Imperial Diet: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:32, 18 October 2025

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

Secular Bench
1. Duke of Bavaria
2. Duke of Magdeburg
3. Count Palatine of Lautern
4. Count Palatine of Simmern
5. Count Palatine of Neuburg
6. Duke of Bremen
7. Duke of Zweibrücken
8. Count Palatine of Veldenz
9. Duke of Saxe-Weimar
10. Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
11. Duke of Saxe-Coburg
12. Duke of Saxe-Gotha
13. Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
14. Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
15. Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
16. Duke of Brunswick-Celle
17. Duke of Brunswick-Kalenberg
18. Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
19. Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
20. Prince of Halberstadt
21. Duke of Farther Pomerania
22. Duke of Upper Pomerania
23. Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
24. Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
25. Duke of Württemberg
26. Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
27. Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
28. Margrave of Baden-Baden
29. Margrave of Baden-Durlach
30. Prince of Verden
31. Margrave of Baden-Hachberg
32. Duke of Holstein
33. Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
34. Prince of Minden
35. Duke of Holstein-Gottorp-Oldenburg
36. Duke of Savoy
37. Landgrave of Leuchtenberg
38. Prince of Anhalt
39. Princely Count of Henneberg
40. Prince of Schwerin
41. Prince of Kammin
42. Prince of Ratzeburg
43. Prince of Hersfeld
44. Prince of Nomény
45. Prince of Mömpelgard
46. Duke of Arenberg
47. Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
48. Prince of Lobkowitz
49. Prince of Salm
50. Prince of Dietrichstein
51. Prince of Nassau-Hadamar
52. Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg
53. Prince of Auersperg
54. Prince of East Frisia
55. Prince of Fürstenberg
56. Prince of Schwarzenberg
57. Prince of Liechtenstein
58. Prince of Thurn und Taxis
59. Prince of Schwarzburg

College of Imperial Cities

Rhenish Bench
Free and Imperial City of Cologne
Free and Imperial City of Aachen
Free and Imperial City of Lübeck
Imperial Free City of Frankfurt
Free and Imperial City of Bremen
Free and Imperial City of Hamburg

Swabian Bench
Free and Imperial City of Regensburg
Free and Imperial City of Ulm
Free and Imperial City of Schwäbisch Gmünd

@@ Line 144: / Line 144: @@
 <gallery mode="nolines" caption="College of Imperial Cities" align=center style= "color: #292929;font-size:1.2em;font-weight: normal;text-align:center;font-style: normal;">
 </gallery>
 <span id="Rhenish Bench"></span>
 <gallery mode="nolines" caption="Rhenish Bench" align=center style= "color: #292929;font-size:1.2em;font-weight: normal;text-align:center;font-style: normal;">
 Cologne 1550.svg|[[Imperial Free City of Cologne| Free and Imperial City of Cologne]]
 Aachen_JWT.svg|[[Imperial Free City of Aachen | Free and Imperial City of Aachen]]
 Free City of Lubeck.svg|[[ Imperial Free City of Lübeck | Free and Imperial City of Lübeck ]]
+Free City of Frankfurt.svg|Imperial Free City of Frankfurt
 Free City of Bremen.svg|Free and Imperial City of Bremen
 Hamburg.svg|[[ Imperial Free City of Hamburg | Free and Imperial City of Hamburg ]]
 </gallery>
 <span id="Swabian Bench"></span>
 [[#Electors|College of Electors]] | [[#Princes|College of Princes]] | [[#Ecclesiastical|Ecclesiastical Bench]] | [[#Secular|Secular Bench]] | [[#College of Imperial Cities |College of Imperial Cities]] | [[#Rhenish Bench|Rhenish Bench]] | [[#Swabian Bench|Swabian Bench]]
 <gallery mode="nolines" caption="Swabian Bench" align=center style= "color: #292929;font-size:1.2em;font-weight: normal;text-align:center;font-style: normal;">
+Regensburg.svg|Free and Imperial City of Regensburg
 Ulm.svg|Free and Imperial City of Ulm
 Schwäbisch_Gmünd.svg|Free and Imperial City of Schwäbisch Gmünd