Reichskreis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 10 imperial circles in the middle of the 16th century:
  • Burgundian circle
  • Westphalian district
  • Lower Saxony district
  • Upper Saxon District
  • Franconian district
  • Upper Rhine district
  • Swabian district
  • Bavarian Circle
  • Austrian circle
  • Kurheinischer Reichskreis
  • District-free areas
  • The imperial circles were higher-level territorial units of the Holy Roman Empire , which comprised several territorial rulers - initially with the exception of the electoral principalities and the Habsburg hereditary lands . They were from 1500 as part of the reform of the Empire I. Maximilian created to manage the empire by the imperial government to improve, and existed until the 1806th

    Emergence

    Maximilian I on the division of the imperial circles (cover picture of Tromsdorff's geography of all of Germany , 1711)

    The Holy Roman Empire as a whole had neither a central administration nor a military executive; in the course of the early modern period it did not develop a central bureaucracy or a standing army , which is what characterizes modern states. In order to implement measures for which the empire as a whole was too large and individual imperial estates too small, the so-called imperial circles were created instead from 1495 and 1521, i.e. H. The area of ​​the empire was divided into geographical circles, which consisted of territories of several imperial members and were responsible for the regional implementation of imperial political decisions (occupation of the imperial chamber court , execution of imperial court judgments , keeping the peace, external defense).

    King Sigismund submitted a district draft in Constance in 1415 , which provided for four districts (Rhineland, Swabia, Franconia and Central Germany), each with a district chief and mutual assistance.

    At the Augsburg Reichstag of 1500 , an execution order was created to carry out the execution of the Reich against violators of the peace as well as to enforce the judgments of the Reich Chamber Court . The empire was divided into six districts (without the territories of the electors) as electoral districts for a third of the assessors (judges) at the Reich Chamber of Commerce. At the Reichstag in Trier in 1512 , the six districts were established as the means of the Reich regiment. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, the imperial regiment was reconfirmed and the territories of the electors were named as imperial districts (II § 1 to 10 of the declaration of peace).

    Classification

    The circles were originally only provided with numbers. They were later given names that corresponded to their geographical classification. The first six circles formed in 1500 were:

    In 1512 three more were added:

    In 1512 the Saxon Empire was divided into:

    There were also:

    With the creation of the four additional imperial circles in 1512, the Habsburg hereditary lands ( Burgundian and Austrian imperial circles ) and the electoral principalities ( Kurhine and Upper Saxon imperial circles ) were also incorporated into the district constitution. The previous Saxon imperial circle ceded some imperial estates to the new Upper Saxon imperial circle and thereby became the Lower Saxon imperial circle. The kingdom and electorate of Bohemia with the associated areas of Silesia , Lusatia and Moravia remained outside the district division until the end of the empire . The Swiss Confederation , the Imperial Knighthood , the feudal areas in Imperial Italy and some imperial rulers , such as B. Jever and the Dithmarschen peasant republic .

    Composition of the circles

    At no time were the individual circles homogeneous in terms of their size, political significance or economic power. This resulted from their composition.

    Each circle consisted of a different number of imperial estates , which in turn had different sizes and thus different meanings. In 1532, for example, the area of ​​the Burgundian Imperial Circle consisted of three rooms, some of which were widely separated, but mainly comprised the imperial estate "Duchy of Burgundy" and only four smaller counties ; In addition to the ruling Archduchy of Austria, there were also four dioceses ( Hochstifte ), two Balleien and four smaller counties in the Austrian Circle . The counterpart was the Franconian Imperial Circle with three monasteries, the German Master of the Teutonic Order , two prelates ( monasteries ), 12 counts and lords and five imperial cities and the Swabian Empire with the Duchy of Württemberg , three monasteries, 36 prelates, 27 counts and lords and 35 Imperial cities.

    The political development up to 1806 was also noticeable. The Upper Rhine District lost more and more areas and estates in the west as a result of the French expansion policy. In other circles, powerful estates took over the territories and rights of smaller rulers and were often represented in several circles at the same time, for example the Hohenzollern at the same time in the Upper Saxon district with the Mark Brandenburg , in Lower Saxony and the Lower Rhine-Westphalian district with the Duchy of Kleve .

    After the Thirty Years' War even non-German princes were represented in some districts, for example the King of Sweden with Swedish Pomerania in the Upper Saxony District and with the Duchy of Bremen in the Lower Saxony District or the King of Denmark with Holstein in the Lower Saxony District.

    Function of the circles

    The original six imperial districts initially served as electoral districts for the imperial regiment . Later the tasks were added to enforce the judgments of the Reich Chamber of Commerce, to supervise the coinage and, above all, to set up and maintain the contingents for the Reich Army . Since the realm had to be comprehensively recorded in circles for these new tasks, the four new realm circles were created. Before that, it was not necessary to assign the electorate and the Habsburg possessions to a district, since both the electors and the Habsburg emperor were always represented in the imperial regiment.

    The six or later ten imperial districts were only able to fulfill these tasks gradually. In 1521, the Reichstag in Worms passed a state peace order which, with the execution order of the Reich regiment passed in 1522, caused the imperial districts to meet the necessary requirements for maintaining the state peace. This included in particular coordination and management functions in the Holy Roman Empire in the implementation of the “good policey ”, which had an increasing influence on the territorial policy of the district estates since the end of the 15th century.

    Due to the gradual increase in the areas of responsibility of the imperial districts, they were responsible for border security from the middle of the 16th century and, through several Reichstag resolutions in 1681 and 1682, for the provision of contingents to the imperial army. In this way, the imperial districts became, as it were, a previously nonexistent imperial executive, as they were responsible for the enforcement and control of the decisions made by the imperial organs, and functioned as self-administration of the district estates independently of the emperor. According to "contemporary political scientists" were the main functions of the circle

    • Maintaining common peace and quiet against rebels, rioting soldiers and foreign advertisements. In addition to the “internal defension” (today it would be called homeland security and police regulations), the “district defense to the outside”, the national defense of the empire, was soon added .
    • Execution of "justice against what is declared in the eight"
    • Reduction of the matricular facilities
    • Supervision of the coinage
    • Monitoring customs duties
    • Election of the assessors of the Reich Chamber of Commerce

    The political significance of the imperial circles, however, especially in the east of the empire, was always small compared to the large territorial territories.

    Internal organization of the circles

    Like the composition, the internal organization of the circles was different. The organs described below did not (always) exist in all circles.

    Since 1529, the district councils have formed decision-making and advisory bodies for their members. Regardless of his empire class affiliation, each member had one vote in the district council, which met irregularly.

    For this purpose, the most important office of the prince who wrote the district was created. The office, which soon became partially hereditary, was held in some circles by one, but in most by two, the secular and the clerical circle-awarding prince. As a rule, these were the highest-ranking princes in the district. In the Swabian Empire, for example, these were the Bishop of Constance and the Duke of Württemberg, in the Kurheinische Kreis, however, only the Elector of Mainz. The circle tenderers originally convened the district councils and carried out correspondence with the other circles. In the course of time, a kind of managerial role emerged from this, so that, for example, they also sent the imperial laws for publication within the district.

    The council chose the District Chief (later circle colonel or -oberst) and its Subordinate or alternate whose mission originally was to protect the public peace and carrying out the executions. Later, the leadership came Circle troops which will have under him from the circle stands. In some districts the troops were later headed by a district general; the district bishop was then only responsible for maintaining internal peace, if the office was retained at all.

    District meetings

    The district councils, d. H. the assembly of all estates or their envoys met at irregular intervals, but usually at least once a year. All important questions and problems were discussed here and, as far as possible, resolved after consultation. The district council, for which the majority principle applied in the case of the fundamental equivalence of the votes of all, was in the last instance the only organ of the circle that could come to conclusions which, at least in theory, made all classes responsible. The estates were divided into five benches (ecclesiastical princes, secular princes, prelates, counts and lords, cities), each of which had bank chairman estates. These formed the Ordinary Deputation, which prepared the agenda items for the district assembly in a smaller circle and was thus able to exert a certain influence on the circle's politics. The same applies to other deputations, which since the second half of the 16th century have increasingly been used for certain tasks, e.g. B. for the interception of the bills, were formed from a selection of stands, as well as for the so-called narrow district meetings, in which a reduced number of stands were involved. In any case, the final decision on all questions lay with the district council itself, on which votes were taken according to status and not according to banks, so that, in contrast to the Reichstag, the banks could not exert an overpowering influence.

    The majority principle has always been controversial. Time and again, the estates eluded the execution of a district farewell with the argument that they had not voted for it. Circular closings got a taste of non-binding. As long as the refusal to carry out majority resolutions was kept within bounds, it did not endanger the functionality of the circle. But at some point the point was reached where the arbitrariness impaired the circle's ability to act.

    With the district councils, the district had an institution that every stand could use to articulate its interests. Even in the formation phase of the circle, the less powerful made sure that they were not deprived of their equal voting rights. The fact that they were able to assert themselves did not contribute little to the functioning of the circle.

    District administration

    Furthermore, the assigned councils and the staff for the office, cash register and archive were determined by the district councils.

    In the course of time, the districts employed their own officials: a district secretary, commissioners, councilors, chancellery lists, collectors, special military personnel, etc. The increase in the number of staff in the circle showed the ever-increasing acceptance of tasks and activities as well as awareness, not just one to be a loose coordination body, but a supraterritorial unit of estates that worked together and hired joint staff for this.

    A decisive factor in preventing the district from becoming an instrument of a supremacy was the vigilance of the estates regarding the allocation of the offices of the district administration and the army. The more tasks the circle took on and the more solid it became, the more commissioners, officers and other specialists it had to employ in order to guarantee a more or less functioning administration of the circle business. Some of these functionaries were provided directly by the individual stands. Other posts were filled by the district, and here the district council made sure that not only candidates from one class entered key positions from which they could have dominated the district in a cold way. In addition, so many district staff was never hired that they could have done without the assistance of the administrations of the individual stands in implementing their resolutions. In this way, too, the less powerful protected themselves from excessive restrictions on their sovereignty.

    District troops

    The Worms Reichstag of 1521 had a basic strength, the simplum, the imperial army of 24,000 men. Since then, the contingents of the imperial circles have been referred to as district troops, which they actually provided to the imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire. According to the imperial dimensional order, all imperial districts were obliged to provide contingents, but not all of them met this obligation. The "always newest matriculation" set up on the Worms Reichstag in 1521 determined the simple imperial contingent, the "Simplum", with 4,202 riders and 20,063 foot servants, later simplified to 4,000 or 20,000 men. Their salary, ten guilders for a rider, twelve guilders from 1542, and four guilders for a footman, was 128,000 guilders per month. This sum, called a Roman month , became the measure of the circles' contributions to the war chest. The attack could be doubled or multiplied for a war ("Duplum", "Triplum" etc.).

    According to the registers of the Reich of 1681 , the Reichsarmee, with a strength of 12,000 horsemen and 28,000 foot soldiers, was to be provided by the 10 Reich circles in the event of war; it could be enlarged if necessary.

    Even if the troops were subordinated to the imperial high command as part of the imperial army in the event of war, the estates, as well as the district as a whole, in no way renounced to retain at least a certain control over the regiments. An operation against the interests of the circle was out of the question. Councilors were appointed at the district assemblies and assigned to the district bishop .

    Circle associations

    At times, some imperial circles came together to form district associations to pursue common goals. This happened especially in the period after the Thirty Years War. These alliances reached the height of their importance during the War of the Spanish Succession .

    See also

    literature

    • Martin Zeiller : Tractatvs De X. Circulis Imperii Romano-Germanici, or Von den Zehen deß H. Roman Teutschen Reichs Kraißen. Georg Wildeysen, Ulm 1660, ( digitized version ).
    • Johannes Althusius : Politica methodicè digesta. Editio tertia, duabus prioribus multo auctior. Corvinus, Herborn 1614, ( digitized ). * Peter-Christoph Storm: The Swabian Circle as a general. Investigations into the military constitution of the Swabian Empire in the period from 1648–1732 (= writings on constitutional history. Vol. 21). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-03033-8 (also: Tübingen, University, dissertation, 1971).
    • Johann Samuel Trommsdorff : Accurate new and old geography from whole Teutschland. Ritschel, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1711, p. 128 ff.
    • Hanns Hubert Hofmann (ed.): Sources on the constitutional organism of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. 1495–1815 (= selected sources on German history in modern times. Vol. 13). Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1976, ISBN 3-534-01959-8 .
    • Winfried Dotzauer : The German imperial circles in the constitution of the old empire and their own life. (1500-1806). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1989, ISBN 3-534-04139-9 ( at Google Books ).
    • Peter Claus Hartmann (Hrsg.): Regions in the early modern times. Imperial circles in Germany, provinces in France, regions under Polish sovereignty. A comparison of their structures, functions and their meaning (= journal for historical research. Supplement. 17). Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-08078-5 .
    • Winfried Dotzauer: The German Imperial Circles (1383-1806). History and file edition. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-515-07146-6 ( at Google Books ).
    • Martin Fimpel: Imperial Justice and Territorial State . Württemberg as commissioner of the emperor and empire in the Swabian district (1648–1806) (= early modern research. Vol. 6). Bibliotheca-Academica-Verlag, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 3-928471-21-X (also: Stuttgart, University, dissertation, 1995).
    • Ferdinand Magen: The Imperial Circles in the Epoch of the Thirty Years' War . In: Journal for historical research # 9 (1982) Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, Vol. 9 (1982), pp. 409-460 PDF at JSTOR
    • Fabian Schulze: The Imperial Circles in the Thirty Years' War: War Financing and Alliance Policy in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation de Gruyter. 2018 Google Book
    • Wolfgang Wüst (Ed.): Reichskreis and Territory. The rulership of the rulership? Supraterritorial tendencies in politics, culture, economy and society. A comparison of southern German imperial circles (= publications of the Swabian Research Center Augsburg of the Commission for Bavarian State History at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Series 7: Augsburg contributions to the state history of Bavarian Swabia. Vol. 7). Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-7995-7508-1 .
    • Wolfgang Wüst (Ed.): The "good" Policey in the Reichskreis. For early modern standard setting in the core regions of the Old Kingdom. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin;
      • Volume 1: The "good" Policey in the Swabian Reichskreis, with special consideration of Bavarian Swabia. 2001, ISBN 3-05-003415-7 ;
      • Volume 2: The "good" Policey in the Franconian Reichskreis. 2003, ISBN 3-05-003651-6 ;
      • Volume 3: The "good" Policey in the Bavarian Reichskreis and in the Upper Palatinate. 2004, ISBN 3-05-003769-5 ;
      • Volume 4: The "local" policey. Standard setting and regulatory policy in the countryside. A source work. 2008, ISBN 978-3-05-004396-8 .
      • Volume 5: Police regulations in the Margraviate of Ansbach and Kulmbach-Bayreuth. A source work. 2011, ISBN 978-3-940804-03-7 .
      • Volume 6: Police regulations in the Franconian monasteries of Bamberg, Eichstätt and Würzburg. A source work. 2013, ISBN 978-3-940804-04-4 .
      • Volume 7: Police regulations in the Franconian imperial cities of Nuremberg, Rothenburg od Tauber, Schweinfurt, Weißenburg and (Bad) Windsheim. A source work. 2015, ISBN 978-3-940804-06-8 .

    Web links

    Wikisource: Zedler: Creiß  - Sources and full texts

    Notes and individual references

    1. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger : Introduction to the Early Modern Age Section: Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation Online publication of the University of Münster
    2. a b Gerhard Nüske: Imperial circles and Swabian district estates around 1800 HISTORICAL ATLAS 6.9 FROM BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG Explanatory notes on map 6.9
    3. Cf. Maximilian I .: No. 177. (152). Regimental order of Maximilian I (Augsburg Reichstag). - 1500, July 2. In: Karl Zeumer (Ed.): Collection of sources on the history of the German constitution in the Middle Ages and modern times (= collections of sources on constitutional, administrative and international law. Vol. 2). 2nd increased edition. JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, pp. 297-307, here: § 7, p. 299
    4. Cf. Maximilian I .: No. 177. (152). Regimental order of Maximilian I (Augsburg Reichstag). - 1500, July 2. In: Karl Zeumer (Ed.): Collection of sources on the history of the German constitution in the Middle Ages and modern times (= collections of sources on constitutional, administrative and international law. Vol. 2). 2nd increased edition. JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, pp. 297-307, here: § 6, p. 299
    5. Cf. Maximilian I .: No. 177. (152). Regimental order of Maximilian I (Augsburg Reichstag). - 1500, July 2. In: Karl Zeumer (Ed.): Collection of sources on the history of the German constitution in the Middle Ages and modern times (= collections of sources on constitutional, administrative and international law. Vol. 2). 2nd increased edition. JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, pp. 297-307, here: § 9, p. 299
    6. Cf. Maximilian I .: No. 177. (152). Regimental order of Maximilian I (Augsburg Reichstag). - 1500, July 2. In: Karl Zeumer (Ed.): Collection of sources on the history of the German constitution in the Middle Ages and modern times (= collections of sources on constitutional, administrative and international law. Vol. 2). 2nd increased edition. JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, pp. 297-307, here: § 11, p. 300
    7. Cf. Maximilian I .: No. 177. (152). Regimental order of Maximilian I (Augsburg Reichstag). - 1500, July 2. In: Karl Zeumer (Ed.): Collection of sources on the history of the German constitution in the Middle Ages and modern times (= collections of sources on constitutional, administrative and international law. Vol. 2). 2nd increased edition. JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, pp. 297-307, here: § 8, p. 299
    8. Cf. Maximilian I .: No. 177. (152). Regimental order of Maximilian I (Augsburg Reichstag). - 1500, July 2. In: Karl Zeumer (Ed.): Collection of sources on the history of the German constitution in the Middle Ages and modern times (= collections of sources on constitutional, administrative and international law. Vol. 2). 2nd increased edition. JCB Mohr, Tübingen 1913, pp. 297-307, here: § 10, p. 300
    9. The Franconian and Upper Saxon Imperial Circle had issued corresponding circle coins for this purpose. See Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Old measures, coins and weights. A lexicon. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, licensed edition Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-411-02148-9 , p. 386.
    10. after Martin Zeiller: Preface. In: Martin Zeiller: Tractatvs De X. Circulis Imperii Romano-Germanici. 1660; also Johannes Althusius: Politica methodicè digesta. 1614, p. 736 f: “Unicuique circulo demandata est in regione suo I. cura et defensio pacisb publicae, II. Executio justitiae, III. cura monetae publicae, IV. contributionum moderatio V. inquisitio de vectigalibus… Hae quinque curae circulis singulis demandata sunt cum suis annexis. Quibus adduntur negotia publica regionis cujusque. ”In addition, there is a VI. the "nominatio adsessoris cameralis" according to Storm, p. 57 f.
    11. Horst Rabe : New German History. Volume 4: Empire and Split Faith. Germany 1500–1600. Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-30816-3 , p. 125
    12. a b c d e f g * Max Plassmann: Between the Imperial Province and the League of Estates. The Swabian Empire as a framework for action by inferior estates , lecture at the Working Group for Historical Regional Studies on the Upper Rhine eV on November 10, 2000
    13. Hanns Hubert Hofmann: 1976 p. 41 ff.
    14. ↑ Encyclopedia entry Reichsarmee at Wissen.de
    15. ^ Encyclopedia entry Reichskreis at Wissen.de