Imperial Diet: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 03:19, 20 May 2026

Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire
The Imperial Diet (Reichstag) was the forum where the Imperial Estates and the Emperor could discuss and negotiate issues from the early modern period of the Empire onwards ; what it enacted was Imperial Law.
The Imperial Estates (Reichsstände) were the territories that enjoyed imperial immediacy (Reichsunmittelbarkeit), that is the Emperor was their immediate and direct feudal lord, since the territories they held were formally feudal fiefs. Alongside this immediacy, the Imperial Estates had to share the burden of the Empire and were to pay taxes to fund the various bodies whose responsability was to maintain the common legal framework that characterised the social and political order of the Empire ; these two criteria thus determined whether or not a territory formally attached to the Empire could enjoy the right to participate and vote in the Diet.

College of Electors
1. Archbishop of Mainz
Arch-Chancellor of Germany
Head of Corpus Catholicorum
2. Archbishop of Trier
Arch-Chancellor of Gaul
3. Archbishop of Cologne
Arch-Chancellor of Italy

4. King of Bohemia
Arch-Butler of the Empire
5. Count Palatine of the Rhine
Arch-Steward of the Empire
Imperial Vicar for Frankish territories
6. Duke of Saxony
Arch-Marshal of the Empire
Imperial Vicar for Saxon territories
Head of Corpus Evangelicorum
7. Margrave of Brandenburg
Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire
8. Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Arch-Treasurer of the Empire

College of Princes
1. Archduke of Austria
2. Duke of Burgundy

Ecclesiastical Bench
3. Archbishop of Salzburg
4. Archbishop of Besançon
5. Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
6. Bishop of Bamberg
7. Bishop of Würzburg
8. Bishop of Worms
9. Bishop of Eichstätt
10. Bishop of Speyer
11. Bishop of Strassburg
12. Bishop of Constance
13. Bishop of Augsburg
14. Bishop of Hildesheim
15. Bishop of Paderborn
16. Bishop of Freising
17. Bishop of Regensburg
18. Bishop of Passau
19. Bishop of Trent
20. Bishop of Brixen
21. Bishop of Basel
22. Bishop of Münster
23. Bishop of Osnabrück
24. Bishop of Liège
25. Bishop of Lübeck
26. Bishop of Chur
27. Bishop of Fulda
28. Abbot of Kempten
29. Provost of Ellwangen
30. Grand Master of the Order of St. John
31. Prior of Berchtesgaden
32. Provost of Weissenburg
33. Abbot of Prüm
34. Abbot of Stablo
35. Abbot of Corvey

College of Imperial Cities

Rhenish Bench
Free and Imperial City of Cologne
Free and Imperial City of Aachen
Free and Imperial City of Lübeck
Free and Imperial City of Worms
Free and Imperial City of Frankfurt
Free and Imperial City of Goslar
Free and Imperial City of Bremen
Free and Imperial City of Hamburg
Free and Imperial City of Mühlhausen
Free and Imperial City of Nordhausen
Free and Imperial City of Dortmund

Swabian Bench
Free and Imperial City of Regensburg
Free and Imperial City of Augsburg
Free and Imperial City of Nuremberg
Free and Imperial City of Ulm
Free and Imperial City of Schwäbisch Hall
Free and Imperial City of Überlingen
Free and Imperial City of Schwäbisch Gmünd
Free and Imperial City of Lindau
Free and Imperial City of Dinkelsbühl
Free and Imperial City of Biberach
Free and Imperial City of Kempten
Free and Imperial City of Weil
Free and Imperial City of Wangen
Free and Imperial City of Isny im Allgäu
Free and Imperial City of Pfullendorf
Free and Imperial City of Offenburg
Free and Imperial City of Leutkirch im Allgäu
Free and Imperial City of Wimpfen
Free and Imperial City of Weissenburg
Free and Imperial City of Giengen
Free and Imperial City of Zell am Harmersbach
Free and Imperial City of Buchhorn
Free and Imperial City of Buchau

@@ Line 133: / Line 133: @@
 Von Furstenberg.svg|55. [[ County of Fürstenberg |Prince of Fürstenberg]]
 Seinsheim-Schwarzenberg.svg|56. Prince of Schwarzenberg
-Liechtenstein Ancient.svg|57. Prince of Liechtenstein
+Liechtenstein Ancient.svg|57. [[ Principality of Liechtenstein |Prince of Liechtenstein]]
 Thurn-Valsassina-Taxis.svg|58. Prince of Thurn und Taxis
 Schwarzburg.svg|59. [[County of Schwarzburg|Prince of Schwarzburg]]