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[[File:Heitersheim_&_exclaves_1718.jpg|thumb|Map of Heitersheim (red) before 1803]]
The '''Principality of Heitersheim''' (''Fürstentum Heitersheim'') was an [[imperial estate]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] from 1548 until 1806. It was a territory of the [[Knights Hospitaller]] (Order of Saint John) consisting of several noncontiguous enclaves in the [[Breisgau]]. It was a member of the [[Upper Rhenish Circle]]. Before its expansion in 1803, it had an area of about 4 square ''[[Reichsmeile]]n'' (50 km<sup>2</sup>) and a population of about 5&thinsp;000.{{sfn|Köbler|2007|p=264}}

Its chief town, [[Heitersheim]], was acquired by the knights in 1272 as a [[fief]] of Margrave [[Henry II, Margrave of Baden-Hachberg|Henry II of Hachberg]]. In 1276, Henry granted the knights the right to hold court (''[[Landgericht (medieval)|Landgericht]]'') and to act as ''[[Vogt]]''.{{sfn|Köbler|2007|p=264}}

In 1428, Heitersheim, which had by then obtained [[imperial immediacy]], became the temporary seat of the [[Commanderies of the Order of Saint John|Grand Prior of Germany]], the top Hospitaller official in the [[Kingdom of Germany|German kingdom]]. From 1505, Heitersheim was the permanent seat of the grand priory. In 1548, as a reward for the knights' service in the [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|wars against the Turks]], Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] granted it [[Princes of the Holy Roman Empire|princely rank]] and admitted it to the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] "with seat and vote" (''mit Sitz und Stimme'').{{sfn|Köbler|2007|p=264}}{{sfn|van Bueren|2006|p=211}} The head of the Hospitallers in Germany thus held the rank of Prince-Prior (''Fürstprior'').{{sfn|Whaley|2012|pp=620–21}} A contemporary Dutch document refers to "the Master and Grand Prior of Germany, being a worldly ruler and a Prince of the Holy Empire, as also [formerly] of Rhodes and, now, of Malta", comparing the prior's ''[[Landeshoheit]]'' (territorial supremacy) in the empire with his sovereignty on [[History of Rhodes under the Order of Saint John|Rhodes (1310–1522)]] and [[History of Malta under the Order of Saint John|Malta (1530–1798)]].{{sfn|van Bueren|2006|p=211}}

In the 18th century Heitersheim fell gradually under the domination of the [[Habsburgs]], who were prepared to grant it along with the rest of the Breisgau to Duke [[Ercole III of Modena]] in the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]] (1797).{{sfn|Köbler|2007|p=264}} In 1803, however, it was one of only three ecclesiastical principalities to survive the [[German mediatization|territorial reorganization]] brought about by the ''[[Reichsdeputationshauptschluss]]'' in accordance with the [[Treaty of Lunéville]] (1801) that ended the [[War of the Second Coalition]]. As part of the settlement of the war, Duke Ercole received the rest of the Breisgau{{sfn|Whaley|2012|pp=620–21}} and the Principality of Heitersheim annexed the neighbouring county of [[Bonndorf]], thus greatly expanding in size.{{sfn|Köbler|2007|p=264}} The preservation of the knights' organization as an imperial estate was nominally in gratitude for their military service. In fact, it was intended to provide opportunities for many of the noblemen who had lost status with the dissolution of the [[cathedral chapter]]s.{{sfn|Whaley|2012|pp=620–21}}

With the [[dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire]] in 1806, it was annexed by the [[Grand Duchy of Baden]].{{sfn|Köbler|2007|p=264}} The annexation was ordered by the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], a group of imperial estates that had banded together to leave the empire, on 12 June 1806 just prior to the imperial dissolution. The last prince-prior, [[Ignaz Balthasar Rinck von Baldenstein]],{{sfn|Whaley|2012|pp=620–21}} died almost exactly one year later, on 13 June 1807.{{sfn|Sommerlad|1977|p=120}}

==List of prince-priors==
*Georg Schilling von Cannstatt (1546–1553)
*Georg II Bombastus von Hohenheim (1553–1567)
*Adam von Schwalbach (1567–1573)
*Philipp Flach (1573–1594)
*Philipp II Riedesel von Camberg (1594–1598)
*Bernhard von Angeloch (1598–1599)
*Philipp III von Lesch (1599–1601)
*Wippert von Rosenberg (1601–1607)
*Arbogast von Andlau (1607–1612)
*Johann Friedrich Hund von Sarrlheim (1612–1635)
*Walraff de Scheiffart de Mèrode (1635–1646)
*Hermann I von der Thann (1646–1647)
*Friedrich II von Hessen Darmstadt (1647–1682)
*Franz von Sonnenberg (1682–1683)
*Franz II von Droste zu Bischering (1683)
*Hermann II von Wachtendonck (1683–1703)
*Bernhard Wilhelm von der Rhede (1703–1721)
*Goswin Hermann Otto von Merveldt (1721–1728)
*Philipp Wilhelm von Nesselrode (1728–1754)
*Philipp Joachim Vogt von Prassberg (1754–1755)
*Johann Baptist von Sonnenberg Herlesheim (1755–1773)
*Franz Christoph Sebastian von Nemching Apfeltrang (1773–1777)
*Franz Christoph Benedikt von Reinach zu Foussemaigne und Kappach (1777–1796)
*Johann Joseph Benedikt von Reinach (1796)
*[[Ignaz Balthasar Rinck von Baldenstein]] (1796–1806)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |ref={{sfnRef|van Bueren|2006}} |first=Truus van |last=Bueren |chapter=The Art Treasures of the Haarlem Convent of St John: Objects of Desire to a Protestant Town |pages=209–236 |title=The Military Orders and the Reformation: Choices, State Building, and the Weight of Tradition |editor1=Johannes A. Mol |editor2=Klaus Militzer |editor3=Helen J. Nicholson |publisher=Hilversum Verloren |year=2006}}
*{{cite book |first=Gerhard |last=Köbler |title=Historisches Lexikon der Deutschen Länder: die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart |edition=7th rev. |publisher=C. H. Beck |location=Munich |year=2007}}
*{{cite journal |journal=Philosophy and History |volume=10 |issue=1 |year=1977 |first=Bernhard |last=Sommerlad |pages=118–120 |title=The Grand Priory of Germany of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem during the Period of Transition from the Middle Ages to the Reformation As Reflected in the Reports of General Visitations of 1494/95 and 1540/41 (review)|doi=10.5840/philhist197710138 }}
*{{cite book |first=Joachim |last=Whaley |title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, Volume II: The Peace of Westphalia to the Dissolution of the Reich, 1648–1806 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2012}}
{{refend}}

{{coord missing|Germany}}
{{Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}
{{Upper Rhenish Circle}}
[[Category:Principalities of the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Upper Rhenish Circle|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:Sovereign Military Order of Malta]]
[[Category:Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:1540s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:1548 establishments in Europe|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:1800s disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:1806 disestablishments in Europe|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1806|Heitersheim]]
[[Category:1806 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe]]
[[Category:Further Austria]]