Imperial Estate
An Imperial State or Imperial Estate (
The system of imperial states replaced the more regular division of Germany into stem duchies in the early medieval period. The old
Composition
Imperial Estates could be either ecclesiastic or secular. The ecclesiastical Estates were led by:
- the three clerical Mainz and Trier;
- Prince-Provostsof the Empire;
- ;
- Teutonic Knights or Knights Hospitaller.
The secular Estates, most notably:
- the four Prince-Electors of the County Palatine of the Rhine, Saxony, Brandenburg and Bohemia, later also Bavaria (replacing the Palatinate) and Hanover.
- ;
- prelates;
- the Free 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 the
The status of Estate was normally attached to a particular territory within the Empire, but there were some reichsständische 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 (see
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 the
In the
Rights and privileges
Rulers of Imperial States enjoyed precedence over other subjects in the Empire. Electors were originally styled Durchlaucht (Serene Highness), princes Hochgeboren (high-born) and counts Hoch- und Wohlgeboren (high and well-born). In the eighteenth century, the electors were upgraded to Durchläuchtigste (Most Serene Highness), princes to Durchlaucht (Serene Highness) and counts to Erlaucht (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 into
mines.Imperial Diet
From 1489 onwards, the
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).
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 when
Quaternions
The so-called imperial quaternions (German: Quaternionen der Reichsverfassung "quaternions of the imperial constitution"; from Latin quaterniō "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 the
It is likely that this system was first introduced under
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 of Stramberg (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 represent pars pro toto the structure of the imperial constitution.
See also
- Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
- List of Imperial Diet participants (1792)
- List of states in the Holy Roman Empire
- Estates of the realm
- Stem duchy
- Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire
- Heerschild
References
- ^ c.f. Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, Anführung zur Teutschen Staats-Kunst (1672), p. 669.
- ^ Hans Legband, "Zu den Quaternionen der Reichsverfassung", Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 3 (1905), 495–498. Ernst Schubert, "Die Quaternionen", Zeitschrift für historische Forschung 20 (1993), 1–63.
- ^ Jakob Carl Spener, teutsches ivs pvblicvm; oder, des Heil. Römisch-Teutschen Reichs vollständige Staats-Rechts-Lehre, George Marcus Knoche (1723), 124f. (note a); the extended list of quaternions is here traced to Onofrio Panvinio, De Comitiis Imperatoriis (Basel 1558).
- ^ Konrad Bund, Findbuch der Epitaphienbücher (1238)–1928 und der Wappenbücher (1190)–1801 (1987).