View source for Bishopric of Kirchmarkt and Teilen

{{Infobox country
|native_name            = ''Bistum Kirchmarkt und Teilen'' (Alemannisch)
|conventional_long_name = Bishopric of Kirchmarkt and Teilen
|common_name            = Kirchmarkt and Teilen
|era                    = 
|status                 = [[States of Dolchland|State]]
|empire                 = [[Dolchland]]
|government_type        = Bishopric
|event_start            = [[Investiture of Kirchmarkt]]
|date_start             = <!-- Optional: Date of establishment, in format 1 January (no year) -->
|year_start             = ~~
|event_end              = <!-- Default: "Disestablished" -->
|date_end               = <!-- Optional: Date of disestablishment, in format 1 January (no year) -->
|year_end               = 
|event1                 = [[Treaty of Kirchmarkt (1267)|Treaty of Kirchmarkt]]
|date_event1            = 1267
|event2                 = [[Land Grant of Teilen]]
|date_event2            = 1433
|event3                 = 
|date_event3            = 
|event4                 = 
|date_event4            = 
|event5                 = 
|date_event5            = 
|event_pre              =  
|date_pre               = 
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|date_post              = 
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|s2                     = 
|flag_s2                = 
|image_flag             = Flag of Kirchmarkt and Teilen.png
|flag_width             = 
|image_coat             = Wappen Bistum Kirchmarkt und Teilen.png
|coat_size              = <!-- Size of coat of arms -->
|coat_alt               = <!-- Alt text for coat of arms -->
|symbol                 = <!-- Link target under symbol image. Default: Coat of arms of {{{common_name}}} -->
|symbol_type            = <!-- Displayed text for link under symbol. Default "Coat of arms" -->
|image_map              = Dolch B Teilen Map.png
|image_map_alt          = 
|image_map_caption      = 
|image_map2             = <!-- If second map is needed - does not appear by default -->
|image_map2_alt         = 
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|capital                = [[Kirchmarkt]]
|national_motto         = 
|national_anthem        = 
|common_languages       = [[Alemannisch]]
|religion               = [[Catholic Church (Eurth)|Catholic Church]]
|currency               = 
| leader_title1          = [[Bishop of Kirchmarkt and Teilen|Bishop]]
| leader_name1           = [[Nikolaus Vogt (bishop)|Nikolaus Vogt]]
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|legislature            = <!-- Name of legislature -->
|house1                 = <!-- Name of first chamber -->
|type_house1            = <!-- Default: "Upper house"-->
|house2                 = <!-- Name of second chamber -->
|type_house2            = <!-- Default: "Lower house"-->
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|footnote_a             = <!-- Accepts wikilinks -->
|footnote_b             = <!-- Accepts wikilinks -->
|footnote_h             = <!-- Accepts wikilinks -->
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}}
'''Kirchmarkt and Teilen''', officially the '''Bishopric of Kirchmarkt and Teilen''' (Allemanisch: ''Bistum Kirchmarkt und Teilen'') is one of [[Dolchland]]'s [[States of Dolchland|40 states]]. The state consists of two distinct but contiguous parts - the [[Kirchmarkt-proper|Church, City and Lands of Kirchmarkt]] and the [[Lordship of Teilen]], with the head of state, the [[Bishop of Kirchmarkt and Teilen]], officially holding both titles. However, as they are intrinsically linked, and have been since the [[Land Grant of Teilen]] in 1433, both titles are counted as the unitary bishopric. The bishopric must not be confused with the [[Catholic Church (Eurth)|Catholic]] [[Diocese of Kirchmarkt]], which extends beyond the borders of the bishopric and over which the bishop exerts spiritual authority. The state is bordered by [[Bessen-Katzenelm]] and ($STATE) to the east, [[Principality of Upper Streckeburg|Upper Streckeburg]] to the south, ($STATE) to the west and [[Principality of Lower Streckeburg|Lower Streckeburg]] to the north, as well as its own coastline on the [[Morthal Bay]].

==History==
===Foundation===
The diocese of Kirchmarkt was founded in ($DATE) when the small village of [[Alte Niederstadt, Kirchmarkt|Niedermarkt]] sent an envoy to ($POPE) requesting the sending of a legate and the creation of a church in the area. It is believed that this was requested to allow the peasantry further autonomy from the feudal/tribal overlords they previously swore fealty to. In any case, ($POPE) agreed to the terms, and in due course, a church was built in the area, with the market district of Niedermarkt coming to border the church lands, which did not extend far. Increasingly as time went on, the bishop of Kirchmarkt would take an interest in secular affairs, though it would remain unofficial and unrecognised by the monarch. 

The diocese would come to further prominence in the ($WAR), during which the diocese, breaking from official Catholic church policy, supported the ($KING) against the rebelling ($DUKE) openly, feeding and offering board to the loyalist armies. ($KING) did not forget the hospitality of the bishop, and in the [[Treaty of Kirchmarkt (1267)|Treaty of Kirchmarkt]], raised numerous loyalist former-vassal states of the rebelling duke to the status of [[States of Dolchland#Baronies_and_Principalities|principalities]], and the bishop's domain to that of a [[States of Dolchland#Bishoprics|bishopric]]. The now-city of Niedermarkt-und-Kirch was formalised as the city of [[Kirchmarkt]], which gave its name to the new bishop's domain.

=== Kirchmarkt and Teilen ===
Kirchmarkt developed further as a vassal, both secular and episcopal, of ($STATE). 

In 1428, the neighbouring Prince [[Benedikt of Streckeburg]] died, leaving the realm to his twin sons. However, a discrepancy between two maps, commissioned at different times during the Prince's reign, meant that a [[Lordship of Teilen|strip of land]], quite sizeable and with prosperous hunting grounds, was claimed by both children. This threatened to escalate into a war between the brothers, neither of whom wanted to give up their claim over the land or divide it between them. ($KING) issued an ultimatum, stating that they were to resolve their dispute peacefully or the land would revert to the King and be passed to neither of them. It is believed that Prince [[Waldemar of Lower Streckeburg]] did not think this threat was serious. It is unclear whether Prince [[Sigmund of Upper Streckeburg]] thought the same, but the threat of conflict continued to escalate until 1433, when the forces of ($KING) entered [[Mittelsdorf]], the largest settlement in the parcel of land, and asserted the King's claim over the land. He created within the land a new title, the [[Lordship of Teilen]], further clarifying that whatever claim the von Streckeburg brothers had over the land was now void, as the title-holder was to be the only claimant to the land. However, the King did not particularly want to govern the territory himself, and so wished to pass it off to a neighbouring lord. Given his poor relations with ($LORD) of ($STATE) to the west, as well as the mediatory role that the bishop of Kirchmarkt had taken in many local disputes to that point, the land was granted to the bishop and became inseparable from the [[Kirchmarkt-proper|remainder of the bishopric]]. The bishop voluntarily entered into the [[Treaty of Mittelsdorf (1437)|Treaty of Mittelsdorf]] with both [[Principality of Lower Streckeburg|Lower]] and [[Principality of Upper Streckeburg|Upper Streckeburg]], offering residents of both lands access to the hunting grounds of Teilen without payment of the [[Episcopal Grounds Tax]] standard for hunters on church property at the time.