The
Electorate of Trier (
Kurfürstentum Trier or
Kurtrier), traditionally known in English by its French name of
Trèves, was an ecclesiastical principality of the
Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the prince-archbishop of Trier (Erzbistum Trier), also
prince-elector of the empire. There were only two other ecclesiastical prince-electors in the Empire: the
Electorate of Cologne and the
Electorate of Mainz, among which Mainz ranked first.