See main article: Princely abbeys and imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the Holy Roman Empire, a prince-abbot (German: Fürstabt) was the cleric who headed a princely abbey. The prince-abbot had a seat and an individual vote (votum virile) in the Imperial Diet alongside the prince-bishops. They ranked higher than the imperial abbots and imperial abbesses who although they were also immediate, held only two collective votes in the Diet.
Actual prince-abbots were: