List of states in the Holy Roman Empire

This list of states which were part of the Holy Roman Empire includes any territory ruled by an authority that had been granted imperial immediacy, as well as many other feudal entities such as lordships, sous-fiefs and allodial fiefs.

The Hohenstaufen-ruled Holy Roman Empire (c. 1138–1254) and the Kingdom of Sicily. Imperial and directly held Hohenstaufen lands in the Empire are shown in bright yellow. This was the greatest territorial extent the HRE ever reached.

The Holy Roman Empire was a complex political entity that existed in central Europe for most of the medieval and early modern periods and was generally ruled by a German-speaking Emperor. The states that composed the Empire, while enjoying a unique form of territorial authority (called Landeshoheit) that granted them many attributes of sovereignty, were never fully sovereign states as the term is understood today.[1] In the 18th century, the Holy Roman Empire consisted of approximately 1,800 such territories, the majority being tiny estates owned by the families of Imperial Knights.[2] This page does not directly contain the list, but it discusses the format of the various lists, and offers some background to understand the complex organisation of the Holy Roman Empire. The lists themselves can be accessed via the alphabetical navigation box at the top of this page; each letter will lead the reader to a page where states of the Empire which began with that letter are listed. For a more complete history of the empire, see Holy Roman Empire.

Table of states

While any such list could never be definitive, the list attempts to be as comprehensive as possible. It is sorted alphabetically and split into separate articles linked in the box below.

There is also a separate list of Free Imperial Cities, as well as a list of participants in the Imperial Diet as of 1792.

Definition of terms
  • Imperial Abbey Reichsabt: A Reichsabt, literally 'Imperial Abbot' or 'Abbot of the Empire', was an Abbot whose abbey was granted within the Holy Roman Empire the status of Reichsabtei (or Reichskloster), literally 'Imperial Abbey' (or – Monastery), meaning that it enjoyed Imperial immediacy (Reichsunmittelbarkeit).
  • Imperial Circle: An Imperial Circle (in German Reichskreis, plural Reichskreise) was a regional grouping of states of the Holy Roman Empire, primarily for the purpose of organising a common defence and of collecting imperial taxes, but also as a means of organisation within the Imperial Diet.
  • Imperial Diet (Reichstag): The Imperial Diet was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire. The same name was used within the North German Confederation and within Germany until 1945.
  • Imperial Estate: An Imperial State or Imperial Estate (German singular: Reichsstand, plural: Reichsstände) was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet. Several states had no seats in the Empire, while some officials (such as the Hereditary Usher) were non-voting members; neither qualified as Imperial States.
  • Imperial Free City: In the Holy Roman Empire, an imperial free city (German: freie Reichsstadt) was a city formally responsible to the emperor only – as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which belonged to a territory and were thus governed by one of the many princes (Fürsten) of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops. Free cities also had independent representation in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire.
  • Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit, adjectives reichsfrei, reichsunmittelbar): Immediacy was a privileged feudal and political status, a form of statehood, which a city, religious entity or feudal principality of minor lordship could attain within the Holy Roman Empire. An immediate city, abbey or territory was under the direct authority of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Imperial Diet, without any intermediary Liege lord(s). Advantages were that immediate regions had the right to collect taxes and tolls themselves, and held juridical rights (including the Blutgericht, 'high' justice including capital punishment) themselves. De facto immediacy corresponded to a semi-independence with a far-reaching autonomy.
  • Imperial Reform: In 1495, an attempt was made at a Diet in the city of Worms to give the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire a new structure, commonly referred to as Imperial Reform (in German: Reichsreform).
  • Imperial State: An Imperial State or Imperial Estate (German singular: Reichsstand, plural: Reichsstände) was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet.
  • Mediatization: defined broadly, is the annexation of one monarchy by another monarchy in such a way that the ruler of the annexed state keeps his or her noble title, and sometimes a measure of power. Thus, for example, when a sovereign county is annexed to a larger principality, its reigning count might find himself subordinated to a prince, but would nevertheless remain a count, rather than be stripped of his title.
  • Prince of the Empire: A Prince of the Empire is any ruling Prince whose territory is a member of the Holy Roman Empire (not only German-speaking countries, but also many bordering and extensive neighbouring regions) and entitled to a voting seat (or in a collective voting unit, such as the Grafenbank) in Imperial Diet or Reichstag.
  • Prince-abbot: A prince-abbott (Fürstabt) or prince-abbess (Äbtissin) was an abbot or abbess who had been granted the rank of prince. Prince-abbots (but not prince-abbesses) had seat and vote on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet and sat alongside the prince-bishops.
  • Prince-bishop: A prince-bishop (Fürstbischof) was a bishop who had been granted the rank of prince (Fürst). As a prince, he was the temporal ruler of a Hochstift and as a bishop, he exercised the spiritual duties of an ordinary bishop over his diocese, which was always larger than his Hochstift. Prince-bishops had seat and voice on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet. Nearly all the bishops of the Holy Roman Empire outside the Habsburg lands were prince-bishops.
  • Prince-elector: The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire (German: sing. Kurfürst, pl. Kurfürsten) were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors.
  • Secularization: The transfer of property from ecclesiastical to civil possession or use[3]

Notes column

The "Notes" column shows, in capsule form,

  • the territorial development of the different states or polities (acquisition or loss of possessions, union of rulers or dynasties, etc.);
  • the royal or noble dynasties, including their various branches, which ruled over territories or polities;
  • the transmission of succession rights (marriage, female succession, conquest, cession, pledge, etc.);
  • the attributes of "statehood" (right to mint coins, holding markets and fairs, entering into treaties and pacts, appointment of civil officials, etc.); and
  • the size of territory and population of the various polities whenever these are available.

Grouped lists

The following lists are going to be included into the table above.

Ecclesiastical orders

Livonian territories

Territories of old princely families

Italian territories

Territories of new princely families

See also

References
  1. Gagliardo, G., Reich and Nation, The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality, 1763–1806, Indiana University Press, 1980, p. 4-5.
  2. Gagliardo, p. 12-13.
  3. Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, 1989

Further reading

In English
  • The Arenberg Archives and Cultural Centre. "The Dukes of Arenberg". . Retrieved June 26, 2006.
  • Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture. "aeiou: The Annotable, Elektronic, Interactive, Osterreich (Austria), Universal Information System". . Retrieved June 23, 2006.
  • "Austrian and German Mediatized Houses, 1871–1919". . Retrieved July 4, 2006.
  • "Braunschweig – Brunswick. A history". . Retrieved July 6, 2006.
  • Cahoon, Benjamin M. (2000–2006). "Europe Index" in WorldStatesmen.org. . June 26, 2006.
  • Dotor, Santiago (2004). "Historical Flags (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)" in FOTW: Flags of the World Web Site. . Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  • "Freiburg's History for Pedestrians" (2006). . Retrieved June 26, 2006.
  • Graz, Thomas. "Thomas's Glassware Tour to Central Europe: Old Glasses from Old Europe" in German History Ring. . Retrieved June 20, 2006.
  • Hilkens, Bob (2000). "States and Regents of the World: An Alphabetical Listing of States and Territories and their Regents in the 19th and 20th Centuries". [https://www.webcitation.org/5kmp0GkYu?url=http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/index.html. Retrieved June 27, 2006.
  • "History of the House of Sayn". . Retrieved July 13, 2006.
  • Kane, Ed (2000). "Castle Directory: Alphabetical Listing of German Castles and Fortifications". . Retrieved July 28, 2006.
  • The History Files: Kingdoms of Europe. Retrieved July 9, 2006 (Updated February 25, 2007).
  • "Lippe(-Detmold): Chronology of Lippe" in Genealogy.net. . Retrieved June 25, 2006.
  • Martinsson, Örjan. "Historical Atlas: Europe". . Retrieved July 14, 2006.
  • "Medieval German Counties". . Retrieved July 9, 2006.
  • "Milestones in Pomeranian History, with particular attention to Lauenburg and Buetow". . Retrieved June 26, 2006.
  • Pantel, Mike (2000). "The History of Baden-Wurttemberg". . Retrieved June 25, 2006.
  • Principality of Liechtenstein. "Liechtenstein at a Glance: History". . Retrieved June 25, 2006.
  • Reitwiesner, William Addams (1998). "One of the major questions about the Mediatized Houses is the word 'Mediatized'. What does it mean?". . Retrieved July 1, 2006.
  • Rozn, Val (1999–2003). "The German Reigning Houses: Titles, territories, regnal chronologies". . Retrieved June 9, 2006.
  • Rozn, Val (2002). "The Imperial Nobility and the Constitution of the Holy Roman Empire". . Retrieved July 16, 2006.
  • Rozn, Val (2002). "The Last Years of the Ancient Empire". . Retrieved June 24, 2006
  • Sainty, Guy Stair. "European Royal Houses". . Retrieved June 23, 2006.
  • Sainty, Guy Stair. "The Knights of Saint John in Germany". . Retrieved July 1, 2006.
  • "Schaumburg-Lippe" in Genealogy.net. . Retrieved June 25, 2006.
  • "Sovereigns in Germany". . Retrieved June 22, 2006.
  • Voss, Hans Peter. "History of Schleswig Holstein". . Retrieved July 3, 2006.

In other languages
  • Bursik, Heinrich (1998). "Die Herrschaft Hohenberg und die Markgrafschaft Burgau". . For Google-translated English version . Retrieved July 9, 2006.
  • "Das Fürstenhaus Bentheim-Tecklenburg". . For Google-translated English version, see . Retrieved July 11, 2006.
  • Höckmann, Thomas (2006). "Territorial arrangement of North Rhine-Westphalia 1789". (Translation from the original in German through Google Search). . (Excellent articles and links about the States of the Holy Roman Empire). Retrieved June 26, 2006.
  • "Mittelalterliche Genealogie im Deutschen Reich bis zum Ende der Staufer". . Retrieved June 23, 2006.
  • Ortwein, Friedrich J. "Die Herren zu Rappoltstein" (The Lords of Rappoltstein)". . (For English translation: ). Retrieved June 25, 2006.
  • "Die Reichsstände". . Retrieved July 8, 2006.
  • Wember, Heinz. "Die Genealogie (Genealogy) von Montfort: Bludenz, Bregenz, Feldkirch, Heiligenberg, Herrenberg, Langenargen, Pfullendorf, Rheinegg, Rothenfels, Sargans, Tettnang, Tosters, Tübingen, Vaduz, Wasserburg, Werdenberg, Zollern". . Retrieved June 23, 2006.
  • List of imperial circles of 1532
  • List of states of the Holy Roman Empire of 1521

Maps and illustrations
  • Höckmann, Thomas (2006). "Historical maps – Germany at the end of the 18th century". . Retrieved June 26, 2006.
  • Westermann, Großer Atlass zu Weltgeschichte (in German; exquisite detailed maps)
  • Carantha: History of Slovenia-Carantania
  • The Catholic Encyclopedia
  • Cawley, Charles, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,
  • Genealogie delle Dinastie Nobili Italiane (On ruling families and polities in present-day Republic of Italy)
  • HIS DATA: Historische Herrscher der Territorien (Adel)(German)
  • Archived April 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (English translation)
  • Internet Medieval Sourcebook
  • Regional Research in German-speaking Countries
  • World Statesmen
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