant), troubled himself little about his diocese, and ruled it from his paternal estates. By the terms of his election he had to allow the free exercise of both creeds. The attempt of the cathedral chapter to turn over the church of St. John at Minden to the Jesuits (1604) was frustrated by the opposition of the citizens. By the Edict of Restitution (1629) the Catholics of Minden obtained the churches of St. Martin and St. Simeon; the Franciscans in 1630 established themselves in the cathedral until 1651, and even the Jesuits, though for only a short time, were welcomed to the city. Franz von Wartenberg (1633-48), last Bishop of Minden, endeavoured to restore the Catholic faith in his Sees of Minden, Osnabrück, and Verden; but in 1633 he was obliged to flee before the Swedes, and after the Treaty of Prague (1635) was unable to return.
By the Peace of Westphalia the diocese was suppressed, Franz Wilhelm retained the title of Bishop of Minden, but its temporal possessions, embracing more than twenty-two square miles, were awarded to the Electorate of Brandenburg. It was only in 1649 that Brandenburg was able to obtain possession; in 1650 the Elector Frederick William received the oath of allegiance from the town and the nobility at the episcopal castle of Petershagen. The "principality" of Minden remained at first a special jurisdiction, until in 1729 it was united to the Countship of Ravensberg. The Catholics retained only the cathedral with eleven canonries, all of which were suppressed early in the nineteenth century; but the cathedral is still in Catholic hands. After the suppression of the see, its territory was administered for ecclesiastical purposes by the Northern Mission. In 1821 most of it fell to Paderborn, and a small remnant to Hildesheim.
Chronicon Episcoporum Mindensium in Pistorius, Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum, III (Ratisbon,1726), 807-41; Culemann, Mindische Geschichte Minden, 1747-48); Schlichthaber, Mindische Kirchengeschichte (Mindem, 1753-55); Holscher, Beschreibung des vormaligen Bistums Minden (Münster,1877); Schröder, Chronik des Bistums und der Stadt Minden (Minden, 1886); Idem, Die Einführung der Reformation in Westfalen (Minden, 1883), Protestant standpoint; Westfälisches Urkundenbuch, VI: Die Urkunden des Bistums Minden 1201-1300,ed. Hoogeweg (Münster, 1898); Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Minden (Münster, 1902); Frie, Die Entwicklung der Landeshoheit der Mindener Bisch fe (M nster, 1908); Zeitschr, des hist. Vereins für Niedersachsen (L neburg. 1835—).
JOSEPH LINS