Designation

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Designation comes from Latin and describes in an early meaning the determination of a successor in office in advance. For example, a candidate who has been elected as the future successor in office by the relevant electoral body is designated from the time of election until he actually takes office .

In German , the term designate is often used in politics and business in the sense of “denote”, “determine” or “provide for an office that has not yet been filled”, in technical parlance it also means “determine something for a purpose”.

In addition, designation is a linguistic technical term that is used in semantics to denote a meaningful relationship in which an expression stands for a class of objects, objects or elements.

Designation in the Middle Ages

The designation played a constitutionally important role in the succession of the Frankish and later the kings of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages . Because the succession to the throne was not secured by inheritance law, the king tried to determine his successor by recommending to the greats of the empire during his own lifetime. Not infrequently this happened in the form of an actual election, but probably also through less formal acts.

Four forms of designation can be distinguished, which have different legal meanings:

  • the designatio de futuro , the obligation of the ruling king to recognize the successor of his son by oath of loyalty to the son (examples are the designation of Liudolf in 946 by Otto I , the designation of Heinrich III. 1026 and Heinrich IV. 1050.)
  • the designatio de praesenti of the pre-Staufer period, the election of his son ordered by the king during his lifetime (e.g. the designation of Otto III. )
  • the designatio de praesenti of the Hohenstaufen era (e.g. the designation of Henry VI. 1169)
  • the foreign designation , d. H. the designation of a successor who is not the son of the ruler (e.g. the designation of Heinrich I 919, Friedrich I 1152)

The attempt by the rulers to eliminate the princes' right to vote in this way was no longer very successful from 1075, one reason why Heinrich VI. pursued a plan of inheritance . With the double election of 1198 (see German throne dispute ) it had practically failed, but the right to vote of the princes against any right of designation of the ruler was legally fixed with the formation of the electoral college .

Literature (selection)

  • G. Theuerkauf: Article designation in: Concise dictionary of German legal history (HRG) . 2nd edition, Volume 1, Berlin 2008, Col. 955-957.
  • Ulrich Schmidt: Election of a king and succession to the throne in the 12th century (= research on the emperor and papal history of the Middle Ages . Supplements to JF Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 7), Cologne, Vienna 1987.
  • Heinrich Mitteis: The German election for a king. Your legal basis up to the Golden Bull. 2nd, extended edition Brünn u. a. 1944.