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 succesors 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".
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