Holy Roman Empire

:This page is about the Germanic empire. For the ancient empire centred on Rome, see Roman Empire.

Structure and institutions

From the High Middle Ages on, the Reich was stamped by a most peculiar coexistence of the Empire and the struggle of the dukes of the local territories to take power away from it. As opposed to the rulers of the West Frankish lands, which later became France, the Emperor never managed to gain much control over the lands that he formally owned. Instead, from that time on, the Emperor was forced to grant more and more powers to the individual dukes in their respective territories. This process began in the 12th century and was more or less concluded with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. Several attempts were made to reverse this degradation of the Reich's former glory, but failed.

Related Topics:
High Middle Ages - Reich - Duke - Power - West - Frankish - France - 12th century - 1648 - Peace of Westphalia

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Formally, the Reich comprised the King, to be crowned Emperor by the pope (until 1508), on the one side, and the Reichsstände (imperial estates) on the other side.

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King of the Romans (German king)

The pope's crowning of Charlemagne as Augustus in 800 formed the example that later kings would follow: it was the result of Charlemagne having defended the pope against the rebellious inhabitants of Rome, which initiated the notion of the Reich being the protector of the church.

Related Topics:
Charlemagne - Augustus - 800 - Rome - Church

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Becoming Emperor required becoming King of the Romans (Rex romanorum/römischer König) first. German kings had been elected since time immemorial; in the 9th century by the leaders of the five most important tribes (the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians, Swabians and Thuringians), later by the main lay and clerical dukes of the kingdom, finally only by the so-called Kurfürsten (electing dukes, electors). This college was formally established by a 1356 decree known as the Golden Bull. Initially, there were seven electors; this number varied slightly over the following centuries (see prince-elector for details).

Related Topics:
King of the Romans - Time immemorial - Franks - Saxons - Bavaria - Swabia - Thuringians - 1356 - Golden Bull - Prince-elector

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Until 1508, the newly elected king then travelled to Rome to be crowned Emperor by the Pope. In many cases, this took several years when the King was held up by other tasks: frequently he first had to resolve conflicts in rebellious northern Italy or was in quarrel with the Pope himself.

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At no time could the Emperor simply decree rulings and govern autonomously over the Empire. His power was severely restricted by the various local leaders; after the late 15th century, the Reichstag established itself as the legislative body of the Empire, a complicated assembly that convened irregularly at the request of the Emperor at varying locations. Only after 1663 would the Reichstag become a permanent assembly; see Reichstag (institution) for details.

Related Topics:
1663 - ''Reichstag'' (institution)

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Imperial estates

An entity was considered Reichsstand (imperial estate) if, according to feudal law, it had no authority above it besides the Holy Roman Emperor himself. They included:

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• Territories governed by a prince or duke, and in some cases kings. (Rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the King of Bohemia, were not allowed to become a king within the Empire, but some had kingdoms outside the Empire, as was, for instance, the case in the Kingdom of Great Britain, where the ruler was also the Prince-elector of Hanover.)
• Clerical territories led by a Bishop or Prince-Bishop. In the latter case, the territory was frequently identical in area with a bishopric, giving the Bishop both worldly and clerical powers. An example, among many others, would be Osnabrück. A noteworthy Prince-Bishop (Fürstbischof) within the Holy Roman Empire was the Bishop of Mainz with his see at Mainz Cathedral.
• Imperial Free Cities

The number of territories was amazingly large, rising to several hundred at the time of the Peace of Westphalia. Many of these comprised no more than a few square miles. The Empire is thus aptly described as a "patchwork carpet" (Flickenteppich) by many. For a list as of 1792, refer to List of Reichstag participants (1792).

Related Topics:
Peace of Westphalia - List of Reichstag participants (1792)

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Reichstag

The Reichstag was the legislative body of the Holy Roman Empire. It was divided into three distinct classes:

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• The Council of Electors, which included the Electors of the Holy Roman Empire.
• The Council of Princes, which included both laypersons and clerics.
• The Secular Bench: Princes (those with the title of Prince, Grand Duke, Duke, Count Palatine, Margrave, or Landgrave) held individual votes; some held more than one vote on the basis of ruling several territories. Also, the Council included Counts or Grafs, who were grouped into four Colleges: Wetterau, Swabia, Franconia, and Westphalia. Each College could cast one vote as a whole.
• The Ecclesiastical Bench: Bishops, certain Abbots, and the two Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order and the Order of St John had individual votes. Certain other Abbots were grouped into two Colleges: Swabia and the Rhine. Each College held one collective vote.
• The Council of Imperial Cities, which included representatives from Imperial Cities grouped into two Colleges: Swabia and the Rhine. Each College had one collective vote. The Council of Imperial Cities was not fully equal to the others; it could not vote on several matters such as the admission of new territories.

Imperial Courts

The Reich also had two courts: the Reichshofrat (also known in English as the Aulic Council) at the court of the King/Emperor (that is, later in Vienna), and the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court), established with the Imperial Reform of 1495. In 1512 the kreisen were founded.

Related Topics:
Aulic Council - Vienna - ''Reichskammergericht'' (Imperial Chamber Court) - Imperial Reform - 1495 - Kreisen

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See http://www.imperialcollegeofprincesandcounts.com

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