The Bishopric of Utrecht was one of the ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, and included not only the present day Dutch province of Utrecht, but also the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, and Overijssel. In 1527, the Bishop sold his territories to Emperor Charles V, and the territory became part of the Habsburg Netherlands. In 1701 Archbishop Petrus Codde was excommunicated by the Pope, having been accused of being a Jansenist. He continued as Archbishop, and due to an irregularity in the Diocese's constitution which allowed it elect its own bishops, his successors remained out of Communion with the Papacy. This was the beginning of what would become the Old Catholic Church. In 1853 the Vatican re-established its own hierarchy in the Netherlands, unofficially called the "New Catholic Church".
Utrecht (U) Utrecht (U) This capital of the province of the same name is one of the country's oldest, with its first origins dating from the Roman period, when a castellum called Trajectum ad Rhenum was built.
The city is the seat of two bishops; the Roman Catholic archbishop and a bishop of the Old-catholics.
This is the cathedral of the Old-Catholic bishop of Utrecht.
In 1527, the Bishop sold his territories to Emperor Charles V and the principality became part of the Habsburg dominions; the chapters voluntarily transferred their right of electing the bishop to Charles, and Pope Clement VII gave his consent to these proceedings.
According to the terms of the Union of Utrecht, the rights and privileges of the Roman Catholic religion were guaranteed, but on June 14, 1580, the practice of that religion was forbidden by the magistrates of Utrecht.
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