Reich execution order

The Imperial Execution Ordinance of 1555 was the last attempt in the Holy Roman Empire to institutionally anchor and enforce the principle of perpetual peace . The Imperial Execution Order was part of the Augsburg Imperial and Religious Peace and was adopted at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1555 . It was supposed to be implemented by the imperial circles in district enforcement orders , but only the Swabian imperial circle passed such a decree in 1563.

history

The reason for the adoption was the Second Margrave War of Kulmbach Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, which raged from 1552 to 1554 in Franconia . Albrecht extorted money and even territories from various Frankish imperial areas. Emperor Charles V did not condemn this, however, but even took Albrecht into his service and legitimized the breach of the eternal peace in the country. Since the affected territories refused to accept the robbery of their territories confirmed by the emperor, Albrecht devastated their territories. In the northern empire troops were formed under Moritz von Sachsen to fight Albrecht. An imperial prince and later King Ferdinand and not the emperor had initiated military countermeasures against the peacebreaker. On July 9, 1553, the bloodiest battle of the Reformation era in the empire, the Battle of Sievershausen , in which Moritz, Elector of Saxony, died.

Until this war, everyone would of course have seen the emperor in the role of peacekeeper. Because this was one of the most important tasks of the head of the Reich. But Emperor Charles V did not intervene, instead an imperial prince acted on his own initiative and restored peace. This weakness in leadership of the emperor was not to be remedied by the execution order, but to be continued as a permanent condition by removing the responsibility for the peace of the country from the emperor. That was the lesson from the Second Margrave War.

content

The Reich Execution Order thus included the constitutional weakening of the imperial power, the anchoring of the imperial corporate principle and the full federalization of the empire through the formation of imperial circles, which from then on stood as intermediate bodies between the territories and the empire. There were ten of these districts: Bavaria, Swabia, Upper Rhine, Franconia, Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Upper Saxony, Austria, Burgundy and Kurrhein. In the format of the imperial circles, the local imperial estates were now responsible, in addition to their previous tasks, for securing the peace and for the enforcement of the judgments of the Reich Chamber of Commerce . They continued to be responsible for the appointment of the judges of the Reich Chamber of Commerce and with the coinage and road construction they were given further important tasks previously imperial. In addition to his competence as the highest judge of the empire, the king had largely lost executive power. He was only involved when it was necessary to convene a Reichstag in order to cope with the peace problem. The executive branch of the empire had in fact become “emperor-free” and in principle only supported by the imperial estates.

A gradual sequence of increasingly stronger reactions to possible escalating breaches of the peace was planned. First of all, the authorities of the respective territories should punish the disturbance of peace. Should this not succeed or it was overwhelmed by it, the Reichskreis of the territory should intervene to secure the peace or enforce Reich Chamber Court judgments. If necessary, the district's troops were to be deployed under the direction of the district bishop. Furthermore, the district could ask for assistance from up to four neighboring districts, but the command remained with the colonel of the district concerned.

In particularly serious cases, the Arch Chancellor should convene a Reichsdeputationstag on which even stronger measures should be discussed and possibly all ten Reich circles could be mobilized. The emperor was able to send delegates on this day of deputation.

literature

Axel Gotthard : The Old Empire 1495–1806. Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-15118-6 .
Johann Jacob Moser : Neues Teutsches Staatsrecht , reprint of the 1766 edition, Volume 1: “Of Teutschland and its state constitution in general”, Otto Zeller, Osnabrück 1967.

Remarks

↑ Moser, page 275: Eilftes Chapter "From the Executions-Ordinance § 2 The Reichs-Executions-Ordinance is a contract between the Kayser and the whole imperial estates, and a law, because of the handling of the land and religious peace, therefore internally Peace and security in the Reich, as well as because of the execution of the judgments pronounced by the Reich courts, and defense of the Reich against external violence. "
↑ Uwe Wesel : History of the law. From the early forms to the present . 3rd, revised and expanded edition, Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-47543-4 , Rn. 242.

[1] Moser, page 275: Eilftes Chapter "From the Executions-Ordinance § 2 The Reichs-Executions-Ordinance is a contract between the Kayser and the whole imperial estates, and a law, because of the handling of the land and religious peace, therefore internally Peace and security in the Reich, as well as because of the execution of the judgments pronounced by the Reich courts, and defense of the Reich against external violence. "

[2] Uwe Wesel : History of the law. From the early forms to the present . 3rd, revised and expanded edition, Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-47543-4 , Rn. 242.