ABSTRACT
Since the creation of the East Frankish-German kingdom in the tenth century the archbishops of Mainz were among its most influential political actors. This chapter examines the Mainz archbishops' resources, both how they allocated them in their principality, and also what influences, both external and internal, underlay the exercise of their lordship in the period from 1100 to 1350. A distinctive feature of the Mainz archbishop was his frequently attested position of honour as primas Germaniae, the primate or premier bishop in the German lands. From the eleventh century, in the diocese of Mainz as elsewhere, the cathedral chapter developed as a corporate body with its own financial assets parallel to the episcopal administration. In 1252 Pope Innocent IV granted the Mainz chapter the right to add to its numbers, which the archbishop then had to confirm. Normally, one became a cathedral canon by nomination after a waiting period.
