Imperial State

The Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation were those individuals and corporations who had a seat and vote in the Reichstag.

Composition

These were in the early modern period, more than 300 religious and secular princes, prelates, representatives of knightly orders, counts and lords and free and imperial cities. The empire state stem could be imparted by the emperor also those persons who possessed no territory ( HR managers ). As of 1654, but the possession of a rich immediate territory was to acquire the kingdom stand shaft required, that is, of a fief, which was awarded directly by the Holy Roman Emperor. In addition, the imperial approbation, admission to the concerned College of the Reichstag and the consent of all the Reichstag and the inclusion in a particular realm circle was necessary. In addition, the acquisition of a particular contribution to the military loads ( Romans month) and for the maintenance of the Superior Court ( Chamber Zieler ) was generally required. All the estates were listed in the Reichsmatrikel.

Spiritual imperial estates were:

• The three spiritual electors: the archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier,
• Other high ecclesiastical dignitaries, who ruled over their own worldly territory (eg prince-bishops, abbots and prelates and abbesses )
• The Grand Master of the Order of Knights ( German religious, Hospitallers).

Among the secular realm stalls were:

• The four, later six secular electors: the Count Palatine of the Rhine ( " Palatinate " ), the Duke of Saxe- Wittenberg ( " Electorate " ), the Margrave of Brandenburg and the king of Bohemia; from 1623/48, the Duke of Bavaria, from 1692/1708 the Duke of Brunswick- Luneburg -Calenberg ( " electoral Hanover " ),
• Princes, counts and lords,
• The free imperial cities.

Since 1489 the estates were divided in the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire in three colleges. A distinction was the Electoral College / the Kurfürstenrat, the Imperial Council and the College of the imperial cities. The counts and lords were not represented within the Imperial Prince Council with single or Virilstimmen, but as members of initially two, later four Graf benches, each performed a Kuriatstimme.

The Imperial Knights were undoubtedly rich immediately, but not represented as objects in the Reichstag; They tried several times in vain to attain at least a corporate empire state honor for themselves.

Course of business at the Diet

For a kingdom Finally, the consent of all three colleges was necessary.

Each elector, prince and prince-bishop decreed in the Reichstag with its own voice, called Virilstimme (from Latin vir for man). The counts were against it together in four colleges in the Westphalian, the wetterauische, the Franconian and Swabian Count bank, each having only one common Kuriatstimme. Also the free imperial cities formed two colleges, the Rhenish and the Swabian Bank.

The imperial estates were put to the Emperor rich taxable and had to troop contingents to the imperial army. All the estates were required to personally attend the diets; sending a representative was possible. In return no general imperial law could be adopted by the imperial estates without adoption. You could decide on the declaration of the Imperial War and the conclusion of treaties between the kingdom and other states as well as the construction of new principalities.