History glossary
Secularization
the transfer of church lands and political territories into non-church hands.
- Category
- Political change
- Region
- Holy Roman Empire
- Date range
- 1803
What it means
In the Holy Roman Empire, the redistribution of 1803 secularised most ecclesiastical territories, transferring their political authority and lands to secular rulers. This was part of a wider restructuring that compensated rulers for losses to France and greatly reduced the number of small territories before the empire ended in 1806.
