Prince-bishop

A prince-bishop is a bishop who is the civil governor of some secular principality. Thus the principality ruled politically by a prince-bishop could wholly or largely overlap with his diocesan jurisdiction, since some parts of his diocese, even the city of his residence, could be exempt from his civil rule, obtaining the status of free imperial city. If the episcopal see is an archbishopric, the correct term is prince-archbishop; the equivalent in the regular (monastic) clergy is prince-abbot.

In the West, with the decline of imperial power from the 4th century onwards in the face of the barbarian invasions, sometimes Christian bishops of cities took the place of the Roman commander, made secular decisions for the city and led their own troops when necessary. Later relations between a prince-bishop and the burghers were invariably not cordial. As cities demanded charters from emperors, kings, or their prince-bishops and declared themselves independent of the secular territorial magnates, friction intensified between burghers and bishops.

Prince Bishop (horse)

Prince Bishop (foaled 10 February 2007) is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse racehorse. He began his racing career in France as a three-year-old where he won the Prix du Prince d'Orange and the Prix du Conseil de Paris in 2010. He was later transferred to Dubai where he was based at Meydan Racecourse. He made occasional returns to compete in Europe and won the September Stakes in both 2013 and 2014. In March 2015 he won the world's most valuable race, the Dubai World Cup.

Background

Prince Bishop is a chestnut gelding bred in Ireland by Thurso Ltd. He was sired by Dubawi a top-class son of Dubai Millennium, whose wins included the Irish 2000 Guineas and the Prix Jacques Le Marois. At stud, Dubawi has been a highly-successful breeding stallion, siring major winners such as Monterosso, Al Kazeem, Makfi, Lucky Nine and Night of Thunder. Prince Bishop's dam North East Bay was an North American-bred mare who finished unplaced in her only race. North East Bay was descended from Topsy, a half-sister to the Epsom Derby winner Teenoso and a close relative of Sir Percy, Harayir and Rule of Law.