Imperial State - Composition

Composition

Imperial States could be either ecclesiastic or secular. The ecclesiastical states were led by:

• the three clerical Prince-electors: the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier;
• Prince-Archbishops and Prince-Bishops as well as Prince-Abbots and Prince-Provosts of the Empire;
• Imperial Prelates, immediate Priors and Provosts
• Grand Masters of military orders like the Teutonic Knights or Knights Hospitaller.

The secular estates, most notably:

• the four Prince-Electors of the County Palatine of the Rhine, Saxony, Brandenburg and Bohemia, later also Bavaria and Hanover;
• Imperial Princes including Grand Dukes, Dukes, Counts Palatine, Margraves and Landgraves;
• Reichsgrafen and other rulers of comital rank, Freiherren (Barons) and some Princes;
• the Free and Imperial cities.

Until 1582 the votes of the Free and Imperial Cities were only advisory. None of the rulers below the Holy Roman Emperor ranked as Kings, with the exception of the Kings of Bohemia.

Statehood was normally attached to a particular territory within the Empire, but there were some reichsständische Personalisten, or Imperial Stately Personalists. Originally, the Emperor alone could grant statehood, but in 1653, several restrictions on the Emperor's power were introduced. The creation of a new state required the assent of the College of Electors and of the College of Princes (see Reichstag below). The ruler was required to agree to accept imperial taxation and military obligations. Furthermore, the state was required to obtain admittance into one of the Imperial Circles. Theoretically, personalist states were forbidden after 1653, but exceptions were often made.

Once a territory attained statehood, it could lose the attribute under very few circumstances. A territory ceded to a foreign power ceased to be a state; furthermore, a mediatized state (that is, a state that came to be under the authority but not the sovereignty of a foreign power) could lose statehood. From 1648 onwards, inheritance of the state was limited to one family; a territory inherited by a different family ceased to be a state unless the Emperor explicitly allowed otherwise. Finally, a territory could lose statehood by being subjected to the Imperial ban (the most notable example involved the Elector Palatine Frederick V, who was banned in 1621 for his participation in the Bohemian Revolt).