Hereditary Land Association

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In the secular sphere of power of the Cologne elector , i.e. the actual Kurköln and the neighboring countries Vest Recklinghausen and the Duchy of Westphalia , associations of estates and their agreements with the sovereign are called hereditary state associations. Originating in the late Middle Ages and repeatedly renewed, they formed something like basic laws for these territories until the end of the Holy Roman Empire . A characteristic was the limitation of the elector's power through the certified participation of the estates in the government of the areas.

Rhenish Hereditary Land Association

After the death of Archbishop and Elector Dietrich II of Moers , the Rhenish Hereditary Land Association was formed in Kurköln on March 26, 1463 as a result of the enormous debt caused by the sovereign. The Cologne cathedral chapter , the counts, knights and the most important cities participated in it. It was agreed that in future no elector should be recognized as a legitimate ruler who had not committed himself to safeguarding certain political rights and privileges of the estates before taking office. The elector now had to obtain the approval of the estates for important political, financial and military decisions. Without the approval of the estates, the sovereign could not start wars or raise taxes. The Rhenish Hereditary Land Association was renewed in 1550 under the influence of the Reformation . Among other things, it was stipulated that the sovereign may not make any changes to religious matters without the consent of the estates. The Catholic denomination was thus effectively established. If necessary, the estates also had the right to convene a state parliament without the consent of the sovereign.

Vest Recklinghausen joined the Rhenish and not the Westphalian Hereditary Land Association.

The original of the Rhenish Hereditary Land Association was badly damaged when the Cologne City Archives collapsed and needs to be restored.

Westphalian Hereditary Land Association

In the Duchy of Westphalia there was an hereditary state association for the first time in 1437, in which 167 knights and 16 cities, mainly from the area of ​​the old marshal's office of Westphalia , but with the city of Neheim also from the former county of Arnsberg joined forces.

The model of the Rhenish estates was also followed in 1463 by the estates of the Duchy of Westphalia in a second hereditary association for this area. This contract was renewed in 1590, 1654, 1662 and 1786. Now the knighthood and the cities of the entire duchy appeared as contracting parties to the elector. The Westphalian state parliament , whose main right was tax approval , soon developed to exercise rights .

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literature

  • Rudolf Lill , Erwin Sandmann: Constitution and administration of the electorate and archbishopric of Cologne in the 18th century. In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1961, p. 47, (exhibition catalog, Augustusburg Palace in Brühl).
  • Harm Klueting : The Electoral Cologne Duchy of Westphalia as spiritual territory in the 16th and 18th centuries . In: Harm Klueting (Ed.): The Duchy of Westphalia . Volume 1: The Electorate of Cologne Duchy of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803 . Aschendorff, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-402-12827-5 , pp. 457f.
  • Ferdinand Walter: The old ore monastery and the imperial city of Cologne . Volume 1: Development of their Constitution from the Fifteenth Century to its Fall . Marcus, Bonn, 1866, p. 387, (The text of the Rhenish Hereditary Land Association is printed here: digitized version ).