The Prince-Bishopric Period in the Era of Absolutism (1661 – 1802)

After the Thirty Years' War, in the course of developing territorial state sovereignty, the military system evolved in the sense of a standing army. In almost all states this development went hand in hand with a power struggle between the prince and the estates. The territorial estates were expected to approve the financial means for an instrument that could be used both externally and internally. For this reason they feared — not without cause — an end to their say in financial matters and in foreign and domestic policy. The ecclesiastical principalities had the particularity that the prince-bishop had to be elected by the cathedral chapter and confirmed by the Emperor as Imperial Prince and by the Pope as bishop. The cathedral chapter of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster consisted of 41 noble canons who often claimed special rights for themselves. The city of Münster also asserted such rights. The prince was assisted in his governmental duties by several administrative bodies, e.g. the Pfennigkammer, the Hofkammer and the Privy Council. The prince-bishops lived under official celibacy and were necessarily dependent on the election decision of the cathedral chapter, so there was no succession from father to son. Continuity in foreign and domestic policy was therefore difficult under these conditions. This circumstance also adversely affected military policy and the long-term development of the military system.

In the 17th century the military in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster also consisted primarily of mercenaries recruited by recruiting officers. Forced recruitment was not excluded. The army was already divided into infantry, cavalry and artillery, with the infantry, consisting of musketeers and pikemen, forming the main force.

The emergence and shaping of a standing army in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster is closely linked to the headstrong personality of Prince-Bishop Christoph von Galen[1]. His reign (1650–78) was marked by an internal struggle against the estates to assert an absolutist claim to rule and culminated in the siege and subjugation of his own capital in 1661.

[1] Cf. hierzu: Theodor Verspohl, Das Heerwesen des Münsterischen Fürstbischofs Christoph Bernhard von Galen 1650 – 1678, Hildesheim 1909.

Under his rule the Prince-Bishopric of Münster ultimately possessed a formidable, but completely oversized army. In 1672 some 60,000 men are said to have been under arms. His ambitious plans, however, did not become reality and the budget for the Münster military was significantly cut under his successors.

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In the first half of the 18th century the prince-bishopric army counted 7 infantry regiments, 1 Land regiment, 2 cavalry regiments and 1 artillery detachment. An infantry regiment regularly comprised 8 companies with an approximate strength of about 50 men each. The Land regiment is said to have comprised 10 companies. A cavalry regiment had only 6 companies with an approximate strength of about 40 men each. However, only a small portion of these were mounted. The artillery detachment had only about 100 men. The total strength of the armed forces in peacetime was about 3,800–4,000 men. Wartime strength was roughly twice as large. After the Seven Years' War not only was the city of Münster demilitarized, but the number of formations was reduced to 4 infantry regiments and 1 cavalry regiment — with a simultaneous reduction of the artillery. The Land regiment had already been disbanded earlier.

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The regiments remaining after the aforementioned reduction are found, on the basis of subsidy contracts (e.g. with the Dutch, still in 1793), on a wide variety of theaters of war. Furthermore, military imperial obligations had to be fulfilled[1]. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1744) the Prince-Bishopric of Münster practiced an armed neutrality. In the Seven Years' War (1756–63) Münster troops fought (against Prussia) with little success; for example, two regiments were surprised and taken prisoner on 01.04.1759 at Meiningen in their winter quarters. The last deployment of Münster troops saw them as part of a so-called Imperial execution army in favor of the Liège prince-bishop who had been expelled by his subjects in 1789.

[1] In 1681 Münster had to maintain 787 foot soldiers and 384 horsemen.

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