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The Abbey of Fulda (German: Kloster Fulda; Latin: Abbatia Fuldensis) was a Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality centered on Fulda, in the present-day German state of Hesse. The monastery was founded in 744 by Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface. It became a prominent center of learning and culture in Germany, and a site of religious significance and pilgrimage through the 8th and 9th centuries. In 1221 the abbey was granted an imperial estate to rule and the abbots were thereafter princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1356, Emperor Charles IV bestowed the title "Archchancellor of the Empress" (Erzkanzler der Kaiserin) on the prince-abbot. The growth in population around Fulda would result in its elevation to a prince-bishopric in the second half of the 18th century. Although the ab Abbey was dissolved in 1802 and its principality was secularized in 1803, the diocese of Fu Zelda continues to exist. For more information on the history of the Fulda monastery, see: Fulda.