AnImperial Estate(Latin:Status Imperii;German:Reichsstand,plural:Reichsstände) was an entity or an individual of theHoly Roman Empirewith representation and the right to vote in theImperial Diet(Reichstag). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise significant rights and privileges and were "immediate",meaning the only authority above them was that of theHoly Roman Emperor.They were thus able to rule their territories with a considerable degree ofautonomy.
The system of imperial states replaced the more regular division ofGermanyintostem duchiesin the early medieval period. The oldCarolingianstem duchies were retained as the major divisions of Germany under theSalian dynasty,but they became increasingly obsolete during the early high medievalperiodunder theHohenstaufen,and they were finally abolished in 1180 byFrederick Barbarossain favour of more numerousterritorialdivisions. From 1489, the Imperial Estates represented in the Diet were divided into three chambers, the college ofprince-electors(Kurfürstenkollegium/den Kurfürstenrat), the college ofimperial princes(Reichsfürstenrat) and the college ofimperial cities.Counts and nobles were not directly represented in the Diet in spite of their immediate status, but were grouped into "benches" (Grafenbänke) with a single vote each. Imperial Knightshad immediate status but were not represented in theDiet.
Composition
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Imperial Estates could be either ecclesiastic or secular. The ecclesiastical Estates were led by:
- the three clericalPrince-electors:the Archbishops ofCologne,MainzandTrier;
- Prince-Archbishopsand Prince-Bishops as well asPrince-AbbotsandPrince-Provostsof the Empire;
- Imperial Prelates,immediatePriorsandProvosts;
- Grand Mastersofmilitary orderslike theTeutonic KnightsorKnights Hospitaller.
The secular Estates, most notably:
- the four Prince-Electors of theCounty Palatine of the Rhine,Saxony,BrandenburgandBohemia,later alsoBavaria(replacing the Palatinate) andHanover.
- Imperial PrincesincludingGrand Dukes,Dukes,Counts Palatine,MargravesandLandgraves;
- Imperial Counts,Burgraves,Barons,andprelates;
- theFree and Imperial cities.
Until 1582 the votes of the Free and Imperial Cities were only advisory. None of the rulers below the Holy Roman Emperor ranked as kings, with the exception of theKings of Bohemia.
The status of Estate was normally attached to a particular territory within the Empire, but there were somereichsständische Personalisten,or "persons with Imperial statehood". Originally, the Emperor alone could grant that status, but in 1653, several restrictions on the Emperor's power were introduced. The creation of a new Estate required the assent of the College of Electors and of the College of Princes (seeReichstagbelow). The ruler was required to agree to accept Imperial taxation and military obligations. Furthermore, the Estate was required to obtain admittance into one of theImperial Circles.Theoretically, personalist Estates were forbidden after 1653, but exceptions were often made.[citation needed] Once a territory attained the status of an Estate, it could only lose that status under very few circumstances. A territory ceded to a foreign power ceased to be an Estate.
From 1648 onwards, inheritance of the Estate was limited to one family; a territory inherited by a different family ceased to be an Estate unless the Emperor explicitly allowed otherwise. Finally, a territory could cease to be an Imperial Estate by being subjected to theImperial ban(the most notable example involvedFrederick V, Elector Palatine,who was banned in 1621 for his participation in theBohemian Revolt).
In theGerman mediatizationbetween 1803 and 1806, the vast majority of the Estates of the Holy Roman Empire were mediatised. They lost their Imperial immediacy and became part of other Estates. The number of Estates was reduced from about three hundred to about thirty. Mediatisation went along with secularisation: the abolition of most of the ecclesiastical Estates. This dissolution of the constitution of the structure of the empire was soon followed by the dissolution of the empire itself, in 1806.
Rights and privileges
editRulers of Imperial States enjoyed precedence over other subjects in the Empire. Electors were originally styledDurchlaucht(Serene Highness), princesHochgeboren(high-born) and countsHoch- und Wohlgeboren(high and well-born). In the eighteenth century, the electors were upgraded toDurchläuchtigste(Most Serene Highness), princes toDurchlaucht(Serene Highness) and counts toErlaucht(Illustrious Highness).
Imperial States enjoyed several rights and privileges. Rulers had autonomy inasmuch as their families were concerned; in particular, they were permitted to make rules regarding the inheritance of their states without imperial interference. They were permitted to make treaties and enter intoallianceswith other Imperial States as well as with foreign nations. The electors, but not the other rulers, were permitted to exercise certain regalian powers, including the power tomintmoney, the power to collecttollsand a monopoly overgoldandsilvermines.
Imperial Diet
editFrom 1489 onwards, theImperial Dietwas divided into threecollegia:the Council ofElectors,the Council of Princes, and the Council of Cities. Electoral states belonged to the Council of Electors; other states, whether ecclesiastical or secular, belonged to the Council of Princes.
Votes were held in right of the states, rather than personally. Consequently, an individual ruling several states held multiple votes; similarly, multiple individuals ruling parts of the same state shared a single vote. These rules were not formalized until 1582; before then, when multiple individuals inherited parts of the same state, they sometimes received a vote each. Votes were either individual or collective. Princes and senior clerics generally held individual votes (but such votes, as noted above, were sometimes shared).Prelates(abbots and priors) without individual votes were classified into two benches: the Bench of theRhineand the Bench ofSwabia.Each of these had a collective vote. Similarly, Counts were grouped into four comital benches with one collective vote each: theUpper RhenishBench ofWetterau,the Swabian Bench, theFranconianBench and theWestphalianBench.
No elector ever held multiple electorates; nor were electorates ever divided between multiple heirs. Hence, in the Council of Electors, each individual held exactly one vote. An example of this was whenCharles Theodore,Elector Palatine, inherited the Electorate of Bavaria in 1777, the vote of the Palatinate was nullified. However, Electors who ruled states in addition to their electorates also voted in the Council of Princes; similarly, princes who also ruled comital territories voted both individually and in the comital benches. In theReichstag in 1792,for instance, theElector of Brandenburgheld eight individual votes in the Council of Princes and one vote in the Bench of Westphalia. Similarly, among ecclesiastics, the Grand Master of theTeutonic Orderheld one individual vote in the Council of Princes and two in the Bench of the Rhine.
Quaternions
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The so-calledimperial quaternions(German:Quaternionen der Reichsverfassung"quaternions of the imperial constitution"; from Latinquaterniō"group of four soldiers" ) were a conventional representation of the Imperial States of the Holy Roman Empire which first became current in the 15th century and was extremely popular during the 16th century.[2]
Apart from the highest tiers of theemperor,kings,prince-bishopsand theprince electors,the estates are represented in groups offour.The number of quaternions was usually ten, in descending order of precedenceDukes(Duces),Margraves(Marchiones),Landgraves(Comites Provinciales),Burggraves(Comites Castrenses),Counts(Comites),Knights(Milites), Noblemen (Liberi),Cities(Metropoles), Villages (Villae) and Peasants (Rustici). The list could be shortened or expanded, by the mid-16th century to as many as 45.[3]
It is likely that this system was first introduced underEmperor Sigismund,who is assumed to have commissioned the frescoes inFrankfurt city hallin 1414.[4]
As has been noted from an early time, this representation of the "imperial constitution" does not in fact represent the actual constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, as some imperial cities appear as "villages" or even "peasants". E.g. the four "peasants" are Cologne, Constance, Regensburg and Salzburg. The Burggrave ofStramberg(or Stromberg, Straburg, Strandeck, and variants) was an unknown entity even at the time. The representation of imperial subjects is also far from complete. The "imperial quaternions" are, rather, a more or less random selection intended to representpars pro totothe structure of the imperial constitution.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ c.f. Christian Knorr von Rosenroth,Anführung zur Teutschen Staats-Kunst(1672),p. 669.
- ^Hans Legband, "Zu den Quaternionen der Reichsverfassung",Archiv für Kulturgeschichte3 (1905), 495–498. Ernst Schubert, "Die Quaternionen",Zeitschrift für historische Forschung20 (1993), 1–63.
- ^ Jakob Carl Spener,teutsches ivs pvblicvm; oder, des Heil. Römisch-Teutschen Reichs vollständige Staats-Rechts-Lehre,George Marcus Knoche (1723),124f.(notea); the extended list of quaternions is here traced toOnofrio Panvinio,De Comitiis Imperatoriis(Basel 1558).
- ^Konrad Bund,Findbuch der Epitaphienbücher (1238)–1928 und der Wappenbücher (1190)–1801(1987).