Imperial Council (Denmark)

This article deals with the early modern Danish Imperial Council. For the Danish Imperial Council of the years 1855–1866 see Danish Imperial Council (1855–1866)

The Danish Imperial Council (Danish Rigsrådet ) was a body in the Kingdom of Denmark from the end of the 12th century to 1660 .

The Danish nobility and clergy were represented in the Imperial Council. Essentially, the Reichsrat had two powers:

1. The royal suffrage
2. The right to tax permits

history

The Danish Imperial Council was initially called Danehof and was an expression of the growing power of the nobility over the Danish king . Since 1282, the Imperial Council required every king he elected to have a so-called hand - fest , which was renegotiated with every new king election. This limited the power of the kings, sometimes considerably, in favor of the feudal landowners.

Before the Reformation in Denmark in 1536, the Imperial Council had about 30 members, after that only 23, who were then appointed by the king for life.

In the Danish coup of 1660 under Frederik III. The Reichsrat finally got rid of itself. This is considered to be the beginning of absolutism in Denmark - the only one in Europe that was enshrined in a constitution, the Lex Regia , “for all time”. In fact, the Lex Regia was only supposed to apply until the Danish constitution of 1849.