Hochstift

Das Stift [plural: die Stifte or, in some regions, die Stifter]/het sticht [in Dutch] (literally, the "donation"), denotes in its original meaning the donated or else acquired fund of estates whose revenues are taken to maintain a college and the pertaining church (Stiftskirche, i.e. collegiate church) and its collegiate canons (Stiftsherr[en]) or canonesses (Stiftsfrau[en]).

[4] For the three prince-electorates of Cologne (Kurköln), Mainz (Kurmainz) and Trier (Kurtrier), which were simultaneously archbishoprics the corresponding term is Kurerzstift (electorate-archbishopric).

Exercising a double function, an ecclesiastical and a secular one, the prince-bishops were thus subject to two different legal bases and two jurisdictions.

The prince-bishop, elected by the canons of the cathedral chapter and often belonging to the high nobility, typically enjoyed imperial immediacy; he wielded the same authority over his principality as any secular prince, such as a duke or a margrave, over his.

Some Austrian and Bavarian bishoprics such as Chiemsee, Gurk, Lavant and Seckau had no territorial authority and are therefore not included in the list, even though they participated in Imperial diets.