- Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)
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Seating plan for an inauguration of the Imperial Diet from an engraving of 1675: Emperor and Prince-electors at the head, secular Princes to the left, ecclesiastical to the right, deputies of Imperial Cities in the foreground.
The Imperial Diet (Latin: Dieta Imperii or Comitium Imperiale German: Reichstag) was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.
During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm. More precisely, it was the convention of the Imperial Estates, legal entities that, according to feudal law, had no authority above them besides the Holy Roman Emperor (or King of the Romans) himself. The deputies convened occasionally at different cities, until in 1663 the Perpetual Diet was established at the Regensburg city hall.
Contents
History
The precise role and function of the Imperial Diet changed over the centuries, as did the Empire itself, in that the estates and separate territories gained more and more control of their own affairs at the expense of imperial power. Initially, there was neither a fixed time nor location for the Diet. It started as a convention of the dukes of the old Germanic tribes that formed the Frankish kingdom when important decisions had to be made, and was probably based on the old Germanic law whereby each leader relied on the support of his leading men. For example, already under Emperor Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars, the Diet, according to the Royal Frankish Annals, met at Paderborn in 777, and the Diet of Aix in 802/803 officially determined the laws concerning the subdued Saxons and other tribes.
At the Diet of 919 in Fritzlar the dukes elected the first King of the Germans, who was a Saxon, Henry the Fowler, thus overcoming the longstanding rivalry between Franks and Saxons and laying the foundation for the German realm. After the conquest of Italy, the 1158 Diet of Roncaglia finalized four laws that would significantly alter the (never formally written) constitution of the Empire, marking the beginning of the steady decline of the central power in favour of the local dukes. In 1356, the Golden Bull cemented the concept of "territorial rule" (Landesherrschaft), the largely independent rule of the dukes over their respective territories, and also limited the number of electors to seven. The Pope, contrary to modern myth, was never involved in the electoral process but only in the process of ratification and coronation of whomever the Prince-Electors chose.
"Here I stand": Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, 1521
19th century painting by Hermann WislicenusHowever, until the late 15th century, the Diet was not actually formalized as an institution. Instead, the dukes and other princes would irregularly convene at the court of the Emperor; these assemblies were usually referred to as Hoftage (from German Hof "court"). Only beginning in 1489 was the Diet called the Reichstag, and it was formally divided into several collegia ("colleges"). Initially, the two colleges were that of the prince-electors and that of the other dukes and princes. Later, the imperial cities, that is, cities that had Imperial immediacy and were oligarchic republics independent of a local ruler that were subject only to the Emperor himself, managed to be accepted as a third party.
Several attempts to reform the Empire and end its slow disintegration, notably starting with the Diet of 1495, did not have much effect. In contrast, this process was only hastened with the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which formally bound the Emperor to accept all decisions made by the Diet, in effect depriving him of his few remaining powers. From then to its end in 1806, the Empire was not much more than a collection of largely independent states.
Probably the most famous Diets were those held in Worms in 1495, where the Imperial Reform was enacted, and 1521, where Martin Luther was banned (see Edict of Worms), the First Diet of Speyer of 1526 and the Second there of 1529 (see Protestation at Speyer), and several in Nuremberg (Diet of Nuremberg).
Only with the introduction of the Perpetual Imperial Diet in 1663 did the Diet permanently convene in a fixed location, which was the city of Ratisbon.
For a list of members of the Imperial Diet from 1792, near the end of the Empire, refer to List of Reichstag participants (1792).
Collection of records
After the formation of the new German Empire in 1871, the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences started to collect imperial records (Reichsakten) and imperial diet records (Reichstagsakten). In 1893 the commission published the first volume. At present the years 1524–1527 and years up to 1544 are being collected and researched. A volume dealing with the 1532 Diet of Regensburg, including the peace negotiations with the Protestants in Schweinfurt and Nuremberg, by Rosemarie Aulinger of Vienna was published in 1992.
Locations of Imperial Diets
- Note: this list is incomplete
Year Place President Theme 754 Quierzy-sur-Oise Pepin the Short Donation of Pepin to Pope Stephen II 777 Paderborn Charlemagne First Diet on Saxon soil, Duke Widukind refused to appear 782 Lippspringe Charlemagne Division of Saxony into Gaue under Frankish Grafen (counts) 788 Ingelheim am Rhein Charlemagne Deposition of Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria 799 Paderborn Charlemagne Charlemagne clears with Pope Leo III his installation as Emperor 806 Diedenhofen Charlemagne Division of the Carolingian Empire among Pepin of Italy, Charles the Younger and Louis the Pious 817 Aachen 826 ? Invitation of the Sorbs; 829 Worms 831 Aachen 835 Diedenhofen Louis the Pious 838 Speyer Louis the Pious 872 Forchheim Louis II, the German 874 Forchheim Louis II, the German Discussion and regulation of inheritance 887 Tribur 889 Forchheim Arnulf of Carinthia 892 Forchheim Arnulf of Carinthia Preparing a War against the Slavs 896 Forchheim Arnulf of Carinthia 903 Forchheim Louis the Child Execution of the Babenberg Rebel Adalhard 907 Forchheim Louis the Child Council about the Magyar attacks 911 Forchheim Election of Conrad of Franconia King 914 Forchheim Conrad of Franconia War against Arnulf I of Bavaria 919 Fritzlar 926 Worms Henry the Fowler 952 on the Lech meadows near Augsburg Otto I the Great 961 Forchheim Otto I the Great 967 Ravenna Otto II 972 Quedlinburg 976 Regensburg 978 Dortmund Otto II War against France in the Autumn 983 Verona Election of Otto III 985 End of the usurpation of Henry the Wrangler 993 Dortmund Otto III 1030 Minden Conrad II 1066 Tribur 1076 Worms Henry IV 1077 Augsburg 1098 Mainz Henry IV. 1105 Ingelheim Henry IV. 1119 Tribur Henry IV. 1122 Worms Henry V 1126 Speyer Henry V 1146 Speyer Conrad III Decision to participate in the Second Crusade 1147 Frankfurt Conrad III 1152 Dortmund/Merseburg Frederick I Barbarossa 1154 Goslar 1157 Bisanz Frederick I Barbarossa 1158 Diet of Roncaglia near Piacenza Frederick I Barbarossa 1165 Würzburg Frederick I Barbarossa 1168 Bamberg Frederick I Barbarossa / Henry VI 1178 Speyer Frederick I Barbarossa 1180 Gelnhausen Frederick I Barbarossa / Henry VI Investiture of the Archbishop of Cologne with the Duchy of Westphalia 1181 Erfurt Henry VI Exile of Henry the Lion 1188 Mainz Henry VI 1193 Speyer Henry VI 1196 Frankfurt Henry VI 1205 Speyer Philip of Swabia 1213 Speyer Frederick II Frederick has his uncle, Philip of Swabia, who was murdered 1208 in Bamberg, interred in the Speyer cathedral 1235 Mainz Frederick II 1273 Speyer Rudolf I 1287 Würzburg Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg 1309 Speyer Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor 1338 Frankfurt 1379 Frankfurt 1356 Nuremberg Charles IV Issuance of the Golden Bull 1384 Speyer 1389 Eger Wenzel of Luxemburg Peace of Eger 1414 Speyer Sigismund of Luxemburg 1444 Speyer Frederick III 1487 Speyer Frederick III 1487 Nuremberg Frederick III 1488 Esslingen Frederick III Formation of the Swabian League 1495 Worms Maximilian I Imperial Reform; Gemeiner Pfennig in the wake of the Swabian War 1496/97 Lindau 1497/98 Freiburg 1500 Augsburg 1505 Cologne Schiedsspruch im Landshuter Erbfolgekrieg 1507 Konstanz 1512 Trier/Cologne 10 Reichskreise 1518 Augsburg 1521 Worms Charles V Diet of Worms, ban of Martin Luther, Edict of Worms 1522 Nuremberg I 1522/23 Nuremberg II 1524 Nuremberg III 1526 Speyer I Suspension of the Edict of Worms 1529 Speyer II Second Diet of Speyer, Reinstatement of the Edict of Worms, Protestation at Speyer. Proclamation of the Wiedertäufermandat condemning Anabaptists 1530 Augsburg Diet of Augsburg presentation of the Augsburg Confession 1532 Regensburg Ferdinand I Constitutio Criminalis Carolina 1541 Regensburg 1542 Speyer 1542 Nuremberg 1543 Nuremberg 1544 Speyer 1548 Augsburg Augsburg Interim 1550/51 Augsburg 1555 Augsburg Peace of Augsburg 1556/57 Regensburg 1559 Augsburg 1566 Augsburg 1567 Regensburg 1570 Speyer The infantry of the Empire gained a comprehensive military code 1576 Regensburg 1582 Augsburg 1594 Regensburg 1597/98 Regensburg 1603 Regensburg 1608 Regensburg 1613 Regensburg 1640/41 Regensburg 1653/54 Regensburg Ferdinand III. The Youngest Recess (Jüngster Reichsabschied / recessus imperii novissimus) 1663–1806 in the Reichssaal
of the Regensburg town hall
as the Perpetual DietBibliography
- Peter Claus Hartmann: Das Heilige Römische Reich deutscher Nation in der Neuzeit 1486–1806. Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-017045-1.
- Axel Gotthard: Das Alte Reich 1495–1806. Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-15118-6
- Edgar Liebmann: Reichstag. In: Friedrich Jaeger (Hrsg.): Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit, Bd. 10: Physiologie-Religiöses Epos. Stuttgart 2009, str. 948-953, ISBN 3-534-17605-7
- Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger: Des Kaisers alte Kleider. Verfassungsgeschichte und Symbolsprache des Alten Reiches. München 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-57074-2
- Helmut Neuhaus: Das Reich in der frühen Neuzeit (Enzyklopädie Deutscher Geschichte, Band 42). München 2003, ISBN 3-486-56729-2.
- Heinz Angermeier: Das alte Reich in der deutschen Geschichte. Studien über Kontinuitäten und Zäsuren. München 1998, ISBN 3-486-55897-8
See also
External links
Categories:- Historical legislatures
- Holy Roman Empire
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