page_title: Electoral capitulation
section_title: Episcopal elections
hierarchical_section_title: Electoral capitulation / Holy Roman Empire / Episcopal elections
caption_attribution_description: English: Title page of the Wahlkapitulation (electoral capitulation) assented to before his election in 1790 by Joseph Conrad of Schroffenberg-Mös, the last prince-bishop of Freising. This printed version of the original hand-written agreement was issued in 1791.
context_page_description: An electoral capitulation was initially a written agreement in part of Europe, principally the Holy Roman Empire, whereby from the 13th century onward, a candidate to a prince-bishopric had to agree to a set of preconditions presented by the cathedral chapter prior to electing a bishop to a vacant see.
  Starting with the election of Emperor Charles V in 1519, a similar electoral capitulation was presented by the prince-electors to the future emperor. In both episcopal and imperial capitulations, the candidate swore to respect the terms and conditions set in the capitulation in the event of his election. The capitulation usually reaffirmed the privileges of the electors and place limitations on the future prince-bishop or emperor's authority to exercise power.
context_section_description: The use of electoral capitulations in the elections of prince-bishops started during the first half of the 13th century and spread to all the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire. Capitulations in advance of episcopal elections were banned by Pope Innocent XII in 1695 and by the emperor in 1698 but the ban was ignored by the cathedral chapters, and episcopal capitulations were sworn by would-be bishops until the end of the Empire in the early 19th century.
caption: Title page of the electoral capitulation agreed to by the new prince-bishop of Freising in 1790
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