District troops
District troops were the contingents of the imperial circles of the Holy Roman Empire , which they actually put to its imperial army . According to the imperial dimensional order, all imperial districts were obliged to provide contingents, but not all of them met this obligation. The Reichsmatrikel defined how many troops each imperial estates had to ask for the imperial army.
Origin and structure
The imperial circles only came into being at the beginning of the 16th century. The first six imperial circles were established at the Diet of Augsburg in 1500. They were simply numbered and were made up of imperial estates from all groups with the exception of the electors. With the creation of four further imperial districts in 1512, the Austrian hereditary lands and the electoral princedoms were also included in the district constitution.
The "always newest matriculation" set up on the Worms Reichstag in 1521 determined the simple imperial contingent, the "Simplum". The further division within the district to the individual imperial estates in accordance with the Worms register was now a matter for the districts.
In a few circles, the office of the district chief / district bishop as a military leader was actually or permanently created. In some districts, the office of district general was created to lead their own troops, who was appointed by the district and paid with his staff from the district treasury, as were the regiments commanders. The other officers were appointed and paid in part by the districts, and in part by the quota themselves.
From 1694, the Swabian Imperial Circle was the only one of the imperial circles to maintain a standing army .
The end of the district troops
With the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 the Imperial Army and its district troops perished. The Rhine Confederation no longer had a uniform army structure, but only provided for the placement of troops under French command.
See also
literature
- Hanns Hubert Hofmann: Sources on the constitutional organism of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation 1495-1815 , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 1st edition 1976
- Winfried Dotzauer: The German Imperial Circles (1383-1806) , Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1998, ISBN 3-515-07146-6
- The Holy Roman Empire and its members of the lavish Swabian Kraiss Ainhellige and the final comparison of the constitution , 1563 (constitution, (digital copy ) )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hofmann, p. 41ff