Definition of Abbey-principality

A Prince-abbot is a cleric, who is a prince of the church (like a prince-bishop) in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity known as prince-abbacy or abbey-principality, which is an area that is ruled by the head of an abbey. The designated abbey may be a monastery or a convent. Thus, because of the possibility of it being a convent, an abbey-principality is one of the only cases in which the rule can be restricted to female incumbents, styled princess-abbess. In many cases, they were prince of the empire of a Reichsabtei in or near Germany, with a seat in the Reichstag (imperial diet).