According to its location and its seat the prefecture used to be called alternatively the "Apostolic Prefecture of the Two Lusatias" (Upper and Lower Lusatia) or "Apostolic Prefecture of Bautzen". The then liege lord of the Two Lusatias, the Catholic king of Bohemia (in personal union Holy Roman Emperor) did not effectively offend the spreading of the Reformation in the Two Lusatias. So it depended on the local vassals if Protestantism prevailed or not. When in 1635 the Lutheran Electorate of Saxony annexed the Two Lusatias it guaranteed in the cession contract ("Traditionsrezess") with Bohemia to leave the existing religious relations untouched. As a signatory of the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 Saxony later agreed to maintain the religious status quo as given in the reference year of 1624 in all its territories acquired since.