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36-738: Imperial Diet means the highest representative assembly in an empire, notably: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire) , the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) National Diet , the current legislature of Japan (1889–) Imperial Diet (Austria) , short-lived body that represented the non-Hungarian lands of the Austrian Empire (1848–1849) See also [ edit ] Diet (assembly) Reichstag (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

72-729: A local ruler, subject only to the Emperor himself, and managed to be accepted as third parties. Several attempts to reform the Empire and end its slow disintegration, starting with the Diet of 1495 , did not have much effect. In contrast, this process was 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 until its end in 1806,

108-707: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire) Its members were the Imperial Estates , divided into three colleges. The diet as a permanent, regularized institution evolved from the Hoftage (court assemblies) of the Middle Ages . From 1663 until the end of the empire in 1806, it was in permanent session at Regensburg . All Imperial Estates enjoyed immediacy and, therefore, they had no authority above them besides

144-540: The Holy Roman Emperor himself. While all the estates were entitled to a seat and vote, only the higher temporal and spiritual princes of the College of Princes enjoyed an individual vote ( Virilstimme ), while lesser estates such as imperial counts and imperial abbots, were merely entitled to a collective vote ( Kuriatstimme ) within their particular bench ( Curia ), as did the free imperial cities belonging to

180-550: The Knights Hospitaller at Heitersheim . The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck remained an ecclesiastical member even after it had turned Protestant , ruled by diocesan administrators from the House of Holstein-Gottorp from 1586. The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück , according to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia was under alternating rule of a Catholic bishop and a Lutheran bishop from the House of Hanover . Each member of

216-950: The Nine Years' War . In the War of the Bavarian Succession , the electoral dignities of the Palatinate and Bavaria were merged, approved by the 1779 Treaty of Teschen . The German Mediatisation of 1803 entailed the dissolution of the Cologne and Trier Prince-archbishoprics, the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz and German Archchancellor received—as compensation for his lost territory occupied by Revolutionary France —the newly established Principality of Regensburg . In turn, four secular princes were elevated to prince-electors: These changes however had little effect, as with

252-592: The Peace of Westphalia , religious matters could no longer be decided by a majority vote of the colleges. Instead, the Reichstag would separate into Catholic and Protestant bodies, which would discuss the matter separately and then negotiate an agreement with each other, a procedure called the itio in partes . The Catholic body, or corpus catholicorum , was headed by the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz . The Protestant body, or corpus evangelicorum ,

288-692: The Perpetual Diet of Regensburg in 1663 did the Diet permanently convene at a fixed location. The Imperial Diet of Constance opened on 27 April 1507; it recognized the unity of the Holy Roman Empire and founded the Imperial Chamber , the empire's supreme court. From 1489, the Diet comprised three colleges: The Electoral College ( Kurfürstenrat ), led by the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz in his capacity as Archchancellor of Germany . The seven Prince-electors were designated by

324-812: The Saxon Wars , a Hoftag, according to the Royal Frankish Annals , met at Paderborn in 777 and determined laws over the subdued Saxons and other tribes. In 803 Charlemagne, by then crowned as emperor of the Franks, issued the final version of the Lex Saxonum . 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

360-857: The Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts and mergers within the Swabian , the Franconian and the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circles . Likewise, on the ecclesiastical bench, the Imperial abbots joined a Swabian or Rhenish college. In the German Mediatisation of 1803, numerous ecclesiastical territories were annexed by secular estates. However, a reform of the Princes' college was not carried out until

396-537: The "advice" and "consent" of the princes. Both terms are used in such documents synonymously from a legal point of view. Those princes who were not invited or who found themselves in opposition to the king, did not, however, feel bound by the decisions of the Hoftage . Following the Great Interregnum of the 13th century, the role of the prince electors increased, since only they had the role of princes of

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432-425: The College of Towns. The right to vote rested essentially on a territorial entitlement, with the result that when a given prince acquired new territories through inheritance or otherwise, he also acquired their voting rights in the diet. In general, members did not attend the permanent diet at Regensburg, but sent representatives instead. The late imperial diet was in effect a permanent meeting of ambassadors between

468-583: The Electorate itself remained officially Protestant and retained the directorship of the Protestant body. When the Elector's son also converted to Catholicism, Prussia and Hanover attempted to take over the directorship in 1717–1720, but without success. The Electors of Saxony would head the Protestant body until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. After the formation of the new German Empire in 1871,

504-684: 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 Diets of Speyer 1526 and 1529 (see Protestation at Speyer ), and several in Nuremberg ( Diet of Nuremberg ). Only with the introduction of

540-526: The Empire's dissolution in 1806. The college of Imperial Cities ( Reichsstädtekollegium ) evolved from 1489 onwards. It contributed greatly to the development of the Imperial Diets as a political institution. Nevertheless, the collective vote of the cities was of inferior importance until a 1582 Recess of the Augsburg Diet . The college was led by the city council of the actual venue until

576-672: The Golden Bull of 1356: The number increased to eight, when in 1623 the Duke of Bavaria took over the electoral dignity of the Count Palatine, who himself received a separate vote in the electoral college according to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia ( Causa Palatina ), including the high office of an Archtreasurer . In 1692 the Elector of Hanover (formally Brunswick-Lüneburg) became the ninth Prince-elector as Archbannerbearer during

612-734: 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

648-593: The Perpetual Diet in 1663, when the chair passed to Regensburg . The Imperial cities also divided into a Swabian and Rhenish bench. The Swabian cities were led by Nuremberg , Augsburg and Regensburg, the Rhenish cities by Cologne , Aachen and Frankfurt . For a complete list of members of the Imperial Diet from 1792, near the end of the Empire, see List of Reichstag participants (1792) . After

684-671: The Prince-electors. The House of Princes was again subdivided into an ecclesiastical and a secular bench. Remarkably, the ecclesiastical bench was headed by the—secular— Archduke of Austria and the Burgundian duke of the Habsburg Netherlands (held by Habsburg Spain from 1556). As the Austrian House of Habsburg had failed to assume the leadership of the secular bench, they received the guidance over

720-404: The Princes' College held either a single vote ( Virilstimme ) or a collective vote ( Kuriatstimme ). Due to the Princes, their single vote from 1582 strictly depended on their immediate fiefs; this principle led to an accumulation of votes, when one ruler held several territories in personal union . Counts and Lords only were entitled to collective votes, they therefore formed separate colleges like

756-464: The abdication of Francis II as Holy Roman Emperor the Empire was dissolved only three years later. The college of Imperial Princes ( Reichsfürstenrat or Fürstenbank ) incorporated the Imperial Counts as well as immediate lords, Prince-Bishops and Imperial abbots . Strong in members, though often discordant, the second college tried to preserve its interests against the dominance of

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792-484: 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 collegia ("colleges"). Initially, the two colleges were of the prince-electors and of the remaining dukes and princes. Later, the imperial cities with Imperial immediacy became oligarchic republics independent of

828-724: The ecclesiastical princes. The first ecclesiastical prince was the Archbishop of Salzburg as Primas Germaniae ; the Prince-Archbishop of Besançon , though officially a member until the 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen , did not attend the Diet's meetings. The ecclesiastical bench also comprised the Grand Master and Deutschmeister of the Teutonic Knights , as well as the Grand Prior of the Monastic State of

864-525: The empire and gave their formal acceptance to royal decrees about imperial matters through so-called letters of consent ( Willebriefe ). But even here, no obligation is discernible on the part of king to call for such letters in his regulations. In the wake of the decline of the kingdom to its respective allodial estates at the end of the 14th century and the general weakness at the time of its count-kings ( Grafenkönige ), "kingless assemblies" ( Königlose Tage ) gained increasing importance. At these gatherings,

900-509: The empire in general, but with matters concerning their individual rulers. In fact, the legal institution of the imperial diet appeared much later. In the early and high Middle Ages these assemblies were mostly held in the imperial palaces ( Kaiserpfalz ) . From the feudal obligation of chief princes to stand by the king's side in word and deed, a consequent duty was derived by the time of the High Middle Ages to appear in person, at

936-512: The estates. The role and function of the Imperial Diet evolved over the centuries, like the Empire itself, with the estates and separate territories increasing control of their own affairs at the expense of imperial power. Initially, there was neither a fixed time nor location for the Diet. It began as a convention of the dukes of the old Germanic tribes that formed the Frankish kingdom when important decisions had to be made, probably based on

972-451: The king had to be advised on and seek the approval of the princes seems to have been largely at the discretion of the king, so the Hoftage certainly cannot be viewed as an institutionalized joint exercise of power by the princes. Documents of the High and Late Middle Ages containing important policy decisions or orders concerning imperial estates emphasize that the decisions were made with

1008-464: The king. When the king held such assemblies and whom he invited was entirely at his discretion. Hence, a distinction between the counsel given by the princes and their legal consent to a decision is difficult to make. However, it was from their obligation to advise the king, that the right soon emerged for the princes to be consulted on important matters concerning the empire, such as the declaration of an imperial military campaign . Exactly which matters

1044-507: 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. Until the late 15th century the Diet was not formalized as an institution. Instead, the dukes and other princes would irregularly convene at

1080-507: 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. The Golden Bull of 1356 cemented the concept of "territorial rule" ( Landesherrschaft ),

1116-405: The old Germanic law whereby each leader relied on the support of his leading men. In the early and high Middle Ages these assemblies were not yet institutionalized, but were held as needed at the decision of the king or emperor. They weren't called Diet yet, but Hoftag ( court day ). They were usually held in the imperial palaces ( Kaiserpfalz ) . For example, already under Charlemagne during

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1152-494: The request of the king, at royal assemblies in order to offer counsel and participate in decision-making. This was the so-called court attendance duty ( Hoffahrtspflicht ). The assemblies themselves were given various names in the different sources, such as parlamentum , conventus , colloquium , curia or curia regis . All these terms could be qualified with adjectives such as solemnis ("ceremonial") or magnus ("great") in order to clarify their nature. The Hoftag differed from

1188-443: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Imperial Diet . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_Diet&oldid=1025228935 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Legislatures Hidden categories: Short description

1224-423: The usual counsel meetings of the royal court essentially only in the additional participation of those invited. These could be princes, members of the nobility, prelates or representatives of foreign powers. From the 13th century, representatives of the free imperial cities were also invited to Hoftage . The assemblies were organised along the lines of a royal court meeting ( Hofhaltung ) and were firmly focussed on

1260-439: Was headed by the Elector of Saxony . At meetings of the Protestant body, Saxony would introduce each topic of discussion, after which Brandenburg-Prussia and Hanover would speak, followed by the remaining states in order of size. When all the states had spoken, Saxony would weigh the votes and announce a consensus. Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony converted to Catholicism in 1697 in order to become King of Poland, but

1296-516: Was published in 1992. Hoftag A Hoftag (pl. Hoftage ) was the name given to an informal and irregular assembly convened by the King of the Romans , the Holy Roman Emperor or one of the Princes of the Empire, with selected chief princes within the empire . Early scholarship also refers to these meetings as imperial diets ( Reichstage ), even though these gatherings were not really about

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