Grand Duchy of Würzburg explained

Native Name:
German: Rheinischer Bundesstaat
Conventional Long Name:Grand Duchy of Würzburg
Rhenish Federal State
Common Name:Würzburg
Era:Napoleonic Wars
Status:Client state
Status Text:State of the Confederation of the Rhine
Government Type:Absolute monarchy
Year Start:1805
Year End:1814
Event Start:Peace of Pressburg
Date Start:26 December
Event End:Congress of Vienna
Date End:3 June
P1:Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg
Flag P1:CoA Würzburg Diocese.svg
Border P1:no
S1:Kingdom of Bavaria
Flag S1:Flag of Bavaria (striped).svg
Image Map Caption:The Grand Duchy of Würzburg in 1808
Capital:Würzburg
Religion:Roman Catholic
Common Languages:German
Leader1:Ferdinand I
Title Leader:Duke and Prince-Elector to 1806, Grand Duke from 1806
Year Leader1:1805–1814

The Grand Duchy of Würzburg (German: Großherzogtum Würzburg) or Rhenish Federal State (German: Rheinischer Bundesstaat) was a German grand duchy centered on Würzburg existing in the early 19th century.

As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in 1803 and granted to the Electorate of Bavaria. In the same year Ferdinand III, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, was compensated with the Electorate of Salzburg. In the Peace of Pressburg on 26 December 1805, Ferdinand lost Salzburg to the Austrian Empire but was compensated with the Würzburg territory, Bavaria having relinquished it in return for Tyrol.

Ferdinand's state was briefly known as the Electorate of Würzburg (Kurfürstentum Würzburg), but it was elevated to the status of a Grand Duchy after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire on 6 August 1806. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine on 30 September 1806. In 1810 it acquired Schweinfurt.

After Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, Ferdinand dissolved his alliance with the First French Empire on 26 October 1813. Through an Austrian-Bavarian treaty of 3 June 1814, Ferdinand lost his possessions to the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy was dissolved. Ferdinand was restored to a reconstituted Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the Congress of Vienna. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg was reestablished in 1821 without temporal power.

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